This document discusses the evolution of religion and the role of early priests in prehistoric human societies. It describes how as humans developed language and the ability to share experiences, they began to imagine unseen divine powers to explain natural phenomena they could not understand. Priests emerged as leaders who were responsible for rituals like burials of the dead and sacrifices to appease these imagined gods. Evidence from archaeological sites indicates priests played important roles in prehistoric communities as healers, teachers, and guides.

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Life after Death
The year 1698 was a milestone for the advancement of biology. In that
year, a British scientist, Edward Tyson, dissected a chimpanzee and
studied its internal organs. He was surprised to discover its close
resemblance to humans and asked himself why the internal organs of a
chimp were similar to that of a man. Were humans similar to chimps
during some bygone era? Did the remote ancestors of chimps evolve
into the human race? Tyson was probably the first scientist to foresee
that the great apes were the possible ancestors of humankind.
In 1859 CE, the legendary scientist, Charles Darwin proposed a
well-crafted theory that plants and animals were not the same in the
past. During his period, people believed that one divine power had
created all living beings in the shapes and sizes they were at present.
Darwin was the first scientist who challenged the theory of divine
creation. In the course of his study, he discovered that living beings
originated as small and simple organisms: these gradually evolved into
large plants and animals.
Today, scientists have attested the Darwin’s theory of evolution
with the aid of palaeontology, the study of fossils. They have not yet
identified any divine power behind the creation of living beings. They
have discovered, without a reasonable doubt, how life originated on the
earth. Chapter 10 of this book explains the scientific theory of the origin
of life.
Anthropologists have now established that the human race
evolved from Homo erectus, a creature more or less similar to the great
apes. The oldest excavated human remains belong to the period between
400,000 and 200,000 years ago: the human race came into being during
this epoch. At that time, there were no man-made political boundaries;

2. The Evolution of Gods
instead, geographical barriers such as mountains or oceans were all that
limited human movement.
People lived as nomads or wanderers in groups or bands of fifty
to a hundred members, and often used fire and stone tools. They had not
yet begun cultivating crops and depended largely upon hunting quarry
and gathering wild vegetables for their survival. Human bands were
always looking for places rich in vegetation and animals to hunt.
Whenever people faced scarcity of food at one place, they moved to
another forest abundant in vegetation and animals. They had not yet
learnt language, clothing, morals or religion. The human race continued
to lead this kind of lifestyle for a considerable period. Anthropologists
believe that the people of this epoch had already developed imagination.
Imagination is a unique ability that made it possible for
humankind to think beyond the limit of visible, audible or other sensory
experiences. It is difficult to ascertain exactly when our primordial
ancestors evolved this ability. Scientists believe that their erect posture
helped facilitate their imagination. The human race is probably the only
animal species that has this capability. In fact, almost all animals have
sensory organs, and these help them perceive physical energies such as
light or heat. They can see, hear, smell or feel their natural predators,
which enable them to protect themselves. However, they cannot notice
non-physical powers such as ghosts and gods: one needs imagination to
recognize these unseen powers. People began to perceive some unseen,
unheard, untouchable, non-aromatic divine powers around them only
after the evolution of their imagination. Apart from ghosts or gods,
human imagination also helped facilitate scientific inventions.
At one point in time, the human race discovered an incredible
skill with the aid of imagination—the technique of speaking through
language. The art of communication altogether changed human life, and
they could recognize gods and demons only after this invention. It was
the first major step towards the subsequent scientific advancements, and
humans changed the face of the earth with its help.
Language was the medium of sharing or communicating
information from one person to another. Before this, people shared their
basic needs, such as fear, hunger or sexual desire, only through crude
sounds and gestures. For example, frightened people yelled; while
hungry they placed hands to their mouths, and made specific gestures
for expressing sexual desire. The members of a particular band
understood these sounds and gestures, and they communicated their

