Prehistoric Religion - Neolithic

Neolithic

There are no extant textual sources from the Neolithic era, the most recent available dating from the Bronze Age, and therefore all statements about any belief systems Neolithic societies may have possessed are glimpsed from archaeology.

Jacques Cauvin suggested that the Neolithic Revolution was influenced by an important theme he termed the "Revolution of the Symbols", suggesting the birth of "religion" in the Neolithic. He argued that Neolithic humans were influenced by a change in thinking as much as changes in the environment and noted a series of stages in this process. His work suggested important concepts in the evolution of human thinking, by examining figurines and early art depicting first women as goddesses and bulls as gods, he suggested several important ideas about the evolution of perception and duality.

The structures known as Circular Enclosures built in Central Europe during the 5th millennium BC have been interpreted as serving a cultic function. In the case of the Goseck circle, remains of human sacrifice were found. Many of these structures had openings aligned with sunset and/or sunrise at the solstices, suggesting that they served as a means of maintaining a lunisolar calendar. The construction of Megalithic monuments in Europe also began to in the 5th millennium, and continued throughout the Neolithic and in some areas well into the early Bronze Age.

Marija Gimbutas, pioneer of feminist archaeology, put forward a notion of a "woman-centered" society surrounding "goddess worship" in Neolithic Europe. The Neolithic "matristic" cultures would have been replaced by patriarchy only with the arrival of the Bronze Age. Gimbutas' views do not have widespread support today.

• Remains of a fertility statue in the Tarxien Temples c. 2800 BC

• A detail from the Megalithic temple of Mnajdra c. 2800 BC

• According to Gimbutas: Hourglass Neolithic Goddess with Bird arm, from Cucuteni culture 5000-3500 BC

• According to Gimbutas, a Cucuteni culture Goddess representation; around 4900-4750 BC

• Goddess representation 3800-3600 BC, Cucuteni Culture

• Goddess council around 4900-4750 BC

• A clay model considered by some historians sanctuary; Cucuteni Tripolie culture.

• Bull representation, having a ritualistic role according to Gimbutas