What if religion had never existed?

[MineralMan]

31. Your timeline is probably optimistic, really.

We know so little of how humans lived that long ago. We know nothing of what they thought or believed. Some people claim that humans have a built-in need for something spiritual or religious. They have no evidence for that, of course, any more than they have any evidence for the existence of deities.

Current concepts have Homo Sapiens appearing on the scene about 100,000-140,000 years ago. About those first modern humans, though, we know almost nothing. Maybe 40,000 years ago, they started leaving behind some remnants of their lives. Personal ornaments, totems, and a few images.

Their social groups were small. Their way of life was simple. What and how they thought about things, however, is completely unknown. No doubt it varied widely from place to place, but symbolic thinking was probably part of it, worked into the very difficult task of simply surviving.

No doubt, some of the folks here probably think that they sat around their campfires and had deep philosophical discussions. That seems highly unlikely to me. More likely, they spent their time trying to plan how they would get enough food to eat the next day. But, we don't know, because they did not keep records of such things.

Anyone who claims to know is piling bullshit on bullshit.