The Origins of Religion in Paleolithic

Rowman & Littlefield

2015

xii, 293 p.

Bibliogr.: p. 237-277

9781442242890

Contents: 1. Introduction ; Part I. The Embodied Brain : Neuropsychology and Religious Ritual ; 2. Mirroring and empathy ; 3. Acting in concert ; 4. The malleable brain ; 5. Ritualizing sound and movement ; 6. Projecting the self ; 7. External agents ; 8. Language, ritual, and religion ; 9. Dynamic fields of consciousness ; 10. Private and corporate ritual ; Part II. The Embedded Body : From Routines to Rituals through Material Engagements. 11. First stirrings ; 12. Negotiating land ; 13. Tools, minds, and rituals ; 14. Making a mark ; 15. Death and beyond ; 16. African sapients, 200-50 kya ; 17. The emergence of religious ritual.

How did religion emerge - and why? What are the links between behavior, environment, and religiosity? Gregory J. Wightman explores the significance of goal-directed action and the rise of material culture in this intricate, evidence-based examination of religion's earliest origin.

Английский