Science

Despite sacrificing people after catastrophic El Niño flooding, ancient societies were generally peaceful

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Briefings

A new survey of the Lambayeque Valley in northern Peru indicates that violent conflict was extremely rare during catastrophic El Niño flooding events, challenging the hypothesis that resource scarcity drove mass ritual sacrifices. This finding suggests ancient societies maintained internal peace despite ecological upheaval, offering a counter-narrative to theories linking climate disasters to increased violence.

Key points

• Mass ritual sacrifices occurred along the desert coast of northern Peru during El Niño events linked to catastrophic flooding.
• A recent survey of the Lambayeque Valley found that violence was extremely rare even during these ecological upheavals.

Context

Archaeologists study past social responses to extreme climate events to understand future reactions to climate change. Previous research hypothesized that resource scarcity during El Niño events drove violence, prompting a new survey to test this hypothesis.

Limitations

The survey covers only the Lambayeque Valley in northern Peru. Results are preliminary and subject to further archaeological verification. No specific dates, casualty numbers, or named individuals are provided in the source evidence.

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