/01_prehistoric/2_notes

Qafzeh Cave ochre use (~92 ka BP) is the earliest archaeologically attested case of deliberate colour symbolism in a mortuary context

The Sungir burials (~32,000 BP) demonstrate collective labour investment in mortuary ritual at a scale implying supra-individual cultural obligation

Paleolithic Mortuary Religion

For prehistoric religion, ritual-first is the safer methodological default: practice fossilises and belief does not, so the deep past must be read forward from attested behaviour, not backward from assumed doctrine