Civilization #2: Religion and the Dawn of Society

Ice Age hunter-gatherers created elaborate cave paintings 30,000-40,000 years ago in caves worldwide. These artists spent days in dark, cold, oxygen-depleted environments creating beautiful, creative works using ochre (red) and charcoal (black).

Prehistoric humans developed cosmologies centered on a mother goddess figure, recognizing women as possessing divine connection through their unique ability to give birth. This theological framework shaped early human understanding of life, death, and spiritual realms.

Prehistoric peoples developed symmetrical cosmologies explaining life and death through portal metaphors. This framework provided meaning for existence’s boundaries while establishing burial practices as sacred rituals returning souls to their origin.

A dwarf skeleton from prehistoric times reveals equal nutrition and elaborate burial despite apparent inability to contribute to hunting or gathering. DNA analysis shows this person received same food quality as productive community members and special treatment upon death.

Prehistoric humans lacking scientific explanations for natural phenomena attributed unexplainable events to divine forces. This interpretive framework transformed mysterious experiences into sacred encounters requiring religious responses.

Throughout most human history, prehistoric societies maintained either egalitarian structures with gender equality or matriarchal systems where women held superior power. Male-dominated structures emerged only in recent history, not as humanity’s natural state but as later development.

Prehistoric artists created symbolic representations not for aesthetic purposes but to visualize religious understanding and mythological frameworks. These individuals served religious functions, transforming abstract beliefs into concrete images enabling collective comprehension and shared experience.

All humans throughout history have possessed religious impulses, making religion a defining characteristic separating humans from other animals. This fundamental drive existed from humanity’s dawn, not as cultural addition but as essential component of human consciousness.