From Menarche to the Sacred: Girls' Puberty Rites and the Prehistoric Origins of Religion
Knowledge Commons (Lakehead University) September 11, 2026 Darshi Arachige
This article synthesises a framework positioning the cross-cultural practice of secluding girls at puberty as a forerunner to institutionalised religion, tracing its structural roots deep into the Upper Palaeolithic. Integrating ethnographic documentation, portable art, parietal cave art, and socio-cultural history — including European shamanism and the witch cult — the synthesis argues for an...