Group Identity

While reading over a few of the other blogs I was reminded of an interesting discussion that has taken place in class, on the blogs, and also was mentioned in the reading. It is the idea that this lack of symbolic art in the paleolithic cave paintings does not necessarily indicate a lack of religion.

Religious symbols serve two main purpose in modern society. Those purposes are 1) to identify and separate individual members of that religion from the rest of the world and 2) to provide an object of reflection for the follower.

The latter of the two could, possibly, be explained by the fact that this religion could very well have been based on objects found in nature (providing a greater explanation for the empirical art found in the caves).

The first reason requires a bit more in the way of explanation. These early human beings lived in small bands of roughly 30-40 individuals, and these groups were spread out throughout Africa and Europe. These groups had very limited interaction with one another and, as a result, tended to be very homogeneous in nature.

If we consider the groups relative similarity and isolation along with the first purpose of religious symbols, a very simple conclusion can be reached. If there was a common religion among all members of this band, symbols would lack a practical use as an identification marker. This lack of utility would likely provide more than enough reason for the paleolithic people, who probably spent most of their time working on providing their basic needs, not to expend the energy in their creation.

I know there is no way to know the religious nature of these ancient people, but I am merely arguing that the lack of evidence in this area is not conclusive and could have an alternative explanation that is reasonable other than the assertion that they lacked any form of religious belief.