Burying the hatchet

Abstract

Why do people bury items with their dead? We provide a theory of grave goods as a mechanism to mitigate internal conflict. Where inheritance laws are ambiguous and low-cost mechanisms for dispute resolution do not exist, deliberately destroying wealth can prevent conflict over the redistribution of assets following a death. Rather than engage in costly infighting over inheritance, the parties agree to mutual destruction through a shared cultural practice of grave goods. We test our theory using evidence from saga era Vikings.