Some archaeologists and anthropologists believe that our Neanderthal cousins, who disappeared from the face of the Earth more than 30,000 years ago, may have engaged in spiritual or religious activities.
We know that Neanderthals buried their dead, accumulated animal skulls in caves for apparently symbolic purposes, created cave art, and carved symbolic designs into bear bones.
They also removed feathers from birds, possibly for use as ornaments, and probably used eagle claws as pendants. Sometimes they also practiced cannibalism.
This is some evidence that makes us believe that Neanderthals were involved in rituals; which raises the question: Did Neanderthals have religious beliefs?
Experts, consulted by , have several different opinions – and part of this depends on how “religion” is defined.
Definitions of “religion” vary, but often include beliefs in supernatural beings – often a Deus -, and organized practices made to interact with them.
But were Neanderthals capable of this?
“If by ‘religion’ we mean ritual behaviors directed at supernatural agents, then Yes, I believe Neanderthals were religious”, says, to Live Science, Patrick McNamaraprofessor of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine who has conducted extensive research into the evolution of the human brain and the neuroscience of religion.
“Their religious beliefs and behaviors were most likely close to what we call ‘shamanism’ — a visionary form of religious experience,” he explained.
There is now “very good evidence that they practiced ritual cannibalism and who buried their dead and carried out a ritual practice of crossing deep, cavernous environments build ritual ‘altars’ of circular or arranged skulls,” said McNamara.
“I also believe that Neanderthals practiced what we call ‘Bear ceremonialism’ and worshiped the Bear as a deity,” he added, noting that “there are several Neanderthal-related archaeological sites with bear skulls arranged on ritual altars in caves.”
Lack of sophistication to have a God?
Other experts have said that although Neanderthals may have had religious experiences of some kind, these would have been different of those that A wise man have today.
Robin Dunbarprofessor emeritus of evolutionary psychology at the University of Oxford, does not believe that his ability to understand the emotional state of himself and others was sophisticated enough to develop a religion in the same way that people do today, with different sets of belief systems that have their own theologies.
However, he admitted that Neanderthals probably had religious experiences at some levelpossibly in “experiences of mystery and magic, and a deep sense of connection”.
To anthropologist Margaret Boone Rappaport told Live Science that although Neanderthals “may have engaged in some forms of ritual, they probably did not have advanced neurocognitive capacity specific to a complex religion, similar to modern human, or theological thought”.
The brain architecture of Neanderthals was different from that of modern Homo sapiens, and “the lack of expansion in the precuneus [uma área do cérebro humano que é importante no entendimento da religião] suggests that Neanderthals did not have the cognitive capacities for the ‘imagined spaces and beings’ essential to human theologies,” said Rappaport.
