Body counts in lowland South American violence

Abstract

Violence was likely often a strong selective pressure in many traditional lowland South American societies. A compilation of 11 anthropological studies reporting cause of death shows that violence led to about 30% of adult deaths, of which about 70% were males. Here violent deaths are further itemized at the level of ethnographically-reported death events (particular duels, homicides, and raids) to provide more detailed insight into the causes and consequences of within- and between-group violence. Data for 238 death events (totaling 1145 deaths) from 44 lowland South American societies show that attacks are more deadly when treachery is used, when avenging a previous killing, and on external warfare raids between ethnolinguistic groups. That revenge raids kill more people on average than the original grievance, at least when conflicts are between ethnolinguistic groups, indicates a tendency towards increasingly vicious cycles of revenge killings. Motives of killings as noted in ethnographic sources, in order of importance, reportedly include revenge for previous killings and other wrong-doings like sorcery, jealousy over women, gain of captive women and children, fear or deterrence of impending attack, and occasionally the theft of material goods. Results may have implications for understanding the potential for multi-level selection by delineating the force of competition at varying scales of analysis within and between lowland South American societies.