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The Ancient Record of Religion Among Archaic Hominids

http://home.entouch.net/dmd/religion.htm

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Presumably, any outsiders living at the time of Adam would have been outside the old covenant, and unable to enjoy this unique status, which included the hope of being claimed by God through (1) the Adamic bloodline, (2) the discipline of self righteousness, and (3) the ritual of animal sacrifice."
     "The beginnings of God-awareness or seeking after God can be substantiated in history by the evidence of religious relics and altars dating as far back as 24,000 years ago, but there is no evidence that the Creator manifested Himself to any of these forerunners as He did to Adam.
     "Catal Huyuk in south-central Turkey was excavated in the 1960s. This city was settled as far back as possibly 8300 B. C., but by about 5600 BC it was abandoned. From analysis of the skeletal remains found there, a French expert concluded that two distinct racial types were represented, on European, the other Asian. Although many shrines were unearthed at Catal Huyuk, there were no signs of animal sacrifice."

'...animal sacrifice apparently was not practiced inside the shrines, as there is no evidence of a slaughtering block or a catchment for the runoff of blood.'

     "If animal sacrifice was a covering for sin began with Adam and his descendants after the Fall, then apparently Catal Huyuk was not populated by Adamic or Semitic populations. Also, 5600 BC is far too soon for any Semites and a little too soon for Adamites." (Fischer, 1996, p. 194)

Dick seems to place lots of weight on the animal sacrifice issue. He seems to (erroneously) think that animal sacrifice didn't occur until Adam, living sometime around 4500 BC. (Fischer, 1996, p. 196)

The problem I see is that this creates two classes of people—the Semites (Jews and Arabs) who are descended from Adam with the image of God and others who don't have it. This creates weird situations like my family in which my wife and children would be descendents of Adam and have the image of God, and I wouldn't. (My wife occasionally thinks this may be true when she see some of the stuff I do) But at root, such a view in my mind could encourage racism. In fairness to Dick, whom I like, he would deny this and he certainly holds no racist views. . But given what humans do with racial differences, I think it is a valid worry.

Hugh Ross says some equally silly things.

     "Bipedal, tool-using, large-brained primates (called hominids by anthropologists) may have roamed the earth as long ago as one million years, but religious relics and altars date back only 8,000 to 24,000 years.  Thus, the secular archaeological date for the first spirit creatures is in complete agreement with the biblical date.

Recent discoveries have revived the debate about how old religion is. I will follow several evidences of religion back into anthropological history.  El Juyo is around 13,000 years ago.  Freeman and Echegaray describe it:


"Presiding over all these associated features, from a position directly overlooking the small structure (in the middle of its southeast side), was a good-sized vertical stone, one of whose surfaces, that facing the structure and the old cave entrance, had been deliberately transformed into a semi-human face. The stone measures thirty-five by thirty-two centimeters and is twenty-one centimeters thick." (Freeman and Echegaray, 1981, p. 10.)

"From the description given above and an examination of the photograph and drawing, the reader will realize that the stone face represents a being whose nature is dual, although the two sides of its character have been harmoniously integrated into one single face. The proper right side of the face is that of an adult male human, with moustache and beard. The proper left side is a large carnivore, with oblique eye, large lachrymal, and a moderately long nose, ending in a good depiction of a naked rhinarium. The chin is triangular, and a sharply pointed tooth projects above the mouth. On the muzzle there are three subparallel lines of black spots suggesting the bases of whiskers or vibrissae, a characteristic feature of felids. Taken as a whole, these features represent a large cat, probably a lion or leopard (both existed near El Juyo in Magdalenian times)." (Freeman and Echegaray, 1981, p. 15-16.)

"The form of the structures and the peculiar way in which they were built also call for an explanation from beyond the realm of ordinary domestic activities. As examples, we may cite the careful disposition of the regular lots of earth which go to form the bulk of the mounds, either in rosettes or in double lines; the fact that the several rosettes were plastered over with clay of vividly different colors; the sprinkling of red ochre over the whole at several different stages of construction; the channel uniting the two mounds, by which something organic and greasy was evidently poured from the small structure into the large one; the vertical antler tine found in the middle of an ochre layer in the bottom of the larger trench; the positioning of the two large slabs, one horizontally over the large structure, the other on edge nearby. the symmetry of spatial relationships, with pits between and at either end of the two mounds, other pits on either side of the large horizontal slab, the vertical slab oriented parallel to the small mound and both perpendicular to the large one; and, finally, the very presence of these enigmatic mound-trench complexes, which have no apparent economic explanation. The behavior involved in the construction of this structural aggregate is obviously symbolic and its meaning obscure." (Freeman and Echegaray, 1981, p. 15.)

