History of Animal Sacrifice | Religion For Breakfast

Animal sacrifice. It is one of humanity's oldest rituals. But how old? When did this ritual originate?

Part 2: Ancient Greek Sacrifice: Why did they do it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuzOezP5ifI&lc=Ugx66NXtqNP2ZSZLWhx4AaABAg

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RIP Dr. Jonathan Z. Smith. This episode was filmed before I was made aware of his death on Dec. 30th, 2017. His death is a loss to the entire discipline of religious studies, and we are indebted to his scholarship.

The video that almost made me faint. Don't watch if you can't handle it. Watch it if you want to experience one of the most widespread rituals in human history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwwKnkpB0rU&t=28s

Photograph attributions:
Homolovi II ruins: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HOMOLOVI_II.jpg

Machu Picchu: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:80_-_Machu_Picchu_-_Juin_2009_-_edit.2.jpg

Reindeer herd: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Reindeer_Herd_on_Ikpek_Beach_(7726663570).jpg

Reconstruction of auroch hunt cave painting: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_reconstruction_of_the_aurochs_hunting_scene_in_the_mural..jpg

Four horned altar: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Tel_Be%27er_Sheva%2C_Altar_01.jpg

Greco Roman sacrifice: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_ancient_Rome#/media/File:Stockholm_-_Antikengalerie_Opferszene.jpg


Bibliography
Walter Burkert, Homo Necans: The Anthropology of Ancient Greek Sacrificial Ritual and Myth. See especially p. 14 for the discussion of the mammoth skulls. https://books.google.com/books?id=pNGOeAh1780C&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=27+mammoth+skulls+circle&source=bl&ots=e7qOlg-aJY&sig=LonvXzvdDt0x_GCEe6c-k3ZIsKg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjWwL3ysprRAhXCWCYKHQDrBZcQ6AEIPDAF#v=onepage&q=27%20mammoth%20skulls%20circle&f=false

Jonathan Z. Smith, "The Domesticated Sacrifice," in Relation Religion: Essays in the Study of Religion.

For an extensive discussion of the lamb burial at Catalhoyuk, see N. Russell and B.S. During, "Worthy is the Lamb: A Double Burial at Neolithic Catalhoyuk," Paleorient, vol. 32/1, p. 73-84. The reconstruction of the burial that I show comes from page 79 and is by John Gordon Swogger. I claim that my use of the image falls under Fair Use. https://www.academia.edu/151744/Worthy_is_the_lamb_A_double_burial_at_Neolithic_%C3%87atalh%C3%B6y%C3%BCk_Turkey_

Nerissa Russell, Social Zooarchaeology: Humans and Animals in Prehistory