Evolution of Religion
Homo Sapiens (us) is a religious species. This is one of the few behavioral similarities of the human species. Though there is individual variation in the strength of this trait, no society is without it; those that tried to eliminate it have failed. There is clearly no biological basis for particular religions, but it is likely that there is a biological basis for the capacity for religion.
Neanderthals did not have religion. The contrast between the religious artifacts of Homo sapiens and their absence in Homo neanderthalensis in their regions of overlap could hardly be greater. While Homo sapiens had intricate burials (a burial of two children in Sungir, Russia, contained 10,000 shell beads, each of which took from one to three hours to prepare), Neanderthals apparently dug the shallowest possible graves to keep the body from stinking. Neanderthal caves totally lack the wall art that represents religious experience that modern humans had. Anthropologist David Lewis-Williams calls Neanderthals "congenital atheists." Yet Neanderthals had brains at least as large as those of modern humans. Other groups of H. sapiens, all over the world, had a similar abundance of religious practice. The evolution of religion in the modern human species may have involved a change in brain quality unconnected with a change in brain size, which has remained unaltered in H. sapiens for at least 100,000 years.
The left temporal lobe houses religion. Because we can say that Neanderthals did not have a left temporal lobe, we can infer they do not have a right temporal lobe, which would cause lack of memory and could have contributed to extinction.
Neanderthals did not have religion. The contrast between the religious artifacts of Homo sapiens and their absence in Homo neanderthalensis in their regions of overlap could hardly be greater. While Homo sapiens had intricate burials (a burial of two children in Sungir, Russia, contained 10,000 shell beads, each of which took from one to three hours to prepare), Neanderthals apparently dug the shallowest possible graves to keep the body from stinking. Neanderthal caves totally lack the wall art that represents religious experience that modern humans had. Anthropologist David Lewis-Williams calls Neanderthals "congenital atheists." Yet Neanderthals had brains at least as large as those of modern humans. Other groups of H. sapiens, all over the world, had a similar abundance of religious practice. The evolution of religion in the modern human species may have involved a change in brain quality unconnected with a change in brain size, which has remained unaltered in H. sapiens for at least 100,000 years.
The left temporal lobe houses religion. Because we can say that Neanderthals did not have a left temporal lobe, we can infer they do not have a right temporal lobe, which would cause lack of memory and could have contributed to extinction.
Blood Telling a Story
The human genetic code, or genome, is 99.9% the same for ever man and woman in the world. What's left is the DNA that gives us our individual differences--in eye or hair color for example--as well as some that seems to have no purpose at all. Once in a while, a random, harmless mutation can occur in one of these functionless stretches, which is then passed down to all of that person's offspring. Generations later, finding that same mutation, or marker, in two people's DNA indicates that they share the same ancestor. By comparing markers in many different populations, scientists can trace their ancestral connections. This technology and research is giving us new insight into where we came from. At some point soon, we may know the whole story.