Clearly, this religious monument goes much further back in time than Ross and Fischer believes.

There was apparently an altar in Chauvet Cave (dated 31,000 years ago[Balter, 1996, p. 449]). A bear skull was precariously placed on a flat topped stone and fire was burned just behind the skull. Chauvet et al, write:

"A little further on we were deeply impressed by what we discovered. In the middle of the chamber, on a block of grey stone of regular shape that had fallen from the ceiling, the skull of a bear was placed as if on an altar. The animal's fangs projected beyond it into the air. On top of the stone there were still pieces of charcoal, the remains of a fireplace. All around, on the floor, there were more than thirty bear skulls; now covered in a frosting of amber-coloured calcite, they were purposely set out on the earth. There were no traces of skeletons. This intentional arrangement troubled us because of its solemn peculiarity." (Chauvet et al, 1996, p. 50)

The lack of bear skeletal parts proves that these were not stray bears that got trapped and died in the cave. Their heads were removed elsewhere and brought into the cave. There were no postcranial elements.

The fact that 30,000 years ago man was apparently worshipping the bear lends credence to the next oldest probable religious site. Except this one was built by Neanderthal. At Bruniquel, France, archeologists have excavated a square stone structure dating to more than 47,000 years ago (prior to the advent of modern man in Europe) in which the Neanderthals burned a bear. Bednarik (1996, p. 104) writes:

"The cave of Bruniquel in southern France has just produced fascinating new evidence. Several hundred metres in from the cave entrance, a stone structure has been discovered. It is quadrilineal, measures four by five metres and has been constructed from pieces of stalagmite and stalactite. A burnt fragment of a bear bone found in it was radiocarbon analysed, yielding a 'date' of greater than 47 600 years BP. This suggests that the structure is the work of Neanderthals. It is located in complete darkness, which proves that the people who ventured so deep into the large cave system had reliable lighting and had the confidence to explore such depths. Bruniquel is one of several French caves that became closed subsequent to their Pleistocene use, but were artificially opened this century."

This appears to have been the ritual sacrifice of a bear. It is also the first proof that man went deep into caves long before they painted the walls. (Balter, 1996, p. 449)

Neanderthals at Nahr Ibrahim, Lebanon, appear to have ritually sacrificed a deer. Marshack writes:

"In the Mousterian cave shelter of Nahr Ibrahim in Lebanon the bones of a fallow deer (Dama mesopotamia) were gathered in a pile and topped by the skull cap. Many of the bones were unbroken and still articulated. Around the animal were bits of red ochre. While red ochre was common in the area and so may have been introduced inadvertently, the arrangement of the largely unbroken bones suggests a ritual use of parts of the animal." (Marschack 1990, p. 481)

The ochre was proven to have been brought in from elsewhere by the discoverer (Solecki, 1982). This site is greater than 40,000 years old. This is animal sacrifice long before Dick says it exists.  Perhaps these ancient peoples should have read The Origins Solution so that they wouldn't do these things.

The 80,000 year old site of Drachenloch, Switzerland, also appears to have been a religious site, once again a Neanderthal site. Bachler found what appeared to be ritually arranged cave bear bones and ashes on what he called a sacrificial altar. (Lissner, 1961, 187-188). Campbell and Loy write:

"The most famous example of what has been claimed to be Neandertal hunting magic is the so-called bear cult. It came to light when a German archaeologist, Emil Bachler, excavated the cave of Drachenloch between 1917 and 1923. Located 8,000 ft (2,400 m) up in the Swiss Alps, this 'lair of the dragons' tunnels deep into a mountainside. The front part of the cave, Bachler's work made clear, served as an occasional dwelling place for Neandertals. Farther back, Bachler found a cubical chest made of stones and measuring approximately 3.25 ft (1 m) on a side. The top of the chest was covered by a massive slab of stone. Inside were seven bear skulls, all apparently arranged with their muzzles facing the cave entrance. Still deeper in the cave were six bear skulls, seemingly set in niches along the walls. The Drachenloch find is not unique. At Regourdou in southern France, a rectangular pit, covered by a flat stone weighing nearly a ton, held the bones of more than 20 bears." (Campbell and Loy, 1996, p. 441)

