Neanderthals

I guess I enjoyed reading of the history of Neanderthals...although my mind was so caught up in the historical and anthropological points of view that I felt like I was missing the religious aspect of Steven Mithen's article on The Singing Neanderthals. For me, religion was not an obvious highlight of the article. I kept wondering when Mithen would relate the "Hmmmmm" phenomenon to religion so I could somehow relate it to class.

Yet, what I realized is that music was a form of religion for Neanderthals. They were never considered an established society, so they did not have a concrete religion. But, music acted as a religion for them in many ways, such as: it is often essential for survival especially in cases of misfortune, enables social bonding and provides mutual support (Mithen, 236). Religion for modern homo sapiens and for Neanderthals provides a sense of community. Mithen states that "group identity was promoted via communal music-making" (241). Music was a way of building relationships between people, therefore creating an opportunity for communal living. Also, parents used music when raising their children to ensure their development with communication. This could be compared to baptism: parents ensuring their children's salvation and raising them in a religious environment to establish their proper development.

I was also wondering if the instruments made to create the sounds could be considered either a type of religion or a ritual process. I would almost see the carving of bone, use of sticks, etc. has a ritual process to prepare for the religious ceremony.