The study of faith fascinates me. Not a specific religion more than another but each sect and history and belief system. Family trees and the hunting of ancestors, the discovery of connections, and finding long lost children excite me, too. In this series of essays I attempt to provide a family tree of spiritual faith. To blend faith and human ancestry also invites the study of human evolution and migration. These anthropological topics are far reaching and overlap in lace-like patterns across the globe.
As the series progresses from the roots, to the trunk, and up into a canopy of twisted branches the complexity of the human faith experience becomes evident. Being as succinct as possible and breaking the time into increasingly smaller periods keeps the series accessibility and understandable.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. ~Enjoy!
A Simplified History of Faith Practices From the Ice Age to Ancient Sumer
Part 1, From The Ice Age to the Afterlife
Before the ice age precursory species of our collective family tree, may have worshiped a variety of deities, a single deity, a deity couple, or had no inkling of the divine. The simple truth is that no information, not even the fossil record, holds clues about the beliefs of hominids before crushing glaciers of ice wrapped the world in a tight embrace. The little hints, pertaining to spiritual ideas, that homo sapiens and similar hominid species have left behind since the ice began to retreat provide a glimpse of the spirituality of those that came before the written word. Herein is a timeline of spirituality in prehistory.
The earliest record of day to day hominid life is provided by the homo heidelbergensis. The first evidence of this species was uncovered by workers in a gravel pit in 1907 near Heidelberg, Germany, the town for which the species was named. Heidelbergensis is perhaps the common ancestor species of both the homo neanderthal and homo sapien. Heidelbergensis is also described as the last member of the European homo erectus species. Skeletal remains, specifically musculature insertion points, indicate that heidelbergensis was in possession of great strength and endurance. They were shorter than we homo sapiens but taller and leaner than the homo neanderthalensis.
Heidelbergensis’s brain was roughly the same size as a modern homo sapien’s brain which indicates they were physically capable of the same degree of understanding, thought, intelligence and sense of wonder as modern homo sapiens. Evidence suggests that they were capable of communication through complex sounds but not a fully developed verbal language. They used stone tools, hunted game and other heidelbergensis (they were cannibals), gathered, had the use of fire, and used red ocher as a dye. The lives of homo erectus, including heidelbergensis, were defined by hard physical exertion. Their skeletal structure suggests that their strengths would put any modern hominid to shame.
As far as can be deduced, heidelbergensis are the first of the hominid species to bury their dead in Atapuerca, Spain. The site was discovered by a British railway firm, The Sierra Company, in the 1890’s but it was not until 1976 that hominid bones were found. Later, in 2003, a hand axe was found with a heidelbergensis skeleton. It was painted with red ochre, of unusual size, and intentionally buried with the deceased. This is the first evidence of a burial right and preparation for an afterlife. The hand axe and remains date to about 300,000 years ago. Therefore the trunk of the spiritual family tree starts with faith in an afterlife and dates back to approximately 300,000 years ago.
For further information visit:
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/atapuerca/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/prehistoric_life/human/human_evolution/first_europeans1.shtml
This new printer is a Kodak ESP C310 and great for photos on excellent paper but merely passable for photos on practical paper. The LCD is tiny but gets the job done. In addition to its photo producing capabilities it can print more ‘just print’ pages per penny than any HP printer possibly could! So I’m saving some silver on ink and back in the bookmaking business! The Kodak can copy and scan, too, which is great for the homeschooling habit and helps keep the little crafty creators creating. Although it is not the most marvelous machine made it manages our meager moonlight march of math printouts and “make-me” Mardi Gras masks. The set up was simple and I must say wireless is wonderful. (Does that tell you how old our old printer was?) The Kodak can also print directly from SD/HC, MS, MMC, Google Cloud, Smartphones or through USB connected to any device. Kodak’s clever printer cost less than similar quality machines and the ink is c-h-e-a-p! And that’s what really matters… for us anyway!
The rings are really lovely. Which piece(s) do you like best?