Honesty demands that one note that Drachenloch (not Regourdou) is controversial so for an alternative view, see Kurten (1976, p. 84-86) For a discussion of why I don't think Kurten's critique is correct see Morton (1997, p.73-75)

There is an even earlier altar, which is not controversial, found at Bilzingsleben, Germany. The excavators, Dietrich and Ursula Mania have found a 27-foot-diameter paved area that they say was used for "special cultural activities" (Mania et al,1994, p. 124; See also Mania and Mania, 1988, p. 92). Gore writes:

"But Mania's most intriguing find lies under a protective shed. As he opens the door sunlight illuminates a cluster of smooth stones and pieces of bone that he believes were arranged by humans to pave a 27-foot-wide circle. "'They intentionally paved this area for cultural activities,' says Mania. 'We found here a large anvil of quartzite set between the horns of a huge bison, near it were fractured human skulls.'" (1997,p. 110)

I would contend that the symbolism here, if found in a modern village, would be enough to cause one to turn and flee for his life. Such an arrangement of objects would immediately be interpreted as evidence of religion, and a hostile religion at that. And Bilzingsleben dates to around 425,000 years, not the mere 24,000 years that Ross prefers for the oldest evidence of religion. If Ross wishes to claim that religion doesn't go back further than 24,000 years, he should explain why the above five examples don't qualify as examples of religion? It is clear that evidence of religion in the anthropological record prior to 24,000 years is not rare. Ross can't prove his case by ignoring these sites and this data.

Then, there is the defleshing of human bones which have occurred at Bodo Ethiopia, 600,000 years ago. The skull has the same kind of cutmarks one got when a body is defleshed for burial. Medieval and early Christians engaged in this practice. The bones of the saints were cleaned (using knives) and then the bones were put in niches in the wall. We see these kinds of cuts that long ago.

One can only conclude from the above that both Fischer and Ross are ignoring the archaeological data in order to maintain their belief system. This twisting of the observational data for apologetical purposes, is a time honored tradition among apologists. It is something that must stop if Christianity is to ever develop a successful apologetic.

This site will be updated in the next few weeks to include evidence of the Mother Goddess religion, and a more detailed account of the Bear Cult, a religion which exists even today.  

Well weeks turned into years, below was added in 2008, but here it is, more evidence of religion among the hominids. Let's start with the bear cult.  This is a religion widely practiced in the circum-polar regions of the northern hemisphere. The ceremonies vary slightly, but they all end in the ritual sacrifice of a bear with its head being collected in certain sacred spots. 

Using the Ainu of Japan as an example, the process usually takes about 2 years. After hunters capture a bear cub, the cub is raised by the village for about a year and a half. Some writers have observed Ainu women nursing baby bears while listening to missionaries speaking. The bear is beloved in the village and becomes a member of the village.  Just before the Ainu move to their summer settlement they sacrifice the bear, descriptions of the ceremony apparently varied from village to village. Here is one description.

    "Among the Sakhalin Ainu, after the bear is taken out of the bear house it is killed with two pointed arrows (fig. 33.4), whereas the Hokkaido Ainu use blunt arrows (heper-ay) before critically wounding the bear with pointed arrows; they then strangle the bear between two logs. Male elders skin and dress the bear, which is then placed in front of the altar (nusa) where treasures are hung (fig. 33.5). After preliminary feasting outside at the altar, the Ainu bring the dissected bear into the house through the sacred window and continue their feast. Among the Hokkaido Ainu, the ceremony ends when the skull of the bear is placed on the nusa outside the house on a pole decorated with naw; the elder recites a farewell prayer while shooting an arrow toward the eastern sky, an act that signifies the departure of the deity. The Sakhalin Ainu take the bear skull, dressed in ritual wood shavings, and the bones, eyes, and penis (if a male) to a sacred pile in the mountains. They also sacrifice two carefully chosen dogs, which are considered to be servant-messengers to the bear deities. (For the Hokkaido Ainu bear ceremony, see Munro's film and Kitagawa [19611 for Sakhalin, see Pilsudski [1915] and Ohnuki-Tterney [1974: 90-97]).

