COVID-19 poses massive challenges nationally and globally when it comes to socio-economic inequality. It has hit the vaccine rollout especially hard, threatening new and potentially more lethal variants, while low-risk people are being vaccinated in rich countries well ahead of high-risk people in poorer countries. Even before the pandemic was officially declared on March 11, 2020, socio-economic inequality was flagged as one of the greatest threats to the global economy. The pandemic has only accelerated socio-economic inequality, impacting women and racialized people especially hard. But why is socio-economic inequality so threatening to human societies and how can archeology inform public policies for mitigating it?