Origins of Shamanism, Spirit Beliefs, and Religiosity by Sidky H

Author:Sidky, H.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lexington Books

Figure 8.1  The altar-like assemblage of bear bones from Drachenloch, Switzerland, once interpreted as evidence of a Neanderthal “bear cult.”

The one possibility of Neanderthal cultic practice in connection with bears comes from Le Régourdou, located near Lascaux Cave, in southwestern France (Hayden 2003:108–115, 121). The site contains an adult Neanderthal skeleton buried lying on a flat bed of rocks and covered with a mound consisting of sand, ash, and stones mixed with flint tools and deer and bear bones. There is also an earlier rectangular stone-lined pit in the cave containing bones belonging to at least twenty bears covered by a heavy stone slab. These features suggests some sort of symbolic capacity, but the meaning is unclear (Jordan 1999:111). Others, however, point out that there are no cut marks on the bear bones or associated stone tools to indicate human activity and suggest that the bones accumulated accidentally as a result of the natural deaths of hibernating bears (Klein 2009:552). More recent evaluations have completely eliminated the Drachenloch and Régourdou “bear cults” from the discussion of Neanderthal ritual behavior (Pettitt 2011:97).

With respect to symbolic ritual behavior in general, it has been suggested that Neanderthal life did not allow much time for engaging in ritual activity, such as shamanistic healing rites around their campfires (Rossano 2007b:54). These humans had very harsh and difficult lives and were constantly on the move. Studies of their bones indicate degenerative diseases and high frequency of traumatic injuries similar to professional Rodeo athletes. The latter indicates the ineffectiveness of their technology, which lacked javelins, spear throwers, and bows, thereby necessitating hunters with thrusting spears to get close to their targets and suffer serious injuries in the process (cf., Bar-Yosef 2002:383). This does not mean that Neanderthals were poor hunters. On the contrary, they were top predators who regularly sought out massive and fearsome creatures, such as mammoths and wholly rhinoceroses (Tattersall 2012:169–170). What it means is that Neanderthals often got hurt and the absence of healed lower limb injuries serious enough to impair mobility indicates that such individuals were abandoned. Neanderthals had low adult life expectancy and high frequencies of younger adult mortality (Klein 2009:585; Berger and Trinkaus 1995:850; Papagianni and Morse 2015:149; Trinkaus 1995:138–139). The serious consequences of this included diminished information gained from long-term experience passed on trans-generationally (i.e., older adults as cultural repositories), which is essential for hunter-gatherers, and the creation of larger numbers of orphaned children (Stringer and Gamble 1993:88). According to some scholars, Neanderthals were at times “teetering on the edge of survival” (Mithen 2007:231, 235–236). There is evidence of periodic nutritional stress and scavenging (Klein 2009:584; Stringer and Gamble 1993:166), although there is disagreement over this last issue (D’Errico 2003:190).

The social aspects of Neanderthal life are relevant to our search for evidence of symbolic ritual behavior, spirituality, and shamanistic beliefs. In comparison to occupation sites or basecamps associated with Homo sapiens, Neanderthal sites are smaller, more transitory in nature, do not have clearly organized use of living space, housing structures

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