3. Life After Death
basic needs without speaking to each other; however, they could not
share complex thoughts and emotions.
When and why did humanity begin to communicate with the aid
of language? The Bible mentions that God Himself taught speech to
Adam—the first human of the earth. Had it been true, there would have
been only one tongue in the world. Although the Bible explains that
God confounded human languages, this explanation seems to be an
interpolation. In fact, it was an art that developed over time: many
human groups invented their own spoken words independently to share
their feelings, experiences and challenges. Most anthropologists believe
that languages began to develop around one hundred thousand years
ago.
The earliest human speech was similar to the utterances of a
baby. At first people named many things around them—these were
nouns. Later, they coined the words to describe different actions—
verbs. With the help of a noun and a verb, people began to construct
two-word sentences, and their vocabulary increased with time.
Anthropologists have attested that, around thirty thousand years
ago, people learnt to make sophisticated implements such as needles,
cave art, idols and jewellery. They have excavated and studied many
such devices crafted during that period. Anthropologists believe that the
manufacture of these articles must have required some discussion, and
this implies that the artisans of these implements had evolved a good
vocabulary.
Let us try to imagine the impact of language on the primitive
people; it must have radically changed their lifestyle, especially the
upbringing of children. Now, people could share their feelings,
experiences, dreams and challenges with each other. Each new human
generation began to receive the experience of its ancestors: that is what
we call education today. Other animals also teach their offspring to
fulfil their basic needs; however, without the power of speech, they
cannot share their experiences. Since animals cannot learn from their
ancestors, they survive with the help of their own experiences.
To understand this development, just imagine a monkey who
accidentally slips into a river. The monkey somehow manages to get
out; consequently, it develops a phobia of the river and avoids going
near that for the rest of its life. The monkey also tries to communicate
its fear through gestures to its fellows. Since it cannot narrate the entire
episode, its children will never know the reason behind its river phobia.

4. The Evolution of Gods
However, if a man faces a similar accident, he can describe an
eyewitness account of the accident to his family and friends with the aid
of speech. Thus, prehistoric people began to teach their experiences to
following generations. Furthermore, the discovery of language laid the
foundation of modern information technology.
Let us try to imagine the topics of discussions among prehistoric
people: they must have talked about every happening around them such
as seasons. After exhaustive study, they appreciated that several
phenomena were beyond their comprehension. For example, they could
not decipher the reasons behind childbirths and deaths, the changing
seasons, earthquakes and storms. These inexplicable events left
prehistoric people confused and scared.
Without speech, each person pondered over such issues
individually. However, with the aid of language, all members of a
human band could share and discuss the possible reasons behind such
happenings. Whatever they could not comprehend, they imagined some
unseen power or force behind it. Even though individual members of a
band shared their viewpoints on such matters, they accorded much
importance to the opinion of the band’s head. Later, this chief was
designated a specific title such as priest or shaman. Gradually, these
priests imagined several divine powers behind all natural events. For
example, they imagined that some power in the sky caused storms and
rain. Priests also noticed that there were two types of phenomena—
good and the bad. They wisely speculated that good and bad events
were the respective consequence of the bliss and the wrath of divine
powers.
Gradually, this speculation became a conviction, and thereafter
priests sought ways to appease the divine powers. As a result, priests
assumed that whatever pleased them would also please these powers.
This led priests to invent numerous methods of flattering or worshiping
the powers. For example, they invented to fold hands, bow, kneel, utter
gratifying slogans, beg for mercy and dance as a means of appeasing the
divine powers. Priests taught these methods of worship to the people of
their bands. Gradually, each human band came to devise and adopt a
uniform way of worship to please these powers under the guidance of
their priests. Furthermore, they introduced the ritual of offering
sacrifices to protect people from the wrath of the powers.
Anthropologists do not know exactly when humanity began these

