Prehistoric_religion

Prehistoric religion is a general term for the religious beliefs and practices of prehistoric peoples.

Paleolithic

Picture of a half animal half human being in a Paleolithic cave painting in Dordogne, France archeologists believe that cave paintings of half animal half human beings may be evidence for early shamanic practices during the Paleolithic

Intentional burial, particularly with grave goods may be one of the earliest detectable forms of religious practice since, as Philip Lieberman suggests, it may signify a "concern for the dead that transcends daily life." (1991) Uniquely Human. ISBN 0674921836.  Though disputed, evidence suggests that the Neanderthals were the first hominids to intentionally bury the dead, doing so in shallow graves along with stone tools and animal bones.^{[citation needed]} Exemplary sites include Shanidar in Iraq, Kebara Cave in Israel and Krapina in Croatia. Some scholars, however argue that these bodies may have been disposed of for secular reasons.Evolving in their graves: early burials hold clues to human origins - research of burial rituals of Neanderthals According to recent archeological findings from H. heidelbergensis sites in Atapuerca humans may have begun burying their dead much earlier during the late Lower Paleolithic but this theory is widely questioned in the scientific community. Cut marks on Neanderthal bones from various sites such as Combe-Grenal and Abri Moula in France may imply that the Neanderthals like some contemporary human cultures may have practiced Ritual defleshing for religious reasons. Likewise a number of archeologists propose that Middle Paleolithic societies such as Neanderthal societies may also have practiced the earliest form of totemism or animal worship in addition to their (presumably religious) burial of the dead. Emil Bächler in particular suggests (based on archeological evidence from Middle Paleolithic caves) that a widespread Middle Paleolithic Neanderthal bear cult existed (Wunn, 2000, p. 434-435). Additional evidence in support of Middle Paleolithic animal worship originates from the Tsodilo Hills (c 70,000BCE) in the African Kalahari desert where a giant rock resembling a python that is accompanied by large amounts of colored broken spear points and a secret chamber has been discovered inside a cave. The Broken spear points were most likely sacrificial offerings and the python is also important to and worshipped by contemporary Bushmen Hunter-gatherers who are the descendants of the of the people who devised the ritual at the Tsodilo Hills and may have inherited their worship of the python from their distant Middle Paleolithic ancestors.World\'s Oldest Ritual Discovered -- Worshipped The Python 70,000 Years Ago The Research Council of Norway (2006, November 30). World\'s Oldest Ritual Discovered -- Worshipped The Python 70,000 Years Ago. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 2, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2006/11/061130081347.htm

The earliest undisputed human burial dates back 130,000 years. Human skeletal remains stained with red ochre were discovered in the Skhul cave at Qafzeh, Israel. A variety of grave goods were present at the site, including the mandible of a wild boar in the arms of one of the skeletons.Uniquely Human page 163 It may be that the anatomically modern human emigrants from Africa inhabiting the Middle East during that time, as opposed to the Neanderthals, invented this form of ritualized burial practice. Middle stone age sites in Africa dating to around the same time frame also show an increased use of red ochre, a pigment thought to have only symbolic value.The Religious Mind and the Evolution of ReligionAn early case of color symbolismRitual, Emotion, and Sacred Symbols: The Evolution of Religion as an Adaptive Complex These findings have lead researchers like Lieberman to believe that the religious mind has been in existence for at least 100,000 years.

Other scholars believe that religion only appeared around 50,000 years ago during the transition from the middle to the upper paleolithic. Increasing evidence of burial with grave goods and the appearance of anthropomorphic images and cave paintings may suggest that humans in the upper paleolithic were the first to believe in supernatural beings. (1996) The Prehistory of the Mind: The Cognitive Origins of Art, Religion and Science. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05081-3.  The cave paintings of Chauvet have been dated to 32,000 and those at Lascaux have been dated to 17,000 years ago. At Lascaux the anthropomorphic paintings show depictions of strange beasts such as ones that are half human and half bird and half human and half lion. Consequently some have suggested that these are indications of shaministic beliefs.^{[citation needed]} The earliest known undisputed burial of a shaman dates back to the early Upper Paleolithic era (c. 30,000 BC) in what is now the Czech RepublicTedlock, Barbara. 2005. The Woman in the Shaman\'s Body: Reclaiming the Feminine in Religion and Medicine. New York: Bantam. howbeit, it was probably more common during the early Upper Paleolithic for religious ceremonies to receive equal and full participation from all members of the Band in contrast to the religious traditions of later periods when religious authorities and part-time ritual specialists such as shamans, priests and medicine men were relatively common and integral to religious life.Stavrianos, pg 10 The earliest known Paleolithic shaman(c. 30,000 BC) was female.Tedlock, Barbara. 2005. The Woman in the Shaman\'s Body: Reclaiming the Feminine in Religion and Medicine. New York: Bantam.