    "Although often mistaken as cruel by outsiders, the bear ceremony is a ritual whereby the Ainu express their utmost respect to their deity, and its paramount significance is a sacred act. For the Sakhalin Ainui, the bear is not important as a food source: like other hunting societies that do not regularly eat their most prestigious big game-the !Kung San of the Kalahari Desert, for instance, do not regularly eat giraffe Ainu rarely eat bear meat, and the bear ceremony is held only once a year, if that. Even so, Ainu men and women find bear meat exquisite, unparalleled by any other food." (Ohnuki-Tierney, 1999, p. 241-242) 

Ivar Lissner has a picture in his book of another way the bear was killed (Lissner, 1961, figure 87 between pp 224-225)

Other Siberian tribes collected the skulls of sacrificed bears.

"The Russian scholar B. Zitkov, describing a journey to the Yamal Peninsula in 1913, refers to a sacrificial mound composed of polar bear's skulls. He learned that the Samoyeds had been accumulating bears' skulls on this spot for over a hundred years. The Samoyeds' supreme being is called 'Num,' and it was to this single deity that the skull sacrifices had been offered. Like Boa, the god of the Orochi and the Tungus in general, the Samoyeds' high god is all-embracing. He is earth, sky, the whole of nature and the universe in its entirety. The fact that the Samoyeds also recognize numerous spirits does not change their conception of Num as an invisible being of unequaled sublimity who loves men and gives them good hunting by dispatching spirits whom he has entrusted with its bestowal." (Lissner, 1961,p. 165)

And our constellations, Ursa major and Ursa minor, might have been influenced by this widespread religion of the north, due to the pole star being in the constellation of the bear!.

"We now come to the most mysterious feature of the bear cult. After his death, the bear is known as chinukara-gur, which means 'prophet' or 'guardian.' The Ainu use the same word to describe the North Star in the constellation of the Little Bear. So it seems that from primeval times the civilizations of both the Mediterranean and the Ainu have associated this constellation with the bear. And up there the soul of the creature, which the Ainu believe to be their redeemer and mediator, has its final destination." (Lissner, 1957, p. 207)

At Mas d'Azil in the French Pyrannees, sometime between 9500 and 12,500 years ago, someone made a two sided plaque which appears to show a bear cult ceremony similar to that described by circum polar peoples today.  Below are two drawings of this plaque.

Mas d'Azil, several thousand kilometers distant from the Ainu, seemed to engage in a similar ceremony!

Eighteen thousand years ago, at Le Trois Frere, there is a drawing  of a bear that appears to have darts sticking out of it and rocks hitting it. I would add that it might show blood pouring out of its mouth. (see picture below from Marshack, 1972), p. 236-237). But since this is a modern human site, it is not unexpected, to the Christian, that there might be evidence of religion.

But what of the Neanderthals? There are  implications of religious beliefs held by Neanderthals in the collections of bear skulls found in their caves.  The mere preservation of skulls need not suggest anything religious, but in some cases special attention was given to their placement, as was noted with some Siberian tribes. In one Neanderthal  cave, five bear skulls were found in niches in the cave wall.  The skulls of several cave bears in a group have been found surrounded by built-up stone walls, with some skulls having little stones placed around them, while others were set out on slabs.

 "All this suggests some kind of bear cult, like that practiced until Quite  recently by the Chippewa and other North American Indians.  After a Chippewa hunter had killed a bear, he would cut off the head, which was then decorated with beads and ribbons (in the period after contact with Europeans).  Some tobacco was placed before its nose.  The hunter would then make a little speech, apologizing to the bear for having had to kill it. Bear skulls were preserved and hung up on trees so that dogs and wolves could not get at them.  Bear ceremonialism of this and related kinds had a wide circumpolar distribution--from the Great Lakes to the Ainu of northern Japan through various Siberian tribes, such as the Ostyaks and the Orochi, to the Finns and Lapps of Scandinavia.  So wide a distribution of this trait, associated as it was with other apparently very early circumpolar traits, suggests great age.  It is possible, therefore, that some aspects of this bear ceremonialism go back to Middle Paleolithic times." (Barnouw, 1982, p. 156-157)

Since we find similar things among the Neanderthals, we might very well be dealing with an 80,000 year old religion! Here is more data.