5. Life After Death
activities; however, they do believe that these social activities were the
beginning of religions.
All the members of each human band performed the religious
activities together, and subsequent generations perpetuated them. The
skill of language facilitated the transmission of these rituals and
activities from one generation to the next. From this premise, the
science writer Nicholas Wade states:
‘Like most behaviours that are found in societies throughout the
world, religion must have been present in the ancestral human
population before the dispersal from Africa 50,000 years ago. Although
religious rituals usually involve dance and music, they are also verbal,
since the sacred truths have to be stated. If so, religion, at least in its
modern form, cannot pre-date the emergence of language. It has been
argued earlier that language attained its modern state shortly before the
exodus from Africa. If religion had to await the evolution of modern
articulate language, then it too would have emerged shortly before
50,000 years ago.’
After the evolution of speech, people began practising a
primitive religion; however, they had not yet learnt how to write and
therefore there is no written record of this religion. The religion
practised before the advent of writing is known as prehistoric religion.
Anthropologists deciphered this religion through the footprints of
religious practices of the time; they studied burials, human and animal
sacrifices, clay figurines and rock art of the period. Although small in
number, these are well preserved and more authentic than any written
account, and helped anthropologists learn about this period of human
development.
Anthropologists have excavated the earliest evidence of religious
practices from the Skhul Cave situated at Mount Qafzeh in Israel. At
this site, they found human remains, buried around one hundred
thousand years ago. People intentionally buried these dead bodies along
with stone tools, deer antlers and other animal bones. The graves also
contained red ochre—a pigment commonly used for rituals.
The people of Skhul were the first humans to bury their dead.
Scientists, in an attempt to explore whether these people could speak or
not, studied the vocal cords of the buried individuals and found them
similar to those of modern humans. This indicates that these people had

6. The Evolution of Gods
evolved spoken languages, at least in primitive form. Palaeontologists
have excavated evidence of more elaborate burials at several other
places dating back some fifty thousand years ago and later. They found
several human dead bodies painted with red ochre and buried with food,
stone tools and animal bones. With the passage of time, the burials
became more elaborate; the graves of later periods contained various
articles other than food and tools.
At several locations, anthropologists noticed that the remains,
belonging to one particular human group, were buried in more or less
the same fashion. Although language was necessary for burials, it was
not enough to facilitate consistent burial patterns. It is fair to assume
that not all the buried people would have died on a single day; there
must have been a period of months, even years, between two separate
deaths. Similar methods of burial indicate that one specific person was
likely to be responsible for execution of each burial. Had that not been
the case, one particular group would have buried their corpses
randomly. The person most likely to execute the burials would have
been the head of a social group, or a priest. Thus, by the time people
began burials, most human bands would have had its own priest. It is
therefore safe to assume that the band of Skhul must have had such a
priest to perform the burial rituals.
Furthermore, palaeontologists have found evidence to indicate
that the institution of priests existed in each prehistoric band. For
example, they have excavated several decorative beads with the human
remains, as old as eighty thousand years, from the Blombos Cave in
South Africa. These beads are made of shells and each shows a hole
precisely carved by a stone tool. People intentionally pierced these
beads, most likely to prepare a necklace. Anthropologists believe that
only a person of high status, such as a priest, must have worn such a
necklace.
In addition, anthropologists found the skeleton of a sixty-year-
old male from Sungir in Russia, buried some thirty thousand years ago.
They were surprised to see that the person was buried with unusual
jewellery: a large necklace, made of five thousand beads, coiled around
the neck bones, twenty-five mammoth bone bracelets decorated both
arms and a beaded cap apparently covered the skull. Anthropologists
have visualized that a craftsman of that period would have had to spend
years making this kind of jewellery. They believe that the buried person
must have been extremely important, most likely the priest of the band.

