Anterior insula, 47–49, 63; introspective self and, 84, 85, 86
Anterior temporal pole, 256n30
Anthropomorphism, 83, 197, 213–14; of Mesopotamian gods, 172, 175–76
Aphrodite, 200
Archaic Homo Sapiens, 68. See also Neandertals
Archeology of Death and Burial, The (Pearson), 23, 147–48
Arcuate fasciculus, 14, 15, 62
Armstrong, Karen, 199, 202
Arts, 19, 71; children related to, 105; of modern Homo sapiens, 95–101, 102–3; by Neandertals, 95. See also Cave art
Aryans, 196
Asclepius, 160
Association areas, 32–33
Association cortex, 33, 62
Assyria, 196
Astronomy, 188
Atkinson, Quentin, 81
Atran, Scott, 220
Aurochs (cattle), 144
Australia, 18, 73, 119, 123
Australopithecus, 25–26, 242n6
Austria, 93, 97
Autism, 60; belief in God and, 66
Autobiographical memory (episodic memory), 204, 205, 259n34; animals and, 108; of children, 104–5; future related to, 106–8, 128–29; grave goods and, 124–25; of Homo sapiens, 3–4, 16, 19; human revolution and, 120–21; hunting with, 108–10; language and, 110; of modern Homo sapiens, 104–9, 125–29, 126; Neandertals and, 108–9; uncinate fasciculus and, 128; understanding of death and, 110–13; visual arts and, 120–22; without agriculture, 161–64
Avebury, xiii–xiv, 187–90
Axial age, 198–202
Ba, 179
BA 6. See Premotor cortex
BA 7. See Superior parietal
BA 8. See Frontal cortex
BA 9. See Lateral prefrontal cortex
BA 10. See Frontal pole
BA 22. See Posterior superior temporal area
BA 23. See Posterior cingulate
BA 24. See Anterior cingulate
BA 32. See Anterior cingulate
BA 35. See Parahippocampal gyrus
BA 36. See Parahippocampal gyrus
BA 38. See Temporal pole
BA 39. See Inferior parietal lobe
BA 40. See Inferior parietal lobe
BA 46. See Lateral prefrontal cortex
BA 47. See Orbital frontal cortex; Orbitofrontal region
Baboons, 24–25, 42, 58, 115
Babylon, 169, 196, 199, 201, 269n11, 272n72
Baldwin, James, 133
Balter, Michael, 36, 152
Barama River Caribs, 234
Baron-Cohen, Simon, 60, 80
Basedow, Herbert, 156
Batek, 237–38
Baudelaire, Charles, 113–14
Bauman, Zygmunt, 76
Becker, Ernest, 116, 202
Beer, 141–43, 168–69
Belief in Gods, 1–2, 65–67
Belief Instinct, The (Bering), 65
Bella Coola Indians, 233
Bellah, Robert, 200
Bellwood, Peter, 146
Bering, Jesse, 65
Bicameral mind, 218
Bickerton, Derek, 53, 79, 84
Birds, 27
Bismarck, Otto von, 200
Bison, 99–100
Blackfoot Indians, 139
Boars (pigs), 144
Bolivia, 119, 139, 235
Bone tools, 70, 88, 102
Bonobos, 28
Book of the Dead, The, 182
Bow and arrow, 89, 103
Boyer, Pascal, 212, 214, 220
Brain abnormalities, 43, 49–50, 127; semantic memory and, 107–8
Brain evolution theory, 225–26. See also specific topics
Brains: of children, 13–14; of chimpanzees, 12–13, 30, 33, 163, 226–27; mammalian, 18, 23–24; of monkeys, 18–19; postmortem, 12–13; of primates, 33. See also Autobiographical memory; Human brain
Brain size, 10, 12–13, 243n12; of Hominins, 25–26; of Homo erectus, 38, 40, 45–46; of Homo habilis, 26–27, 29–30, 37–38; of Homo sapiens, 29, 84; of Neandertals, 52, 68–69, 84
Brazil, 119, 235
Breaking the Spell (Dennett), 214
Breuil, Henri, 122–23, 262n65
British Guiana, 234
Brodgar, Scotland, 187–88
Brodmann, Korbinian, 7, 8, 240n9, 245n20
Brooks, Alison, 101
Buddhism, 196, 198–200
Burger, Richard, 197
Burial, xiv, 171–72; agriculture related to, 147, 149; beneath houses, 149, 152; in Egypt, 178–79; of Neandertals, 54–55, 92, 94–95; place for, 151–52; stones for, 186–87. See also Grave goods
Burial mounds, 223
Burl, Aubrey, 189–90
Buttermore, Nicole, 20
Cairns, 186–87
California, 231
Canada, 139, 232–34
Canela Indians, 235
Cannibalism, 115
Caral, Peru, 193
Carroll, Lewis, 107
Carved human figures, 134–36, 138
Carver, George Washington, 80
