Feasts as engines of power: how generosity, debt, and ritual binds communities before states.
The earliest feasts may have functioned as giant bargaining gambits, with dilution of food sharing to cement alliances between rival bands.
Big-men often claimed feasts not for worship or glory, but to monopolize surplus wealth and consolidate political control unseen by rivals.
Some prehistoric feasts included ritualized food taboos that paradoxically boosted trade, as communities avoided overlapping resources at the same time.
Evidence suggests feasting could shrink band size, because logistics and risk favored fewer, more centralized hosts over egalitarian sharing.
The earliest feasts may have functioned as giant bargaining gambits, with dilution of food sharing to cement alliances between rival bands.
Big-men often claimed feasts not for worship or glory, but to monopolize surplus wealth and consolidate political control unseen by rivals.
Some prehistoric feasts included ritualized food taboos that paradoxically boosted trade, as communities avoided overlapping resources at the same time.
Evidence suggests feasting could shrink band size, because logistics and risk favored fewer, more centralized hosts over egalitarian sharing.