7. Life After Death
A number of prehistoric human remains indicate that priests also
took care of the sick and injured. For example, scientists excavated four
human skeletons from Shanidar in modern Iraq, dating back some sixty
thousand years. One body (Shanidar 1) was that of a male who died at
around the age of forty-five. Surprisingly, his bones exhibited multiple
fractures with signs of healing. He had also lost an eye and a forearm;
probably some falling rock crushed him.
Shanidar 1 was a rare corpse that displayed signs of both trauma
and healing. The evidence of healing indicates that the person survived
the severe injury. Now the question arises, who helped him in the
healing process? It is likely that the band of Shanidar had a priest who
bandaged and immobilized the fractured bones of Shanidar 1.
These facts indicate that the people of Shanidar looked after the
sick and elderly. Additionally, scientists found evidence to indicate that
they treated their patients with herbal medicines too. For instance,
another skeleton (Shanidar 2) was that of a male who died at around the
age of forty, and his grave contained seven types of flowers along with
routine articles. Each of these flowers possessed a specific medicinal
property such as diuretic, stimulant, astringent or anti-inflammatory.
This indicates that some person in the band had discovered the healing
power of those flowers or herbal drugs: people must have considered
him as a priest.
Furthermore, around thirty thousand years ago and later, almost
all over the world, humans began to carve idols, engrave rocks and paint
caves. They frequently depicted head of a man over the body of an
animal. Scientists believe that these anthropomorphic images were
depiction of priests who have divine powers. For example, the
spectacular Sorcerer from Trois-Freres France portrays an amazing
combination of human hands and legs, head of a herbivore, the antlers
of a reindeer and tail of a horse. Anthropologists consider this idol to be
the depiction of a priest or shaman. Thus, all the above facts attest that
each prehistoric band had a priest who buried the dead and treated the
sick and injured.
During the last one hundred years, scientists have studied many
isolated tribes all over the world, and they led a primitive life. Each
such tribe had a priest who performed more or less the similar role a
prehistoric priest played. A prehistoric priest may be visualized with the
knowledge of tribal priests as well as the excavated evidence mentioned

8. The Evolution of Gods
above. After such a study, a priest representing prehistoric nomadic
people can be portrayed as follows:
The prehistoric priest must have been the most intelligent person
in each human group or band. He worked as a scientist, teacher, doctor
and leader of his group and acquired knowledge from his parents and
own experiences. He knew how to ignite and utilise fire and invented
better tools to kill animals and protect his group. Several generations of
priests must have been instrumental in the invention and teaching of
languages.
The priest planned each big hunt, discussed about it and allotted
the roles each member should play. Whenever his group faced scarcity
of food, he guided them to a new forest. In order to protect his group,
the priest watched the movement of wild animals and also treated the
sick and injured. His generations invented and accumulated the
knowledge of herbal medicines. This was not an easy job during
prehistoric time: there was no accessible source of knowledge like
books or the Internet. The priest must have learnt the good or bad
effects of herbs through trial and error, and each priest taught his
discovered herbs to the subsequent generation. Furthermore, he devised
rituals to bury the dead and pacify their souls.
The priest considered himself different from others in the group:
in order to express this, he adorned his body differently. He covered his
head with a cap made of feathers or beads and decorated his neck with
garlands and amulets. Additionally, he painted his forehead with red
ochre like pastes; human skulls, bones and feathers were his favourite
possessions.
The prehistoric priest was the embodiment of the saying:
‘Nothing succeeds like success.’ The priest found more and more
opportunities to prove his ability. His successes were the result of his
wisdom, but people began to believe that he had divine powers. They
consulted him regularly before starting any new venture. He invented
several magical tricks to keep their faith intact; people perceived those
tricks as divine interventions.
An example from aboriginals may precisely illustrate the magic
tricks performed by many nomadic priests. Naskapi was a tribal group
that lived in the Labrador region of Canada. These people consulted
their priest before each new venture. For example, before each hunt,
they asked the priest where they could find animals easily. To guide the
direction of a hunt, the priest performed a ritual prayer and held a flat

