Sacrifice, Secrecy, and Sexual Conflict in Small-Scale Religions

Purzycki and Sosis provide a functionalist account of religion, viewing it as an evolved system designed to help individuals and groups navigate the recurrent social dilemmas that humans face across diverse socioecological contexts. I discuss their framework in relation to ethnographic case studies involving human sacrifice, ritual secrecy, and sexual conflict in small-scale societies. I argue that, while there is a great deal in the ethno-historical record that the authors’ framework probably cannot satisfactorily account for, it does represent a useful lens for understanding some religious systems and practices.