johac <jhachmann@sbcglobal.com> wrote in alt.atheism

At the back of the Botswanan cave was a well-worn chamber, large enough
for a shaman to hide and to speak, perhaps in imitation of a snake.

Early proof that religion, even back then, was a con. The shaman
probably told people the snake wanted people to bring it food, wine,
virgins, gold, etc...

johac wrote after much deliberation:

Isn't it interesting that the first known religion worshipped a snake? I
don't know if it was supposed to talk.

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Botswana "snake rock" may show Stone Age religion

By Alister DoyleThu Nov 30, 8:22 AM ET

Carvings about 70,000 years old on a snake-like rock in a cave in
Botswana indicate that Stone Age people developed religious rituals far
earlier than previously believed, a researcher said on Thursday.

Ancestors of Botswana's San people apparently ground away at a natural
outcrop about 2 meters high and 6 meters long (6 by 20 ft) to heighten
its similarity to a python's head and body, said Sheila Coulson, an
associate professor at Oslo University.

"We believe this is the earliest archaeological proof of religion,"
Coulson, a Canadian expert in Stone Age tools, told Reuters of findings
made during a trip in mid-2006 to the Tsolido Hills in northwestern
Botswana.

The previous oldest archaeological evidence of religious worship is
about 40,000 years old from European caves. The Botswana find bolsters
evidence that modern humans originated in Africa, along with religion
and culture.

Coulson said the python-like rock had 300-400 carved indentations. In
flickering firelight, the patterns might have seemed like scales and
given the impression of movement to the rock as part of some sacred rite.

Scores of carved stone items, including 115 points and 22 burned red
spearheads, were abandoned on the floor of the cave beneath the
snake-like rock. Many had been brought more than 200 km (125 miles)
across the Kalahari Desert.

"The snake symbol runs through all the mythologies, stories, cultures,
languages of southern Africa," Coulson said. The cave, with a floor of
26 square meters (280 sq ft), was not known to archaeologists until the
1990s.

SLITHERING PYTHON

In San mythology, humankind descended from a python, and ancient
streambeds nearby were believed to have been created by a shake
slithering around the hills in search of water.

The archaeologists, with Coulson leading a team funded by a Norwegian
research program and Tromsoe University and Nick Walker heading a team
from the University of Botswana, found stone tools when they dug a pit
two meters deep below the snake.

They estimated that the artifacts were 70,000 years old, based on
comparisons with carved stones found in other well-dated sites in
Botswana.

"In the upper levels there is a distinct change to objects from the Late
Stone Age" which began 40,000 years ago, Coulson said. The scientists
were working to get more precise dates.

The scientists believe the cave was a purely sacred site because there
were no signs of wider habitation -- animal bones, tools or cooking
fires -- such as those found in South Africa's Blombos Cave of similar
age.

At the back of the Botswanan cave was a well-worn chamber, large enough
for a shaman to hide and to speak, perhaps in imitation of a snake.

Coulson said she and Walker had decided the findings were startling
enough to publicize them before writing up a report for a scientific
journal.

Wish they had included a picture or two.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061130/sc_nm/botswana_snake_dc