Tsodilo Hills snake rock first evidence of religion

Tsodilo Hills snake rock: first evidence of religion? Beads and body ornaments: evidence of trade networks? • Tsodilo Hills of Botswana. Ritually -modified snake-rock, dated to around 70, 000 ybp 6 meter long by 2 meter high. • The python plays an especially prominent role in San creation myths and Tsodilo hills are thought to be sacred. • Still Bay & Howieson’s Poort “precocious” industries, “exotic” microliths. 70 -60, 000 ybp • Beads 100, 000 -70, 000 ybp (Blombos Cave, SA; Skhul, Israel; Oued Djebbana, Algeria site potential hxaro gifts) • As societies becoming increasingly dissimilar greater policing required to ensure cooperation

Bruniquel Cave (France) vs. Rhino Cave (Tsodilo Hills, Botswana) Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens’ Cave Rituals Tsodilo Hills, central Botswana, from a distance Bruniquel: all materials used found in the cave • • Rhino: exotic materials brought to the cave and burned and destroyed in ritual activity Rhino cave rituals higher “cost”

UP religion • Les Trois Freres “Sorcerer” image • Bird-man image from shaft at Lascaux • Both dated to Magdalenian era 18, 00012, 000 ybp

UP Painted Caves Chauvet Cave 30, 000 ybp

Altamira 16, 000 ybp

Lascaux 16, 000 ybp

• Early UP evidence of religion – Sungir burial 28, 000 ybp – Hohlenstein-Stadel “lion-man” 30, 000 ybp – Fumane Cave “shaman” 35, 000 ybp

Supernatural value monitoring: Gods who care • Earliest forms of religion represented supernatural layer to social life – Animism: personalizing the natural world – Shamanism: mediating between the natural and supernatural – Ancestors: guardians of tradition and taboo Humans always behave better when being watched, a supernaturalized social world is one with constant monitoring. Human relationships and community “elevated” by presumed value monitoring

Why “supernaturalize” social life? • Group benefits – Supernaturalized rituals more effective in promoting group cohesion and trust – Orthodox kibbutz, religions communes more cohesive, enduring, individuals more selfsacrificing compared to secular. – Group competition likely in ancestral past (64% engaged in regular group warfare; only 11% “peaceful”)

Ritual and norm following • Following norms of: - in-group cooperativeness - self-restraint - commitment in marriage - honesty - charity All positively correlated in increased ritual activity Support for extreme form of norm-following, parochial altruism, crossculturally associated with increased ritual participation (Ginges, et al. , 2009). Experimental study (Wiltermuth & Heath, 2009); those who participated in group-coordinated; synchronized activities more cooperative and generous later (“muscular bonding”)

Heeding the message: Creating complex societies through social norms • Only humans have social norms • Chimps are “rational maximizers” in “dictator” games; no third party punishment among chimps • Social norms vs. conventions – Conventions: rules for coordinating activity – Morally weighty social rules that all are “ought” to follow (character, reputation, social standing, and social sanctions determined by norms). – Con: raising hands to be recognized – Norm: respecting elders, repaying debts etc.

Why did Cro-Magnons replace Neanderthals? • • • Cognitive differences alone seem inadequate Cooperative Hunting (Le Cotte) Worked beads/pendants (Arcy sur Cure) Art? (La Roche-Cotard mask) These finds are relatively rare

Consistent social differences • Cro-Magnon sites consistently larger, more frequent, more spatially organized (sometimes), more intensely used and occupied, higher population densities, greater seasonal aggregation. • Evidence of long-distance trading networks

Stronger Social Identity • First evidence of body ornaments sometime between 100 -70, 000 ybp. • Emergence of durable social marking • Expansion of Parietal lobe – greater capacity for social categorization. • “Troop to tribe” transition

An older generation • Caspari and Lee (2004) analyzed tooth samples from Australopiths, Early Homo, Neanderthals, and Cro-Magnons. • Older/Younger adults (Older = 2 X average of reproduction) • A=. 12; EH=. 25; N=. 39; C-M=2. 08. • Only among UP modern humans was there evidence of an older generation.

Effects of an Older Generation • Greater security and stability: more eyes to watch children, more hands to procure resources. • Cultural continuity: traditions, skills more effectively passed on, stronger cultural identity. • Social role specialization: domestic/economic tasks can be more effectively spread among adult group members. Sexrole specialization.