 "All Mousterian burials are associated with living floors, except Regourdou,  where the burial was placed in a sort of bear sanctuary in Layer IV, which was very elaborately constructed but showed no traces of regular habitation." (Smirnov, 1989, p. 220)

 An amazing statement. What is the evidence for this sanctuary?

 "Ten years earlier, another French archaeologist discovered at the 80,000-year-old site of Regourdou what seemed to have been the scene of a bear cult.  The carefully arranged bones of a brown bear had been placed in a stone-lined pit, along with  the skeleton of a young adult Neandertal." (Shreeve, 1995, p. 52)

 Regourdou is compared with Drachenloch. Campbell and Loy write:

  "The most famous example of what has been claimed to be Neandertal Hunting magic is the so-called bear cult.  It came to light when a German archaeologist, Emil Bachler, excavated the cave of Drachenloch between 1917 and 1923.  Located 8,000 ft (2,400 m) up in the Swiss Alps, this 'lair of the dragons' tunnels deep into a mountainside.  The front part of the cave, Bachler's work made clear, served as an occasional dwelling place for Neandertals. Farther back, Bachler found a cubical chest made of stones and  measuring approximately 3.25 ft (1 m) on a side.  The top of the chest was covered by a massive slab of stone.  Inside were seven bear skulls, all apparently arranged with their muzzles facing the cave entrance.  Still deeper in the cave were six bear skulls, seemingly set in niches along the walls.  The Drachenloch find is not unique.  At Regourdou in southern France, a rectangular pit, covered by a flat stone weighing nearly a ton, held the bones of more than 20 bears." (Campbell and Loy, 1996), p. 441)

 At Wildenmannlisloch we have a possible ceremonial figure.

 "How for instance can we to explain the discovery, in a carefully protected niche in one of the chambers of the Wildenmannlisloch, of a small figure resembling a female sculpture?  Made out of the lower jaw of a cave bear, it may be either an artifact or a freak of nature.  One thing is certain: the flattened planes of its 'head' were rubbed smooth by some human agency; perhaps, as Emil Bachler suggests, because the bone was originally used as an instrument for smoothing animal skins.  This may be the reason why certain portions of the so-called 'pseudo-Venus' appear to have been polished.  Bachler is of the opinion that the figure came into being accidentally, as a result of continual friction due to use, not as a deliberate attempt to reproduce the shape of the human head.  I have examined the figure closely.  The closed eyes, delicate mouth, small forehead, slim neck and back all convey an impression of careful workmanship.  A second 'Venus' discovered in the same hiding place has smooth patches but no recognizable head.  "Even if the pseudo-Venus was not actually made by Stone-Age man, the cave dweller must have noticed its resemblance to the figure of a girl.  Why else would he have put it to one side and preserved it so carefully? The prehistorian Friedrich Behn in his book Vorgeschichte Europas, asserts that the people of the Neanderthalian race were lacking in any form of artistic impulse.  The celebrated Venus statuettes of the Stone Age belong to the Aurignacian, a far later period.  The pseudo-Venus may, therefore, be unique in its period, the earliest portrayal of the human figure known to have been made, or at least recognized as such, by man.  It is probably the most remarkable evidence of prehistoric activity or comprehension in the world. Between four and five inches tall the Venus was found on October 21, 1926,  and reposes today in the Heimatmuseum at Saint Gallen, a Paleolithic Sleeping Beauty waiting to rejoice the eye of the occasional visitor." (Lissner,1961, p. 189-191)

 The pseudovenus is reminiscent of what some Siberian tribes do today.

"The strange little wooden figures which the Orochi and Manega carve on trees or occasionally display on wooden altars are effigies of a forest spirit whom they call Bainaca ." (Lissner, 1961, p. 161)

At Salzenhole and Petershohle we have:

 "In the Salzofenhohle, more than six thousand feet up in the Totes Gebirge not far from Aussee in Austria, the paleontologist and paleobiologist Kurt Ehrenberg found three cave bears' skulls which had been accurately ringed with stones.  In all three cases, charcoal remains were discovered beside or beneath the skulls.  In Petershohle, bears' skulls had been carefully deposited in small holes and niches.  In a cupboard-like recess in the rock  wall, four feet above the floor of the cave, five skulls, two femurs and a humerus were found all belonging to cave bears.  The skulls fell to pieces in the diggers' hands during removal.  The man responsible for exploring the Petershohle, K. Hormann, declared: 'These skeletal remains could not have got up there or in there by any natural means.'  It seems probable therefore that they were a conscious committal  to eternity and a deliberate sacrifice, not a fortuitous act but a calculated gesture toward an exalted and timeless power." (Lissner, 1961, p. 191-192)

I t is quite likely that Neanderthals engaged in a religion similar to that of the Chippewa, the Finns, the Ainu and other circum-polar people today.  We may actually have an example of a religion with an age of more than 80,000 years. 