Çatalhöyük , Turkey, 152–53, 159–60
Cattle (aurochs), 144
Cauvin, Jacques, 149, 153, 159–60
Cave art, 96–97, 102–3, 110; animals in, 98–99, 121, 124; geometric figures in, 100–1; handprints in, 100, 121; human figures in, 99–100; religion related to, 121–24; shamans in, 122
Çayönü, Turkey, 136–37
Cereals, 140–42
Cerebellum, 126, 128
Ceremonial buildings, 135–37
Ceremonies, 135–36, 139
Ceylon, 138–39
Chauvet cave art, 96–98, 100, 102, 121–23
Children, 15–16; autobiographical memory of, 104–5; brains of, 13–14; lateral prefrontal cortex of, 163; self-awareness of, 40–41; temples and, 173; theory of mind and, 56–57, 74–75, 82; understanding of death related to, 114–15
Chimpanzee brains, 12–13, 30, 33, 163, 226–27
Chimpanzee-hominin split, 11, 25
Chimpanzees, 28, 108; monkeys compared to, 43–44, 49; parallel evolution and, 25; self-awareness of, 43–44; understanding of death related to, 115
China, xiii–xiv, 190, 197; alcohol in, 145–46, 154; grave goods in, 191–92
Chipewyan Indians, 234
Christianity, 77, 201, 234, 255n16
Cingulate. See Anterior cingulate; Posterior cingulate
Cingulum, 14, 15, 128
City-states, 174–75
Climate, 39–40, 161, 263n2; agriculture and, 133–34
Clothing, fitted, 71, 89
Clottes, Jean, 121
Clutton-Brock, Juliet, 144
Cognitive domains, 8–9
Collins, Francis, 2
Colorado, 230
Comanche Indians, 230
Comfort theories, 211–13
Communication, 139
Conscription, 35
Convergent evolution, 242n18
Cooking, 39
Cooperative hunting, 109–10, 134
Corpus callosum, 34
Cosquer cave art, 98, 123
Cox, James, 138
Craig, Bud, 41–42
Cree Indians, 232–33
Creek Indians, 229
Crete, 197
Crick, Francis, 1
Critchley, Macdonald, 6–7
Croucher, Karina, 137–38, 144, 147, 149–50
Czech Republic, 93
d’Aquili, Eugene, 216
Darwin, Charles, 4–6, 43, 203–4, 240n7; Tylor and, 110–11, 206
Darwin’s Cathedral (Wilson), 208
Dating, 11, 88
Dawkins, Richard, 220
Dawn of Human Culture, The (Klein and Edgar), 95
Deacon, Terrence, 79
Death, 139, 195, 199, 202; decomposition after, 111–12; Egypt and, 178–82; fear of, 113–14; Hominins and, 111–12; human brain after, 9; land of, 119–20; Mesopotamian gods and, 169–70; in wars, 174–75. See also Ancestor worship; Burial; Dreams; Understanding, of death
“Defence of Poetry, A” (Shelley), 51
Deification, 156, 165
DeLoache, Judy, 105
Dementia, 43, 49–50, 127
Denial of Death, The (Becker), 202
Denisovans, 52
Dennett, Daniel, 214
Depersonalization, 42–43, 48
Descartes, 42
Descent of Man, The (Darwin), 5
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), 13–14
Dinosaurs, 24
DNA, 11; of Homo sapiens, 72–73
Dobzhansky, Theodosius, 77, 113, 213
Dogs, 143, 148
Dolmen, 186
Dolphins, 44, 49
Domesticated Animals from Early Times (Clutton-Brock), 144
Domestication, 133; animal, 143–44; plant, 20, 140–42
Donald, Merlin, 40
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, 221
Dreams, 205; HRAF on, 119, 229–38; religion related to, 117–19
DTI. See Diffusion tensor imaging
Dumuzi, 168–69
Dunbar, Robin, 78–79, 81, 97, 201–2; on social brain hypothesis, 35–36
Durkheim, Émile, 123, 195–96, 206–7
Early Homo sapiens. See Neandertals
Eastern Apache Indians, 230–31
Eccles, John, 14, 77, 90, 106
Economics, 172–73
Edgar, Blake, 95
Egypt, 155, 196; death and, 178–82; grave goods in, 180–82; pyramids in, 179, 194–95; temple of, 177; writing of, 176–77
Egyptian gods, 177–78, 182
Einstein, Albert, 14, 34
Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, The (Durkheim), 207
Elephants, 44, 49, 115, 225–26
Eliot, T. S., 87, 107, 114
Empathy, 55–56, 60–61
End of Faith, The (Harris), 204
Engineering, 183
England: Silbury Hill, xiii–xiv, 188; Stonehenge, 134, 189, 190, 195, 222–23. See also Avebury
