PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Rituals have existed since the dawn of humanity. Archaeological evidence suggests that early Homo sapiens engaged in ritualised behaviour. Biologists have identified rudimentary ritual-like behaviours in other animals. “As soon as humans have developed written records, we also see a great fascination and preoccupation with the correct conduct of rituals,” says Professor Ronald Fischer. “We see this in the earliest surviving written texts from the cuneiform scripts in Mesopotamia and in ancient rolls that have been found in China. If we look at archaeological records or monuments, it is also clear that some of the earliest surviving human artefacts had clear ritualistic functions, such as cave paintings, ochre pots and stone slabs with carvings.”