9. Life After Death
bone over the sacred fire, as if the bone was a map. After this, the priest
chanted: ‘May Lord guide us about the direction of the hunt.’ After a
few minutes, irregular cracks appeared in the bone; soon, the priest
forecasted that people would find animals in the direction of the crack.
The next day, the hunters searched for animals in that direction; often,
they found and killed some animal. If they failed, the priest explained
that they must have made some mistake.
Similarly, priests of many locations invented magical ways of
forecasting the direction of a hunt. With the passing of time, the
supremacy of priests over other members of the group was unanimously
established. People considered him the interpreter of natural events and
dreams; after each mysterious event, his explanation and remedies were
widely accepted. It was priest who invented and nourished the concept
of life after death, the soul, ghost and other inexplicable matters.
With the knowledge of prehistoric priests, it is possible to
imagine a scene after a death, some one hundred thousand years ago.
During this period, people had already developed empathy for other
members of their group and took care of the sick and injured. Whenever
a patient stopped moving, the carers called their priest, and he tried all
the remedies known to him exhaustively, in order to revive the patient.
Before long, almost all the members of the group gathered and began
gossiping.
People were puzzled to see that their beloved mate was not
breathing, moving or talking. The priest continued to treat him for
several hours in the hope that he might return to life. The band members
began talking about the good time they spent with that person. In the
meantime, they began to smell a foul odour from the body. They
became sad and lost all hope of his revival; they discussed the stink
with the priest, who suggested shifting the body away from the caves.
Now, they had another concern: how to protect the dead body
from scavengers, such as vultures. The priest devised an easy way, to
cover it with soil. With the passage of time, priests began burying the
dead bodies in a pit and covering it with soil. Burial was a foolproof
method for keeping away both the scavengers and the bad smell.
Gradually, almost all prehistoric human groups independently evolved
one or other method of burial, and priests taught these to the next
generations.
Anthropologists noticed two basic purposes behind the burial of
the dead: avoidance of the foul smell and safety of the dead body. Why

10. The Evolution of Gods
did people wish to keep the dead bodies intact? Why did people provide
sustenance for the dead bodies? Scientists believe that prehistoric
people had developed a peculiar conviction about death: they supposed
something existed even after death. In other words, some sort of life
survived each death. Thus, strange as it may seem, it became logical to
keep dead bodies intact and provide them with food. What were the
reasons behind these convictions? Furthermore, what occurred after
each death, which was perceived by the bereaved as a glimpse of
remaining life?
In fact, with the aid of language, priests and wise people of that
time must have discussed the difference between a live and a dead
body. The more they explored the phenomenon of death, the more they
were confused. After each death, many questions baffled them: ‘What
was lacking in the corpse now? What was inside the living body? Who
was running it?’ Whenever people killed an animal, they routinely
noticed how it reacted after injury. For example, while hunting one
deer, they might have observed and then discussed: ‘First hit, deer fell,
still moving, head hit, movement stopped, life out.’ They concluded that
the blow on the head opened a way out for the life to leave the deer.
After observing thousands of dying animals, priests must have
concluded that there was something, which kept the body of each
animal alive and running.
At some point in time, we do not know exactly when this
happened, priests imagined an unseen divine spark that kept each
animal alive. Priests of different regions named it: one of those names
was the soul. They concluded that each animal survived, as long as its
soul was in the body. After the soul departed from the body, the living
entity became a dead body. Since the soul was invisible, no one could
notice it while leaving the body.
This belief was not an individual perception but a global
invention. It is evident from the fact that almost all the ancient and
independently developed religions documented more or less the same
convictions about the soul. Even today, a major population believe that
an invisible soul is running each human body. The pioneer
anthropologist Edward Taylor has said: ‘The belief in the soul was the
earliest form of religion.’ He termed this belief as Animism.
After the discovery of the soul, prehistoric priests became
curious about its future after death. Human dreams answered this
question. What are dreams? While sleeping, people dream about their