Enki, 166–68, 194, 208
Epic of Gilgamesh, The, 169–70
Epilepsy, 215
Episodic memory. See Autobiographical memory
Eskimos, Chugach, 139
Ethics, 169
Euhemeros of Macedonia, 156
Evidence: children as, 14–16; DTI in, 13–14; fMRI in, 13; hominin skulls as, 9–11; postmortem brains as, 12–13; tools as, 10; white matter connecting tracts in, 13–14, 15
Evolution, 35, 59, 242n18, 245n1; of human brain, 225–28; terminology about, xiv–xv. See also Parallel evolution; specific topics
Evolutionary theory, 3–6
Evolution of the Brain: Creation of the Self (Eccles), 90
Evolving God (King), 207
Executive functions, 162–63
Faces in the Clouds: A New Theory of Religion (S. Guthrie), 213–14
Fagan, Brian, 53, 55, 89
Faith Instinct, The (Wade), 207–8
Fear, 113–14
Feasting, 135–36, 143
Feder, Kenneth, 28, 38
Fertile Crescent, 140–44
Fertility, 160, 167–68
Figurines, 102, 184, 192–93; high gods related to, 159–60; Venus, 93, 97, 100
Fire, 39–40
First-order theory of mind, 56, 75
Fishing, 89, 102
Flechsig, Paul Emil, 7, 32, 163, 227, 276n5
fMRI. See Functional MRI
Food, 169, 180–81; cannibalism, 115; cereals, 140–42; cooking, 39; feasting, 135–36, 143; meat eating, 27. See also Domestication
Forebrain, 24, 242n1
Foresight, 259n35
Four Quartets (Eliot), 87, 107
France, 96–97, 100
France, Anatole, 30
Frazer, James, 222
Freud, Sigmund, 211
Frith, Chris, 56
Fromm, Erich, 116
Frontal cortex (BA 8), 61, 63, 64
Frontal lobe, 33, 127, 216; of Homo habilis, 30–31; theory of mind and, 63–64
Frontal pole (BA 10), 63, 64, 84, 85, 225; autobiographical memory and, 126, 127; intelligence and, 31–33, 32
Frontotemporal dementia, 49–50, 127
Functional MRI (fMRI), 13
Future, 106–8, 128–29
Gage, Phineas, 60–61
Gallup, Gordon, 42–43
Gargas cave art, 100, 102
Genetic theories, 217–18
Geography, 51–52
Geometric figures, 100–1
Germany, 97
Gervais, Will, 66
Ghosts, 230–31, 234–35
Gilgamesh, 169–70, 269n11
Gillings, Mark, 188–90
Gimbutas, Marija, 184
Glial cells, 6, 225–26, 276n1
Goats, 143–44
Göbekli Tepe, Turkey, 137–40, 143, 158; carved human figures in, 134–35; as ceremonial center, 135–36
God contests, 220–21, 275n38
God Delusion, The (Dawkins), 220
God Gene, The (Hamer), 217–18
“God gene,” 217–19
Gods, xiii, 6, 23, 191, 240n3; adaptionists on, 218–20; anthropomorphism of, 83, 197; as by-products, 220–21; governments and, 170–72, 195–96, 200, 204–5, 205; introspective self and, 82–83; monotheism, 2, 196, 201; Neandertals and, 67; need for, 221–22; pattern-seeking theories and, 83; second-order theory of mind and, 82; from spirits, 156–58, 165; term use of, xv, 123; writing and, 160–61. See also specific topics
God’s Brain (Tiger and McGuire), 212
Gold, 184–85
Goodall, Jane, 115
Gorillas, 43, 58
Gould, Stephen Jan, 24, 37
Governments, 4, 198; gods and, 170–72, 195–96, 200, 204–5, 205. See also Mesopotamian gods
Grave goods, 102–3, 148, 189, 194, 229; afterlife and, 125, 152; autobiographical memory and, 124–25; in China, 191–92; definition of, 94–95; in Egypt, 180–82; food as, 169, 180–81; of modern Homo sapiens, 92–95, 102–3; in Pakistan, 183–84; of royalty, 171–72; from Southeastern Europe, 184–85; Tylor on, 124–25; wealth in, 92–93; in Western Europe, 185–86
Great Plains, 230
Great Spirit, 230, 232, 240n3
Greeks, 156, 176, 178, 197, 200
Grids of connectivity, 8–9
Guthrie, Dale, 88, 124, 143, 161
Guthrie, Stewart, 212–14
Gyri, 10, 227, 277n6
Gyrification, 227–28, 277n6
Hallowell, A. Irving, 118
Hallucinations, 122, 218, 236
Hamer, Dean, 217–19
Hamilton, Edith, 178
Hamlet (fictitious character), 113
Handprints, 100, 121
Harappans, 182–84
Harris, Sam, 204, 221
Hawkes, Jacquetta, 150, 153
Hayden, Brian, 122, 142–43
Herodotus, 178, 201
Hick, John, 199
