The Evolutionary Emergence of Costly Rituals

Abstract

This paper reviews four archaeological indicators of ritual behavior guided by two broad hypotheses: (1) that evidence of costly ritual behavior will emerge at around 150,000 ybp as a result of increasing ecological and social stress, and, (2) this evidence will be more pronounced among H. sapiens than Neanderthals consistent with the proposition that H. sapiens used ritual more frequently and successfully in creating greater social complexity than Neanderthals. General support for both hypotheses was found. Additionally, there was evidence that H. sapiensadopted costly ritual behavior earlier than Neanderthals and intensified it to higher levels. Two factors are dis-cussed in accounting for these findings: (1) inter-group interactions and competition, often resulting from migra-tions in pursuit of scarce resources, and (2) the need for reliable pair-bonding as described in the Female Cosmetics Coalition model.