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day-to-day concerns, and dreams are often the reflection of their
thoughts and imagination. Similarly, after death, relatives and friends of
the deceased may dream about them.
Imagine what kind of dreams a prehistoric man might have had
after the death of his mother. For example, hunger and terror of wild
animals were the prime concern in those days; therefore, it is likely that
he would have dreamt about the hunger or fear of his mother. After such
dreams, whenever another person in the band died, the priest must have
advised to keep food and stone tools with the dead body.
Dreaming about the dead initiated the idea that the deceased
were still wandering around. After each death, the soul, the unseen
portion of the body, survived. Priests and people envisaged that each
soul would require a means of protecting and sustaining itself. The
burial articles were provided to fulfil the needs of the soul—the
surviving life, and people must have learnt this lesson over several
millennia. Finally, it became customary to provide basic utilities in the
graves.
Taylor believed that prehistoric people built many tales and
myths about dreams and death, and these gradually fashioned the
religious concepts. He suggested that dreaming of the dead led to the
idea of a dual existence of all people: a visible physical body and an
invisible soul. The concept of life after death and the soul was merely a
figment of human imagination. In fact, humanity must have discussed
this theory for millennia and gradually transformed it into a principle:
priests communicated this knowledge to each subsequent generation.
Here again, it is important to note that they could convey this complex
information with the aid of language only.
With the help of the soul’s concept, priests fabricated another
imaginary notion—the idea of ghosts, and that also became a global
illusion in the course of time. People of almost all ancient civilizations
endowed ghosts with more or less similar attributes; they believed that
these were the wandering souls of the dead. Each ghost was supposed to
be an unseen force that had the ability to disturb, destabilize or even
destroy humans. At the same time, people could not physically hurt
ghosts; their body contained no physical or chemical substance, and it
was not possible to see, touch, hear or smell them.
In fact, many bizarre human experiences initiated the perception
of ghosts. Whenever primitive people observed an unexplained event,
they imagined that the unseen power of a ghost was responsible. They

12. The Evolution of Gods
considered strange sounds and lights, without an apparent source, to be
a glimpse of ghost. For example, several huge trees with aerial roots
produced a terrible noise and ignited sparks during strong winds, and
people supposed that ghosts generated the sparks. To date, many large
trees in distant regions of the world are still supposed to be the resting
places of ghosts. Apart from trees, ghosts are also supposed to wander
around graves, and it is the reason why most people in the world are
scared of graveyards.
Prehistoric people already lived in the fear of wild animals and
the fury of natural forces: the invention of ghosts added an imaginary
fear to their list. Today, several modern religions maintain almost
similar concepts in terms of the soul and ghosts, while they propagate
contradictory viewpoints about gods. In fact, the concept of the soul and
ghosts evolved even earlier than that of gods.
The burial rituals and priests discussed earlier were the major
evidence of prehistoric religion. In addition, anthropologists have
discovered another ritual of the period in the Krapina Cave in Croatia.
Here, they excavated seventy human remains dating back some one
hundred thousand years ago. Several bones of the bodies exhibit
deliberate marks of injuries inflicted by stone tools, and a few skulls
show evidence of deliberate crushing. Furthermore, they have
discovered a pit of bones of the same period at Atapuerca in Spain, and
that contained several human and animal skeletons of different periods.
Here also, human bones show marks of injuries inflicted by stone tools.
These prehistoric remains are concrete evidence of the practice of
cannibalism.
Why did the people living around Atapuerca and Krapina Caves
kill and eat their own kind? Dire scarcity of food seems a possible
reason; however, there was no evidence to suggest that they were
starving. The pit at Atapuerca contained several skeletons of other
animals too: people could have eaten those animals rather than their
own race. Anthropologists believe that these people probably practised
ritual cannibalism: they would have sacrificed their near and dear ones
in order to appease their gods.
Apart from human remains, archaeologists have also found
evidence of idol worship in the prehistoric era. They have excavated
several female figurines from different corners of the world, belonging
to a period between twenty to thirty thousand years ago. Most of these
show a female figure with large breasts and protruding belly—the