High gods, xv, 20, 138; population and, 158–59, 166; statues related to, 159–60
Hindbrain, 242n1
Hinde, Robert, 211–13
Hinduism, 196
Hippocampus, 126, 127–28, 216
History of God, A (Armstrong), 199
Hittites, 196
Hobbes, Thomas, 116
Hodder, Ian, 153, 160
Homer, 2
Hominids, xiv–xv
Hominins, xiv–xv, 9–11, 67; brain size of, 25–26; cognitive skill of, 3–4; death and, 111–12; Neandertals and, 69, 87
Homo erectus, 50–51, 255n16; brain size of, 38, 40, 45–46; fire and, 39–40; Homo habilis compared to, 37–38; migration of, 39–40; modern human and, 46–48, 47; self-awareness of, 42, 45–46, 129; tools of, 38–40, 245n3
Homo habilis, 10, 129, 245n3; brain size of, 26–27, 29–30, 37–38; Homo erectus compared to, 37–38; parietal lobe of, 30–31; tools of, 27–28, 37
Homo sapiens, xiv–xv; autobiographical memory of, 3–4, 16, 19; brain size of, 29, 84; DNA of, 72–73; human brain of, 29, 84–86; introspective self o
f, 84–86, 85, 129; migration of, 11–12, 71–73, 87; self-ornamentation of, 10, 70–71, 74; in Siberia, 73. See also Modern Homo sapiens
Horses, 98–99
Houses, 136–37, 149, 152
How We Believe (Shermer), 214
HRAF. See Human Relations Area Files
Human-animal composites, 100
Human brain, 5, 204, 240n9, 241n16, 243n12; after death, 9; chimpanzee brains compared to, 12–13, 30, 33, 163, 226–27; conscription within, 35; description of, 6–7, 7, 8; divisions of, 7, 7, 8; evolution of, 225–28; growth of, 205–6, 245n20; gyrification in, 227–28, 277n6; gyri of, 10, 227, 277n6; of Homo sapiens, 29, 84–86; language related to, 9, 80–81, 241n10; maturation within, 12; of modern Homo sapiens, 125–29, 126; myelin in, 226–27; natural selection and, 16–17; of Neandertals, 84–86, 85, 129; network of, 8–9; neurons of, 6, 24, 30, 33, 48–50, 64–65, 225–26, 240n8, 241n12; occipital area of, 7, 7, 10, 14, 30; opportunistic evolution and, 35; social brain hypothesis related to, 35–36; terminal zones of, 7, 32, 163, 227; tissues and, 12–13, 241n12. See also Brain size; White matter connecting tracts
Human Connectome Project, 241n16
Human figures, 134–36, 138; in cave art, 99–100; statues, 151, 159–60, 172, 181. See also Figurines
Human Relations Area Files (HRAF), 119, 236–38; on Indians, 229–35
Human revolution, 101; autobiographical memory and, 120–21
Human sacrifices, 171–72
Humphrey, Nicholas, 28–29, 56, 76
Hunter-gatherers, 110, 119, 124, 134, 158; ancestor worship by, 138–40. See also Human Relations Area Files
Hunting, 38–39, 53, 70, 134; with autobiographical memory, 108–10
Ikram, Salma, 178
Immortality, 170, 204, 205
Indians: Bella Coola, 233; Blackfoot, 139; Canela, 235; Chipewyan, 234; Comanche, 230; Cree, 232–33; Creek, 229; Eastern Apache, 230–31; Inuit, 234; Mataco, 235; Nootkan, 233; Ojibwa, 118, 139, 232; Pawnee, 119; Pomo, 231; Stoney, 232; Tlingit, 231–32; Ute, 230; Yoruk, 231
Indonesia, 96
Inferior parietal cortex, 126
Inferior parietal lobe (BA 39 and 40), 46, 47, 48, 228, 248n23; intelligence and, 31–32, 32, 34–35; theory of mind and, 63, 126, 126
In Gods We Trust (Atran), 220
Insula, 84, 86; self-awareness and, 46–47, 47; theory of mind and, 60, 62–64. See also Anterior insula
Intelligence, 46; BA 9 and 46 related to, 31–32, 32; BA 24 and 32 and, 31–32, 32; BA 39 and 40 and, 31–32, 32, 34–35; corpus callosum and, 34
Intentional burials: debates about, 94–95; of Neandertals, 54–55. See also Grave goods
Intentional cultivation, 141
Introspective self, 205, 255n16; animals without, 77; cognition of, 76–77; gods and, 82–83; of Homo sapiens, 84–86, 85, 129; language and, 78–82; neuroimaging studies on, 84–86, 85; white matter connecting tracts and, 86
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