A controversial scholar of prehistoric religion and anthropology James Harrod, (Ph.D) has recently proposed that religion and spirituality (and art) may have first arose in Pre-Paleolithic chimpanzee Appendices for chimpanzee spirituality by James Harrod and or Early Lower Paleolithic (Oldowan) societies,Oldowan Art, Religion, Symbols, Mind by James Harrod however the established anthropological view holds that it is more probable that humankind first developed Religious and Spiritual beliefs during the Middle Paleolithic or Upper Paleolithic.

Paleolithic religion was likley apotropaic specifically, it probaly involved sympathetic magic, the Venus figurines which are abundant in the Upper Paleolithic archeological record provide an example for Paleolithic sympathetic magic as they may have been used for ensuring success in hunting and to bring about fertility of the land and women.[http://books.google.com/books?id=aJgp94zNwNQC&printsec=frontcover#PPA11,M1 McClellan , pg 11.]

The Upper Paleolithic venus figurines have been sometimes explained as depictions of an Earth Goddess simliar to Gaia.^[1]

Timeline

• 300,000- first (disputed) evidence of intentional burial of the dead. Sites such as at Atapuerca in Spain, bones of over 32 individuals are found in pit within a caveWhen Burial Begins.
• 130,000 ya, - Earliest undisputed evidence for intentional burial. Neanderthals are burying their dead at sites such as Krapina in Croatia.
• 100,000 ya- The oldest ritual burial of modern humans is thought to be from a Qafzeh in Israel. There is a double burial of what is thought to be a mother and child. The bones have been stained with red ochre. By 100,000 years ago anatomically modern humans migrated to the middle east from Africa. However the fossil record of these humans ends after 100kya, leading scholars to believe that population either died out or returned to Africa.Museum of Natural History article on human human evolutionThe beginning of religion at the beginning of the neolithic
• 100,000 to 50,000 ya- Increased use of red ochre at several Middle Stone Age sites. Red Ochre is thought to have played an important role in ritual.
• 50,000- Humans have evolved the traits associated with modern human behavior. Much of the evidence is from Late Stone Age sites in Africa. Modern human behavior includes abilities such as modern language, abstract thought, symbolism and religion.
• 42,000 ya- Ritual burial of Man at Lake Mungo in Australia. The body is sprinkled with copious amounts of red ochre. this is seen as evidence that the Australians had brought along with them religious rituals from Africa.
• 40,000 ya-Upper Paleolithic begins in Europe. There is an abundance of fossil evidence including elaborate burials of the dead, venus figurines and cave art. Venus figurines are thought to represent fertility goddesses. The cave paintings at chauvet and Lascaux are believed to represent religious thought.
• 30,000 ya-Earliest known burial of a shaman.Tedlock, Barbara. 2005. The Woman in the Shaman\'s Body: Reclaiming the Feminine in Religion and Medicine. New York: Bantam.
• 11,000 ya- The Neolithic Revolution begins.

Neolithic

There are no extant textual sources from the Neolithic era, the most recent available dating from the Bronze Age, and therefore all statements about any belief systems Neolithic societies may have entertained are glimpsed from archaeology.

The archaeologist Marija Gimbutas has notably put forward views which describe a matriarchal "Old Europe" set of societies dominated by goddess worship, in particular postulating a bird goddess and a bear goddess. Gimbutas considered the Bronze Age Minoan civilization a native continuation of Neolithic Europe, with the labrys and bull worship continuing symbols of matristic power. Though these views are questioned by the majority of the scientific community.

Bronze Age

Reconstructions

The early Bronze Age Proto-Indo-European religion (itself reconstructed), and the attested early Semitic gods, are presumed continuations of certain traditions of the late Neolithic.

Archaeology

Bronze Age Europe

Hints to the religion of Bronze Age Europe include images of solar barges, frequent appearance of the Sun cross, deposits of bronze axes, and later sickles, so-called moon idols, the conical golden hats, the Nebra skydisk, and burial in tumuli, but also cremation as practised by the Urnfield culture.

See also

• Development of religion
• Anthropology of religion
• Sun worship
• Moon worship
• Fire worship
• Bull worship
• Bear worship
• Horse sacrifice
• Ancestor worship
• sacral king
• Religions of the ancient Near East
• Circular ditches, Goseck circle
• Tarxien Temples
• Ġgantija
• Henge, Stonehenge
• Megalithic tomb, Tumulus
• Urmonotheismus

Notes

1. ^  Christopher L. C. E. Witcombe, "Women in the Stone Age," in the essay "The Venus of Willendorf" (accessed March 13, 2008).

References

Sources

• Marija Gimbutas, The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe (1974)
• Marija Gimbutas, The Language of the Goddess, (1989)
• Marija Gimbutas, The Civilization of the Goddess (1991)

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