Animal ritual

Other signs of ritual among the erectines at 400,000 concerns an elephant skeleton found at Toralba symbolically arranged. This was written before the discovery of Bilzingsleben, Berekhat Ram and Tan-Tan (see below).

 "Almost the complete left side of one elephant skeleton was found arranged as if for display, each bone turned over and replaced in the position it would have held in life. At the nearby site of Ambrona, Howell found several leg bones lying end to end in two perpendicular lines." . . ."The oddly symmetrical half-carcass was harder to explain - perhaps it was the remnant of some ritual, though no other signs that Homo erectus indulged in ceremony had ever been found." (Johanson and Shreeve, 1989, p. 221)

Of course, since then other evidence has been found, as noted, at Bilzingsleben, Berekhat Ram, and Tan-Tan, Morrocco.

The Venus figurines.

There is also a huge involvement in the manufacture of female mother-goddess figurines. One could claim (and my catholic friends will be appalled) that statues of Mother Mary are part of this trend. Hindu's also have a mother Goddess. Venus figurines, statues of a female, are found among modern human sites almost everywhere. See http://www.donsmaps.com/venus.html for examples.

 Figures of nude women were made by anatomically modern man, both in the Paleolithic as well as in the Neolithic through the early historical period. Venus figurines were used in religious worship. They represent the mother goddess (See Marija Gimbutas, The Language of the Goddess, HarperSanFrancisco, 1989). In 1986 a Venus figurine was found at Berekhat Ram, Israel and dates to 280,000 to 330,0000 years ago. I need to make a comment about the date. The figurine was found beneath a volcanic ash layer that dated to 233,000 years old and above one that dated around 470,000 years old (range 290,000 to 780,000). There was sediment between the Berekhat Ram figurine and the upper volcanic ash layer that took anywhere from 30 to 100,000 years to be deposited. Thus 250,000 is considered the minimum age while 330 is probably the maximum age.

Depending upon which date the author wanted to use you will see dates in the range of 250,000 to 330,000 years old in the literature. While it was controversial for a long time, within the past 4 years even its critics have now accepted it as having been made by Homo erectus and as representing a piece of art possibly of religious significance.

Tim Appenzellar wrote:

 "After years of doubt, most archaeologists accept that the so-called Berekhat Ram object from the Golan Heights is the work of human hands, although there is no consensus about what if anything, it means.” (Appenzeller, 1998, p. 1451-1452)

The figurine is crude, but it looks almost identical to a female figurine made by modern man in Russia which is undoubtedly a piece of art. (see M. D. Gvozdover, "The Typology of Female Figurines of the Kostenki Paleolithic Culture," Soviet Anthropology and Archeology, Spring 1989, p. 57, Voprosy antropologii, 75:1985, pp 27-66,).  Marshack, the world's leading authority on paleolithic art studied the figurine microscopically and concluded:

 "The earliest evidence of human image-making so far known occurs in the Levant within a late Acheulian context containing a Levalloisian technique. This evidence, dated at c. 250,000 BP, is 100,000 to 150,000 years earlier than the proposed mtDNA dates (c. 100,000-200,000 BP) for the appearance of an African 'Eve', the supposed genetic 'mother' of anatomically modern humans." (Marshack, 1997, p. 328)

Because of this, this Venus figurine, which is just like those used by modern men in religious rituals, represents a very tantalizing indication of mankind's spiritual interest almost 300,000 years ago.

But this isn’t the only figurine found from that time. The Tan-Tan figurine found in Morocco, dated 400,000 years ago, actually shows evidence of having been painted red—symbolic of blood in many primitive societies.

