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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Human Sacrifice in Pre-Colonial West Africa
Author:Law, Robin R.ISNI
Year:1985
Periodical:African Affairs: The Journal of the Royal African Society
Volume:84
Issue:334
Period:January
Pages:53-87
Language:English
Geographic term:West Africa
Subjects:ritual murder
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Religion and Witchcraft
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/722523
Abstract:The very few historical studies which have attempted any detailed study of human sacrifice, see the problem of human sacrifice in essentially moral terms and not in historical ones. Aim of this article is, not to condone or condemn, but to explain. It examines the role played in West African societies by the practice of human sacrifice, and the reasons for the continuing vitality of the institution down into quite recent times. Sections: conceptual problems - the incidence of human sacrifice - Benin - Dahomey - Asante - Old Calabar - the riverine Igbo - towards an explanation of the incidence of human sacrifice - the politics of human sacrifice: local pressures for restriction. - Notes.
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