Archaeology of religion
May’s issue of The Pomegranate will carry an excerpt from archaeologist Brian Hayden’s new book on ancient religion, Shamans, Sorcerers, and Saints: A Prehistory of Religion.
A news release about the book from his university, Simon Fraser in British Columbia, is here.
A key sentence: Hayden argues religious behaviors have largely been shaped by our response to ecological factors, such as the environment, reproduction, survival and the use of energy sources, as well as ?an innate emotional foundation in humans that distinguishes us from other animals.