Religion has been a factor of the human experience throughout history, from pre-historic to modern times. The bulk of the human religious experience pre-dates recorded history, which is roughly 7,000 years old. A lack of written records results in most of the knowledge of pre-historic religion being derived from archaeological records and other indirect sources, and from suppositions. Much pre-historic religion is subject to continued debate. Religious practices in prehistory Middle Paleolithic (200,000 BCE – 50,000 BCE)
Whether or not Neanderthals had religion is a topic of debate among scholars. Some reject the idea of religion in the lower paleolithic, while others argue it is plausible, though the evidence of cave bear worship or ceremonies is often seen as circumstantial.
100,000 BCE: Earliest known human burial in West Asia. 78,000 BCE – 74,000 BCE: Earliest known Homo sapiens burial of a child in Panga ya Saidi in eastern Africa. 70,000 BCE – 35,000 BCE: Neanderthal burials take place in areas of Europe and West Asia.
50th to 11th millennium BCE 40,000 BCE: The remains of one of the earliest known anatomically modern humans to be discovered cremated, was buried near Lake Mungo in Australia.Bowler, J.M. 1971. Pleistocene salinities and climatic change: Evidence from lakes and lunettes in southeastern Australia. In: Mulvaney, D.J. and Golson, J. (eds), Aboriginal Man and Environment in Australia. Canberra: Australian National University Press, pp. 47–65. 38,000 BCE: The Aurignacian Löwenmensch figurine, the oldest known zoomorphic (animal-shaped) sculpture in the world and one of the oldest known sculptures in general, was made. The sculpture has also been interpreted as anthropomorphic, giving human characteristics to an animal, although it may have represented a deity. 35,000 BCE – 26,001 BCE: Neanderthal burials are absent from the archaeological record. This roughly coincides with the appearance of Homo sapiens in Europe and decline of the Neanderthals; individual skulls and/or long bones began appearing, heavily stained with red ochre and separately buried. This practice may be the origin of sacred relics. The oldest discovered "Venus figurines" appeared in graves. Some were deliberately broken or repeatedly stabbed, possibly representing the murders of the men with whom they were buried. 25,000 BCE – 21,000 BCE: Clear examples of burials are present in Iberia, Wales, and eastern Europe. These, too, incorporate the heavy use of red ochre. Additionally, various objects were included in the graves (e.g. periwinkle shells, weighted clothing, dolls, possible drumsticks, mammoth ivory beads, fox teeth pendants, panoply of ivory artifacts, "baton" antlers, flint blades etc.). 13,000 BCE – 8,000 BCE: Noticeable burial activity resumed. Prior mortuary activity had either taken a less obvious form or contemporaries retained some of their burial knowledge in the absence of such activity. Dozens of men, women, and children were being buried in the same caves which were used for burials 10,000 years beforehand. All these graves are delineated by the cave walls and large limestone blocks. The burials share a number of characteristics (such as use of ochre, and shell and mammoth ivory jewellery) that go back thousands of years. Some burials were double, comprising an adult male with a juvenile male buried by his side. They were now beginning to take on the form of modern cemeteries. Old burials were commonly re-dug and moved to make way for new ones, with the older bones often being gathered and cached together. Large stones may have acted as grave markers. Pairs of ochred antlers were sometimes mounted on poles within the cave; this is compared to the modern practice of leaving flowers at a grave.
10th to 6th millennium BCE 10,000 BCE – 8,000 BCE: The Baghor stone from presumably one of the oldest Shakti shrines in India, and one of the oldest sites of worship yet discovered in the world, is estimated to have been formed during this period (9000-8000 BC). However, it may predate 10,000 BC as samples were dated to 11,870 (± 120) YBP in a 1983 publication. The living shrine at which it was found is currently used as a place for worshipping Devi by Hindus. The triangular shape of the stone is that of the Kali Yantra which is also still in use across India. The Kol and Baiga tribes consider the triangular shape to symbolise the mother goddess 'Mai', variously named Kerai, Kari, Kali, Kalika or Karika. 9130 BCE – 8000 BCE: This was the apparent period of use of Göbekli Tepe with the earliest dates back to 9500 calBC, one of the oldest human-made sites of worship yet discovered; evidence of similar usage has also been found in another nearby site, Nevalı Çori."The World's First Temple", Archaeology magazine, Nov/Dec 2008 p 23. 7500 BCE – 5700 BCE: The settlements of Çatalhöyük developed as a likely spiritual center of Anatolia. Possibly practising worship in communal shrines, its inhabitants left behind numerous clay figurines and impressions of phallic, feminine, and hunting scenes. 7250 BCE – 6500 BCE: The Ayn Ghazal statues were made in Jordan during the Neolithic. These statues were argued to have been gods, legendary leaders, or other figures of power. They were suggested to have been a representation of a fusion of previously separate communities by Gary O. Rollefson.
