Humanity’s closest living relatives are common chimpanzees and bonobos. These primates
share a common ancestor with humans who lived between four and six
million years ago. It is for this reason that chimpanzees and bonobos
are viewed as the best available surrogate for this common ancestor.
Barbara King argues that while non-human primates are not religious,
they do exhibit some traits that would have been necessary for the
evolution of religion. These traits include high intelligence, a
capacity for symbolic communication, a sense of social norms,
realization of "self" and a concept of continuity. There is inconclusive evidence that Homo neanderthalensis
may have buried their dead which is evidence of the use of ritual. The
use of burial rituals is evidence of religious activity, but there is no
other evidence that religion existed in human culture before humans
reached behavioral modernity.
Elephants are the only other species known to have any recognizable ritual surrounding death.
Marc Bekoff, Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
at the University of Colorado, Boulder, argues that many species grieve
death and loss.
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