Rituals are a special form of human action that occur worldwide in various shapes and forms. Rituals convey cultural knowledge, construct social identities, and structure the lives of many billions of people on this planet. Ritual behavior seems to be universal, a true characteristic of the species Homo sapiens. Since the 19th century, the phenomenon of ritual has been the focus of various academic disciplines, including theology, sociology, and ethnography. Over the past 25 years, empirical research applying the theories and research tools of the cognitive sciences has led to a significant gain in knowledge about the psychologically active elements of ritual. Despite this impressive accumulation of knowledge, researchers rarely address questions about the evolutionary origins of this typically human behavior. Nor are attempts usually undertaken to integrate the latest findings from Paleolithic archaeology or current research on primatology into cognitive perspectives on ritual. However, the scientific study of ritual evolution requires a truly cross-disciplinary approach, one that consciously transcends the historically grown barriers between the humanities and the natural sciences.
This conference brings researchers together from separate disciplines such as prehistoric archaeology, psychology, primatology, cultural anthropology, and other social and cognitive sciences. Our goal is to initiate a fruitful interdisciplinary dialogue, to jointly evaluate our current knowledge on the topic of ritual evolution, and to identify new research perspectives. The conference will be structured around the following guiding questions:
- What do we know about ritual behavior of today’s Homo sapiens?
- What do we know about the ritualized behavior of our closest primate relatives?
- What do we know about the oldest rituals in the Paleolithic?
- What are the connections between ritual behavior and Paleolithic art?
A special concern of the conference is to integrate the rich archaeological record more deeply into ritual studies. In addition to presentations, the meeting includes an excursion to the Swabian Jura World Heritage Sites, where the world’s oldest figurative artworks were excavated, including the earliest known figurines of human-animal hybrids, musical instruments, and the oldest female depiction. Many of these exceptional finds are exhibited in the Urgeschichtliches Museum Blaubeuren, which the participants will visit on day 3.
The conference is supported by a generous grant from the Fritz Thyssen Foundation. The lectures will be held in a hybrid format so that interested listeners are able to attend the conference digitally.
Program
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 4, 2023
08:15 – 09:00 | Arrival, registration |
09:00 – 09:30 | Official opening of the conference & welcome address |
Session 1: What do we know about ritual behavior of today’s Homo sapiens?
09:30 – 10:00 | Dimitris Xygalatas: Ritual, embodiment, and emotional alignment |
10:00 – 10:30 | Thea Skaanes: If power is the answer – what is the question? An exploration of core mechanisms in the technology of rituals among the egalitarian hunting and gathering Hadza |
10:30 – 11:00 | Martin Lang: The evolution of human ritual behavior as a cooperative signaling platform |
11:00 – 11:30 | Coffee break |
11:30 – 12:00 | Jana Nenadalová: The darkness and the mind: How sensory deprivation can induce a spiritual experience |
12:00 – 12:30 | Jan Krátký: Anxiety and ritualistic behavior in economic decision making |
12:30 – 13:00 | Discussion |
13:00 – 14:00 | Lunch and coffee |
Session 2: What do we know about the ritualized behavior of our closest primate relatives?
14:00 – 14:30 | Aman Kalan: Where is the ritual in ritualized? An analysis of chimpanzee accumulative stone throwing |
14:30 – 15:00 | Claudio Tennie: Non-human great ape rituals – do they exist? |
15:00 – 15:30 | Coffee break |
15:30 – 16:00 | Federica Dal Pesco: Elaborate ritualized greetings in the Guinea baboon (Papio papio): Implications for understanding the evolution of human rituals |
16:00 – 16:30 | Catherine Hobaiter: Once upon a time: Exploring the origins of symbols and rituals through ape gesture |
16:30 – 17:00 | Discussion |
Evening program
17:30 – 18:30 | Nicholas Conard: Keynote Lecture – The evolution of ritual and the evidence for Paleolithic Gesamtkunstwerke in the caves of the Swabian Jura |
19:30 | Conference dinner: Ristorante "Alte Kunst", Marktgasse 8 (see map) |
THURSDAY, OCT. 5, 2023
Session 3: What do we know about the oldest rituals in the Paleolithic?
09:00 – 09:30 | Rimtautas Dapschauskas: Ritual as an engine of demographic expansion during the Middle Stone Age of Africa |
09:30 – 10:00 | Michelle C. Langley: Differentiating ritual items from children's material culture: Difficulties in identification and does it even matter? |
10:00 – 10:30 | Davorka Radovčić: Examples of Neanderthal ritual behavior at the Krapina Paleolithic site |
10:30 – 11:00 | Coffee break |
11:00 – 11:30 | Nohemi Sala: Forensic taphonomy as an approach to the analysis of mortuary behavior in the Paleolithic period |
11:30 – 12:00 | Patrick Randolph-Quinney: Navigating the cadaveric island: Integrating forensic and paleotaphonomy to understand Paleolithic mortuary ritua |
12:00 – 12:30 | Discussion |
12:30 – 13:30 | Lunch |
Session 4: What are the connections between ritual behavior and Paleolithic art?
13:30 – 14:00 | Sibylle Wolf: The Lion Man of Hohlenstein-Stadel cave: A ritual deposition? |
14:00 – 14:30 | Ria Litzenberg: Figurative art in the Swabian Aurignacian: Everyday objects or ritual items? |
14:30 – 15:00 | Pablo Arias: Sacred spaces? Looking for evidence of ritual activities associated to rock and portable art in the Magdalenian of Southwest Europe |
15:00 – 15:30 | Coffee break |
15:30 – 16:00 | Larissa Mendoza Straffon: The origins of artists: Specialization of art and ritual in the European Upper Paleolithic |
16:00 – 16:30 | Harald Floss: Meeting in the dark: Ice age cave art as an expression of Upper Paleolithic rituals? |
16:30 – 17:00 | Discussion |
Evening program
17:30 – 18:30 | Guided tour to the Museum Ancient Cultures in the Hohentübingen Castle (UNESCO World Heritage "Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura") |
FRIDAY, OCT. 6, 2023
Excursion (optional)
8:30 | Departure from Tübingen, Brunnenstr. 29 at the parking garage (see map) |
10:00 – 11:30 | Urgeschichtliches Museum Blaubeuren (URMU): guided tour |
11:30 – 12:30 | Lunch at the courtyard of the URMU (lunch packages for the participants are provided) Stroll to the Blautopf (largest karst spring in Germany) |
12:40 | Departure from Blaubeuren |
13:00 – 14:00 | Hohle Fels Cave: guided tour |
14:30 – 15:30 | Geißenklösterle Cave: guided tour |
16:45 – 17:00 | Arrival in Tübingen |
Contact regarding organization:
r.dapschauskasspam prevention@stud.uni-heidelberg.de
sibylle.wolfspam prevention@senckenberg.de
mareike.keysanspam prevention@senckenberg.de