For Walter Burkert, the ritual of killing is one of transcendence; in which, through the act of killing and the associate rituals, men in hunter-gatherer societies are able to transform to a new level of earthly understanding. While Burkert, offers an interesting take on the transformative power of ritual, his observations are rooted in patriarchal and masculine understandings of the function of both ritual killing and the social roles within hunter-gatherer communities. Burkert’s primary argument within his theory center around the fact that early civilizations were founded upon the system of ritual killings. Through the act of ritual killing, according to Burkert, the foundation of society was laid, as well as the foundation for transformation…show more content… Male society finds stability in confronting death, in defying it through a display of readiness to die, and in the ecstasy of survival.” Burkert’s emphasis on patriarchal, androcentric killing rituals severely limits the data and sources, he is able to examine, critique, and draw from to create his theory. His work could have benefited from a reconsideration and a critique of the category of ritual killing; the inclusion of female rituals surrounding death and killing could have immensely altered the theory of ritual as transformation. Simultaneously, Burkert could have investigated alternate histories which consider other possible “primitive” societies beyond the widespread, vaguely accurate, commonly accepted hunter-gatherer model that is used here. Further, Burkert perpetuates violence as the fundamental connector within (male) society, in his argument his contextual bias becomes quite evident: “[for war, necessary yet controlled because it is ritual, has this function above all: it must integrate the young into the patriotic community. The senatus resolves; the inventus must fight… Each generation has the right and the obligation to have its war.” His insight into the importance of patriotism can be seen as a predominantly twentieth century concept, one derived from the onset of intense nationalism and the function of his contemporary academic setting, in which he was situated. The early 1980s were a time of intense escalation of the Cold War, which perpetuated the ideology of patriotism, masculinity, and nationalism that are integral to Burkert’s theory of killing. Burkert’s theory can be contextualized within an era of transition and anxiety over the role of “ritual killing” (i.e. war), that becomes intrinsically connected to most aspects of people’s lives during this period. Burkert’s