tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post5548296655916881957..comments2024-03-26T11:33:59.219-06:00Comments on Religion in American History: That Very Old-Time ReligionPaul Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13881964303772343114noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-12367676010780817792008-09-29T16:00:00.000-06:002008-09-29T16:00:00.000-06:00Also depends on how you define religion. Purposefu...Also depends on how you define religion. Purposeful burial of the dead need not have any sense of an afterlife to still be considered a form of religious practice.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-91164420889078856882008-09-29T15:15:00.000-06:002008-09-29T15:15:00.000-06:00Thanks for the additional information -- that make...Thanks for the additional information -- that makes more sense.John G. Turnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08461094355047650502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-10075014152237944052008-09-29T13:58:00.000-06:002008-09-29T13:58:00.000-06:00According to the intro textbook I use (Ludwig's Sa...According to the intro textbook I use (Ludwig's Sacred Paths of the West), the idea that Neanderthals had some form of religion is relatively uncontroversial, based not on the *fact* that they buried their dead, but that (at certain sites) they always oriented bodies in a particular way, they included tools or other artifacts with the body, and/or they painted the body with red ochre or surrounded it with a circle of stones.<BR/><BR/>If there's doubt about this, I'll have to spend some time looking around at evidence to the contrary - it's not a period I'm familiar with - but my various internet searches to pull up nifty pictures of skeletons with ochre, etc. seem to confirm it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-48110997264516935342008-09-29T13:51:00.000-06:002008-09-29T13:51:00.000-06:00I think it's usually the ornaments, tokens, bauble...I think it's usually the ornaments, tokens, baubles that go with the dead that give some clues to religious belief. Why would primitive hominids bury their best sundries with a decomposing corpse?Randallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16755286304057000048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-42288052050790557002008-09-29T11:16:00.000-06:002008-09-29T11:16:00.000-06:00Why is burying the dead taken as evidence of belie...Why is burying the dead taken as evidence of belief in an afterlife? Couldn't one bury one's relative to avoid watching a corpse decay or get eaten by scavengers?John G. Turnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08461094355047650502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-21651058813914577562008-09-28T21:50:00.000-06:002008-09-28T21:50:00.000-06:00Judging by early human cave art, and archeological...Judging by early human cave art, and archeological digs from the earliest sites, animals were portrayed prominently, far more prominently than human beings. Perhaps the religion of early man was animism? <BR/><BR/>Of course there's also some very early plump female figurines in stone.Edwardtbabinskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13036816926421936940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-37670032809339584942008-09-27T17:10:00.000-06:002008-09-27T17:10:00.000-06:00Mark C. Taylor: "The most misunderstood concept in...Mark C. Taylor: "The most misunderstood concept in the study of religion is religion."<BR/><BR/>http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/clips/2004/11/01/misunderstoodconceptsCHRONICLE.pdfAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com