“The earliest palaeoart evidence from Africa includes the proto-figurine from Tan-Tan, southern Morocco, a modified manuport from a Middle Acheulian layer. Its recent discovery confirms the authenticity of the similar Berekhat Ram specimen, also a proto-sculpture of this period. Importantly, the Tan-Tan figurine bears microscopic traces of a bright-red pigment, which is currently the earliest evidence of applied colouring material.” (Bednarik, 2003, p. 96)

 There are some funeral rituals among the Homo erectus which are also consistent with spiritual beliefs. They occasionally treated human remains as did medieval monks and early Christians. Bone were defleshed and that leaves characteristic cut marks on the bones. Some say this is cannibalism, but cannibalism is a highly symbolic activity for humans. Consider the Lord’s Supper, “Take eat; This is my body…” We Christians engage in symbolic cannibalism. So, even if it is cannibalism, it probably represents a spiritual dimension. Human sacrifice, as appears to have happened at Bilzingsleben also is part and parcel of spirituality (especially for a Christian who believes t hat Jesus’ sacrifice saves us from our sins).

“"Maser and Gallup have done nothing less than identify a basic behavioral complex that seems dependent upon higher cognitive abilities that are facilitated by an expanded prefrontal cortex. From a paleoneurological perspective, it is significant that religion appears exclusively and universally in humans. But what of the fossil record? When do the concepts of death and an afterlife first appear? Although a precise answer may never be determined, the fossil record does provide some upper limits for the appearance of religious behaviors.

"Certainly big-brained, but beleaguered Neandertals had some sort of religion. As far as we know, they were the first hominids to bury their dead. Times were cold and the earth was frozen hard. Consequently, Neandertals often buried their dead in small graves, with corpses in flexed or semiflexed positions. Despite the practicality of their burials, by 50,000 years ago some Neandertal graves had become quite spectacular. For instance, analysis of pollen deposits from Shanidar Cave in northeastern Iraq indicates that the grave of an adult male may have been covered with an assortment of colorful flowers.

"From our Western perspective, we might be tempted to view other examples of Neandertal's treatment of the dead as ghoulish. For example, there's the lad from a shallow grave in Teshik-Tash, Russia, whose remains were surrounded by numerous pairs of goat horns. An equally intriguing find emerged with the discovery of a cave that had been closed for many thousands of years in Monte Circeo Italy. Within the cave, a Neandertal skull was found resting bottom up in the middle of a circle of rocks. The base of the skull was broken away as if the brains had been deliberately removed. Nor was this the first sign of a possible cannibalistic ceremony in the fossil record! Perhaps as long ago as half a million years, Homo erectus had acquired the unsavory habit of breaking into the braincases of his dead brethren.

"Although the reader may flinch at the suggestion that cannibalism indicates higher cognitive abilities, historical records indicate that cannibalism practiced by Homo sapiens in the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries served ceremonial more than nutritive purposes." (Falk, 1992, p. 181-182)

I might note that the Fore people of New Guinea also ate the brains of their kinsmen, and they got Kuru”Kuru is an acquired prion disease largely restricted to the Fore linguistic group of the Papua New Guinea Highlands, which was transmitted during endocannibalistic feasts. Heterozygosity for a common polymorphism in the human prion protein gene (PRNP) confers relative resistance to prion diseases. Elderly survivors of the kuru epidemic, who had multiple exposures at mortuary feasts, are, in marked contrast to younger unexposed Fore, predominantly PRNP 129 heterozygotes. Kuru imposed strong balancing selection on the Fore, essentially eliminating PRNP 129 homozygotes. Worldwide PRNP haplotype diversity and coding allele frequencies suggest that strong balancing selection at this locus occurred during the evolution of modern humans.” (Mead et al, 2003, p. 640)

These authors say that actual cannibalism of this nature was widespread in human history—there was a widespread believe that one got part of the spirit of the dead eating them.

" Although the prion gene could have been subject to other unknown forms of selection, available evidence appears consistent with the explanation that repeated episodes of endocannibalism-related prion disease epidemics in ancient human populations made coding heterozygosity at PRNP a significant selective advantage leading to the signature of balancing selection observed today.”(Mead et al, 2003, p. 643)

Symbolic and ritual behavior is evident among the erectines prior to 100 kyr ago.  Thus to claim that religion is only found among the anatomically modern humans is false in the face of the anthropological data.  Unfortunately, too many Christian apologists selectively cite data that supports their position and ignores data that doesn't.  In the case of ancient religion, this is a very widespread practice.

References

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