Page 40 - SYTYGIB Prehistoric Times

Gods and religion
It can be SO upsetting when things go horribly wrong.
Like that time you swapped your packed lunch with Gary Henderson because he said he had cheese sandwiches but he totally lIeD and gave you tuna mayo sandwiches and you’d rather eat a pair of crusty old PaNtS than a tuna mayo sandwich.
Or the day you sneezed in assembly and accidentally did the loudest bOtToM bUrP in the uNiVeRsE and got sent to the Corridor of Shame by Mrs Turbot and everyone pointed and LaUgHeD at you.
But if you think YoU’vE GoT iT BaD, your level of ‘things going wrong’ is NoThInG compared to what kids in prehistoric times had to deal with.
And while you might make a little wish to the gOdS oF TrOuSeR tRuMpEtInG that the school assembly scenario NeVeR happens, folk back then took asking to be protected from bad stuff WaY more seriously.
Some archaeologists think Stone Age people believed animals connected them to powerful, invisible spirits that controlled nature. By painting and drawing them,
and even talking, singing, and dancing for them, they could apologise for hunting, show respect, and agree how to make life better.
With this in mind, perhaps you could have a chinwag with your pet gerbil so it feels respected, or apologise to a pig next time you think about eating a sausage.
Archaeologists can get a glimpse of what people may have believed through objects that are found, although it’s impossible to say exactly what they were for.
Several small Stone Age statues of people and animals have been dug up, for example. One of the oldest is of a man with a lion’s head – or is it a lion with a man’s body? If any lions are reading this, that’s probably what they think.
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