In a message dated 3/1/99 6:13:34 PM, Harvey wrote:
<<
Good points. I concede that neanderthals may have had some religious
beliefs about death.
I was merely trying to make the point that we can't just assume these
"obvious" explanations. There may be other factors. Megaliths might be
memorial or rememberance factors. Or the family or clan of a leader
might have wanted to keep their authority alive after the physical death
of the leader. I think religion is too often used as a fall-back
position to explain any anthropology that we don't understand.
-- Harvey Newstrom >> Thanks Harvey. There is a great book on this subject whose name eludes me...something like the emergence of awareness and the defeat of the bicameral mind." I will search my memory and report its name. What I do remember is the author's thesis that awareness first appeared in our species around 1250 BC in Ionia and is documented in the Illiad and the Odyssey. If you remember, in the Illiad all the protagonists act as pawns in games played by the gods. In the Odyssey, wily Odysseus is grievously punished for defying the gods (he enraged Neptune when he blinded Neptune's son the Cyclops). It takes him 10 years to get home, all his friends and followers are killed and his throne is usurped. The author believes that all people before the crafty Odysseus behaved as their god-voice (a sort of superego in the right cerebral cortex) told them and that Odysseus, the sacker of cities, was the first human being to break free of this tyranny and express his free will. Angry Odysseus was the first brave young atheist! Rosy fingered dawn broke over my awareness when I read this and enlightened the wine dark sea of my understanding (please forgive me but I can't help it). Wily Adrian, sacker of cities (just kidding)