Archaeology of Slavery From Cross-Cultural Perspective

Abstract

Slavery is difficult to ascertain in the archaeological record, especially because of the lack of material evidence. Using the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample of 186 societies, our aim was to find indirect and easily identifiable indicators of the presence of slavery. The results show links between slavery and the expected and familiar domains (e.g., warfare, polygyny, social and political integration) as well as its relationship to metallurgy, which can be considered an innovative finding. This text attempts to explain and give context to the metallurgy relationship with historical examples related to the exploitation of slaves during various stages of the operational chain of metal production. These include raw material extraction, production of charcoal, and construction or reconstruction of smelting furnaces.