Ritual in Human Evolution and Religion

"Rossano has long been recognized as a pioneering scholar in the evolutionary study of religion and once again he is leading the way with his most recent book. With his usual deftness, insight, and clarity, Rossano offers a novel theory on the function of ritual. He not only explains how the functional benefits of ritual have favored its emergence and endurance in our evolutionary history, but he also shows why ritual remains socially powerful and relevant today." – Richard Sosis, James Barnett Professor of Humanistic Anthropology, University of Connecticut

"Why are rituals universal to all human societies, what purposes do they serve, and how and when did they first develop? In an important book, Matt Rossano resolves a century of anthropological debate, showing how rituals manage key emotional resources, thereby helping to create commitments to collective social memories and group identities. The result is no less than a major advance in our understanding of human origins." – David S. Whitley, author of Cave Paintings and the Human Spirit: The Origin of Creativity and Belief

"Rossano has been at the forefront of new endeavors marrying contemporary research efforts charting young children’s social and cognitive proclivities with discoveries drawn from the emerging archaeological record left by our hominin ancestors. Here he applies his impressive breadth of knowledge to detailing a new proposal – that human ritual emerged to support psychological resources centered around social capital. Anyone interested in better understanding the human condition, and especially our proclivity for investing vast amounts of time, energy and finances in the puzzlingly strange acts of ritual that characterize any human group, will find much to farm here. It’s a thought-provoking and highly enjoyable read." – Prof. Mark Nielsen, PhD; FAPS, School of Psychology, University of Queensland