P/H/16. Religious rituals as evidence of socio-cultural evolution: archaeology of Tholos Tombs in Crete

The paper offers a comprehensive approach to the history of religion. Religion is considered with reference to biological evolution. The author looks at the evolution of social intelligence and propensity for altruistic bahaviour; highly advantageous when reciprocated, altruism leads to social cooperation and cohesion within community groups. The author contends that beliefs promoting cooperation (e.g. axioms of Christianity) are shaped by the evolutionary process and thus tend to get widely accepted. The concept of 'religious ritual' is defined in the socio-cultural framework along with 'social roles' and 'social institutions'. Rituals in the early Bronze Age Crete are reviewed on the basis of the excavated Tholos Tombs in Mesara. The features of the tombs are described and interpreted as evidence of ancestor worship and the worship of a fertility goddess. Inferences are made about the types of social relationships that existed in the area at pre-historic time.