On the origin of religion

[Mr Greene]

As I've stated elsewhere searching for the origin point of religions led to Lascaux and the Venus figurines of 40,000 years ago. This would tend to indicate some form of shamanism and shamanism is widespread across the planet being found on all populated continents.
Further thoughts flag up those areas where shamanism isn't generally found - civilizations.
Extrapolating from this it would appear that shamanism and civilization are somehow incompatible and civilization forces beliefs to mutate forming organised religions.

Ah... Venus figurines... Archaeologists are so naive, sometimes...
Why attribute religious value to something when porn will do the same job?

Oh, look... some seem to think like me! who'd have thought?!

There's no way to know what the statuette was used for or what meaning it carried, although scientists theorize that it might have been used in shamanistic rites or was simply pornography. Anthropologist Paul Mellars of Stony Brook University in New York state says the focus on exaggerated sexual features fits with other artifacts found from the period, including phalluses carved out of bison horn and vulva inscribed on rocks. "It's sexually exaggerated to the point of being pornographic," Mellars says. "There's all this sexual symbolism bubbling up in that period. They were sex-mad."

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2009/05/e...ornography

Yes I have my own axe to grind with the view that the first representative art is co-opted as the earliest evidence for religion. However if we dismiss it we need to find something else that can stand in and I'm not out reinvent the wheel here, (These square ones will do fine... Next they'll be telling me mammoth is off the menu...)