13. Life After Death
portrayal of a pregnant female. The artists did not carve the facial
features of these idols; this indicates that they wished only to depict
pregnancy. Surprisingly, figurines from distant and unconnected places
are expressing the same concept—the depiction of pregnancy.
What could be the probable reason behind the worship of these
sculptures? About these prehistoric female idols, Randall White,
professor of anthropology at New York University has said: ‘These
figurines date from a time (and such time must surely have existed)
when early men had yet to make a link between sexual intercourse and
childbirth.’
It is likely that the prehistoric people, with their human instinct,
comprehended every phenomenon happening around them. They were
obviously curious and trying to find out the reasons for childbirth; they
learnt that females alone had the capability of giving birth. Childbirth,
breast-feeding and even the menstruation cycle amazed them. Natural
changes in pregnant females surprised them, and therefore they must
have perceived pregnancy as a miraculous event.
The pregnant females must have been mysterious and
miraculous creatures for prehistoric males. They found themselves
incapable of giving birth to a new life, and therefore considered
childbirth as a miracle. Through these figurines, people must have
worshipped the exceptional power of females—the ability to create a
new life.
Anthropologists have expressed equivocal opinions about these
figurines. Some of them consider these to be fertility goddesses, and
others argue that these were the earliest male erotica. Since the small
statues excavated from several unconnected places revealed a similar
concept, it is likely that these depicted fertility goddesses. A few of
these were painted with red ochre, which further supports the idea of
goddesses.
Prof. Randall White has extensively studied many such female
statuettes carved in various parts of Europe during the Palaeolithic
period. He noticed that several were found buried in carefully dug pits
as if they were being ritually offered. He has suggested that the most
likely role of the ritual was to protect the health of mother and child
during childbirth.

14. The Evolution of Gods
Apart from the female figurines, archaeologists have found
many prehistoric carvings and drawings all over the world. For
example, one ivory statuette was excavated from southern Germany that
was carved some thirty thousand years ago; the meticulous sculpture is
considered the earliest work of art. This depicts a human figure with a
lion’s head: anthropologists believe that the idol was either a motif or a
depiction of priest.
The production of art began in Europe but soon it became a
worldwide phenomenon. Lascaux Caves is the most famous site of
prehistoric cave paintings; this has nearly 2000 figures, and people must
have drawn these 17,500 years ago. These often depict animals, human
figures and abstract signs. Another famous site of prehistoric art is the
Rock Shelters of Bhimbetaka in Madhya Pradesh, India. Humans began
to inhabit these shelters from middle Palaeolithic period and continued
until Neolithic revolution. They carved meticulous art on the rocks and
depicted animals, humans, dances and several symbols.

15. Life After Death
The art provides an invaluable evidence of prehistoric religion.
The artists of these frequently used red ochre, which again supports
some ritual origin. The advent of art was not confined to a geographical
region, but a global invention. Similar depiction of animals and other
objects by rock engraving, carving or painting has been excavated all
over the world. Most anthropologists suggest that the paintings and
engravings were drawn for certain rituals, and people wished to seek
something such as success in future hunting.
Eminent social anthropologist, Pascal Boyer has written that
there are three fundamental features of almost all religious ideologies.
First, people must believe in the existence of some life after death and
the soul—a non-physical component of each person. The prehistoric
burial articles assert that humans did much effort to provide sustenance
to their dead: this was only possible with a belief of life after death and
the soul.
Second, people must suppose that a few individuals, like priests,
may communicate with divine powers called gods. As discussed earlier
also, there is enough evidence to aver that the institution of priesthood
existed among prehistoric people, especially after the advent of art.
Finally, people must have the conviction that certain prayers or
rituals in an exact way can bring a change in the physical states of
affairs. On this premise, Eminent archaeologist Steven Mithen wrote:
‘Few can doubt that the painted caves, some of which were located deep
underground, were the locus for ritual activities. Indeed the
anthropomorphic images within this art are most easily interpreted as
being either supernatural beings or shamans who communicated with
them.’
Thus, during the prehistoric period, humanity had evolved all the
three foundation pillars of the concept of divinity and religions. This
was the epoch when the human race formulated the concept of divine
powers called gods. The next chapter will describe the gods of
prehistoric people.