Before Common Era (BCE)
Late 4th millennium BCE: Sumerian Cuneiform emerged from the proto-literate Uruk period, allowing the codification of beliefs and creation of detailed historical religious records."Beginning in the pottery-phase of the Neolithic, clay tokens are widely attested as a system of counting and identifying specific amounts of specified livestock or commodities. The tokens, enclosed in clay envelopes after being impressed on their rounded surface, were gradually replaced by impressions on flat or plano-convex tablets, and these in turn by more or less conventionalized pictures of the tokens incised on the clay with a reed stylus. The transition to writing was complete 3200 BCE – 3100 BCE: Newgrange, the passage tomb aligned to the winter solstice in Ireland, was built. 3100 BCE: The initial form of Stonehenge was completed. The circular bank and ditch enclosure, about across, may have been completed with a timber circle. 2900 BCE: The second phase of Stonehenge was completed and appeared to function as the first enclosed cremation cemetery in the British Isles. 2635 BCE – 2610 BCE: The oldest surviving Egyptian pyramid was commissioned by Pharaoh Djoser.A History of Ancient Egypt: From the First Farmers to the Great Pyramid, John Romer, pp. 294–295. 2600 BCE: Stonehenge began to take on its final form. The wooden posts were replaced with bluestone. It began taking on an increasingly complex setup (including an altar, a portal, station stones, etc.) and shows consideration of solar alignments. 2560 BCE: This is the approximate time accepted as the completion of the Great Pyramid of Giza, the oldest pyramid of the Giza Plateau. 2400 BCE – 2300 BCE: The first of the oldest surviving religious texts, the Pyramid Texts, was composed in Ancient Egypt. 2200 BCE: The Minoan civilization developed in Crete. Citizens worshipped a variety of goddesses. 2150–2000 BCE: The earliest surviving versions of the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh—originally titled He who Saw the Deep () or Surpassing All Other Kings ()—were written. 2000-1500 BCE: The people of Canaan occupy the southern Levant region developing the oldest known origin of the beliefs of Judaism. 1600 BCE: The ancient development of Stonehenge came to an end. 1500 BCE: The Vedic period began in India after the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilisation. 1500 BCE – 1000 BCE: The oldest of the Hindu Vedas (scriptures), the Rigveda was composed. This is the first mention of Rudra, a fearsome form of Shiva as the supreme god. 1353 BCE or 1351 BCE: The beginning of the reign of Akhenaten, sometimes credited with starting the earliest known recorded monolatristic religion, in Ancient Egypt. 1300 BCE – 1046 BCE: The polytheistic religion of the Chinese Shang dynasty reached its mature form. 1300 BCE – 1000 BCE: The "standard" Akkadian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh was edited by Sîn-lēqi-unninni. 1200 BCE – 800 BCE: Religion during the Greek Dark Ages is seen to be a continuation of Bronze Age Greek Religion. This period ended in 800 BCE.: "The period from 1100 to 800 B.C. is known as the Dark Age of Greece. As described in the Ancient Greek Thesaursus: Throughout the area there are signs of a sharp cultural decline. Some sites, formerly inhabited, were now abandoned."Martin, Thomas R., (October 3, 2019). "The Dark Ages of Ancient Greece" : "...The Near East recovered its strength much sooner than did Greece, ending its Dark Age by around 900 B.C...The end of the Greek Dark Age is traditionally placed some 150 years after that, at about 750 B.C..." Retrieved October 24, 2020 1200 BCE: The Olmecs built the earliest pyramids and temples in Central America. 877 BCE – 777 BCE: The life of Pārśvanātha, 23rd of Jainism. 800 BCE – 300 BCE: The Upanishads (Vedic texts) were composed, containing the earliest emergence of some of the central religious concepts of Hinduism and Buddhism. 8th to 6th centuries BCE: The Chandogya Upanishad is compiled, significant for containing the earliest to date mention of Krishna. Verse 3.17.6 mentions Krishna Devakiputra () as a student of the sage Ghora Angirasa. 6th century BCE: Possible start of Zoroastrianism; Zoroastrianism flourished under the Persian emperors known as the Achaemenids. The emperors Darius (ruled 522–486 BCE) and Xerxes I (ruled 486–465 BCE) made it the official religion of their empire. 5th century BCE: The first five books of the Jewish Tanakh, the Torah (), are probably compiled. 551 BCE: Confucius, founder of Confucianism, was born. 600 BCE – 500 BCE: The earliest Confucian writing, , incorporates ideas of harmony and heaven. 599 BCE – 527 BCE: The life of Mahavira, 24th and last of Jainism."Mahavira." Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2006. Answers.com 28 November 2009. https://www.answers.com/topic/mahavira E: Pythagoras, founder of Pythagoreanism, was born. 563 BCE – 400 BCE: Siddhartha Gautama, founder of Buddhism, was born.Rawlinson, Hugh George. (1950) A Concise History of the Indian People, Oxford University Press. p. 46.Muller, F. Max. (2001) The Dhammapada And Sutta-nipata, Routledge (UK). p. xlvii. .India: A History. Revised and Updated, by John Keay: "The date [of Buddha's meeting with Bimbisara] (given the Buddhist 'short chronology') must have been around 400 BCE." 515 BCE – 70 CE: Second Temple period. The synagogue and Jewish eschatology can all be traced back to this period. 447 BCE: The Parthenon is dedicated to the goddess Athena. 399 BCE: Socrates was tried for impiety. 369 BCE – 372 BCE: Birth of Mencius and Zhuang Zhou. 300 BCE: The oldest known version of the Tao Te Ching was written on bamboo tablets. 300 BCE: Theravada Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lanka by the Venerable Mahinda. E: The Third Buddhist council was convened by Ashoka. Ashoka sends Buddhist missionaries to faraway countries, such as China, mainland Southeast Asia, Malay kingdoms, and Hellenistic kingdoms. E: Worship of Yahweh's consort Asherah ends in Israel. 140 BCE: The earliest grammar of Sanskrit literature was composed by Pāṇini. 140 BCE – 200 CE: The Development of the Hebrew Bible canon. 100 BCE – 400 CE: The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, one of the oldest texts in Yoga, were composed.
Common Era (CE)
1st to 5th centuries
6-4 BCE – 30 or 33 CE: The life of Jesus of Nazareth, the central figure of Christianity. 8 CE: Ovid's Metamorphoses chronicles the history of the world from its creation to the deification of Julius Caesar. 27 CE – 31 CE: The death of John the Baptist.