title: Prehistoric religion

text: The tail end of the Lower Paleolithic saw a cognitive and cultural shift. The emergence of revolutionary technologies such as fire, coupled with the course of human evolution extending development to include a true childhood and improved bonding between mother and infant, perhaps broke new ground in cultural terms. It is in the last few hundred thousand years of the period that the archaeological record begins to demonstrate hominins as creatures that influence their environment as much as they are influenced by it. Later Lower Paleolithic hominins built wind shelters to protect themselves from the elements; they collected unusual natural objects; they began the use of pigments such as red ochre. These shifts do not coincide with species-level evolutionary leaps, being observed in both "H. heidelbergensis" and "H. erectus". Different authors interpret these shifts with different levels of skepticism, some seeing them as a spiritual revolution and others as simply the beginning of the beginning. While the full significance of these changes is difficult to discern, they clearly map to an advance in cognitive capacity in the directions that would eventually lead to religion.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: The Middle Paleolithic was the era of coterminous Neanderthal and "H. s. sapiens" (anatomically modern human) habitation. "H. s. sapiens" originated in Africa and Neanderthals in Eurasia; over the course of the period, "H. s. sapiens" range expanded to areas formerly dominated by Neanderthals, eventually supplanting them and ushering in the Upper Paleolithic. Much is unknown about Neanderthal cognition, particularly the capacities that would give rise to religion. Religious interpretations of Neanderthals have discussed their possibly-ritual use of caves, their burial practices, and religious practices amongst "H. s. sapiens" hunter-gatherer tribes in recorded history considered to have similar lifestyles to Neanderthals. Pre-religious interpretations of Neanderthals argue their archaeological record suggests a lack of creativity or supernatural comprehension, that Neanderthal-associated archaeological findings are too quickly ascribed religious motive, and that the genetic and neurological remnants of Neanderthal skeletons do not permit the cognitive complexity required for religion.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: While the Neanderthals dominated Europe, Middle Paleolithic "H. s. sapiens" ruled Africa. Middle Paleolithic "H. s. sapiens", like its Neanderthal contemporaries, bears little obvious trace of religious practice. The art, tools, and stylistic practice of the era's "H. s. sapiens" are not suggestive of the complexity necessary for spiritual belief and practice. However, the Middle Paleolithic is long, and the "H. s. sapiens" who lived in it heterogeneous. Models of behavioural modernity disagree on how humanity became behaviourally and cognitively sophisticated, whether as a sudden emergence in the Upper Paleolithic or a slow process over the last hundred thousand years of the Middle Paleolithic; supporters of the second hypothesis point to evidence of increasing cultural, ritual, and spiritual sophistication 150,00050,000 years ago.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Neanderthals were the earliest hominins to bury their dead, although not the chronologically first burials, as earlier burials (such as those of the Skhul and Qafzeh hominins) are recorded amongst early "H. s. sapiens". Though relatively few Neanderthal burials are known, spaced thousands of years apart over broad geographical ranges, Hayden argues them undeniable hallmarks of spiritual recognition and "clear indications of concepts of the afterlife". Though Pettitt is more cautious about the significance of Neanderthal burial, he deems it a sophisticated and "more than prosaic" practice. Pettitt deems the Neanderthals of at least southwest France, Germany, and the Levant possessive of clear mortuary rites he presumes linked to an underlying belief system. He calls particular attention to potential grave markers found around Neanderthal burials, particularly those of children, at La Ferrassie in Dordogne.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: One matter discussed in the context of Neanderthal burial is grave goods, objects placed in graves that are frequently seen in early religious cultures. Outside of the controversial Shanidar IV "flower burial", now considered coincidence, Neanderthals are not seen to bury their dead with grave goods. However, a burial of an adult and child of the Kizil-Koba culture was accompanied by a flint stone with markings. In 2018, a team at the French National Centre for Scientific Research published their analysis that the markings were intentionally made and possibly held symbolic significance.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: The archaeological record preserves Neanderthal associations with red pigments and quartz crystals. Hayden states "it is inconceivable to me that early hunting and gathering groups would have been painting images or decorating their bodies without some kind of symbolic or religious framework for such activities"; he draws comparison to the use of red ochre amongst those modern hunter-gatherers to whom it represents a sacred colour. He similarly connects quartz collection to religious use of crystals in later shamanic practice. Not all writers are as convinced that this represents underlying spiritual experience. To Mark Nielsen, evidence of ritual practice amongst Neanderthals does not represent religion; he interprets their cultural remnants, such as the rare cave art they produced, as insufficiently sophisticated for such comprehension. Rather, Neanderthal orthopraxy is a cultural teaching mechanism that permitted their unusually stable culture, existing at the same technological level for hundreds of thousands of years during rapid "H. s. sapiens" change. To Nielsen, Neanderthal ritual is how they preserved an intractable culture via teachings passed down through generations.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Ultimately, Neanderthal religion is speculative, and hard evidence for religious practice exists only amongst Upper Paleolithic "H. s. sapiens". Though Hayden and to some degree Pettitt take a spiritualised interpretation of Neanderthal culture, these interpretations are unclear at best; as Pettitt says, "the very real possibility exists that religion "sensu stricto" is a unique characteristic of symbolically and linguistically empowered "Homo sapiens"". Other writers, such as Wunn, find the concept of Neanderthal religion "mere speculation" that at best is an optimistic interpretation of the archaeological record. What ritual Neanderthals had, rather than supernatural, is oft interpreted as a mechanism of teaching and social bonding. Matt J. Rossano, defining Neanderthal practice as "proto-religion", compares it to "purely mimetic community activities" such as marching, sports, and concerts. He understands it not as a veneration of spirits or deities, but rather a bonding and social ritual that would later evolve into supernatural faith.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: In 2019 Gibraltarian palaeoanthropologists Stewart, Geraldine and Clive Finlayson and Spanish archaeologist Francisco Guzmán speculated that the golden eagle had iconic value to Neanderthals, as exemplified in some modern human societies because they reported that golden eagle bones had a conspicuously high rate of evidence of modification compared to the bones of other birds. They then proposed some "Cult of the Sun Bird" where the golden eagle was a symbol of power.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: "H. s. sapiens" emerged in Africa as early as 300,000 years ago. In the Middle Paleolithic, particularly its first couple hundred thousand years, the archaeological record of "H. s. sapiens" is barely distinguishable from their Neanderthal and "H. heidelbergensis" contemporaries. Though these first "H. s. sapiens" demonstrated some ability to construct shelter, use pigments, and collect artifacts, they yet lacked the behavioural sophistication associated with humans today. The process through which "H. s. sapiens" became cognitively and culturally sophisticated is known as behavioural modernity. The emergence of behavioural modernity is unclear; traditionally conceptualised as a sudden shock around the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic, modern accounts more often understand it as a slow process throughout the late Middle.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Where behavioural modernity is conceptualised as originating in the Middle Paleolithic, some authors also push back the traditional framework of religion's origin to account for it. Wightman discusses Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa, inhabited 180,000 years ago by early "H. s. sapiens" and filled with unusual objects such as quartz crystals and inscribed stones. He argues these may have been ritual artifacts that served as foci for rites performed by these early humans. Wightman is even more enraptured by the Botswanan Tsodilosacred to modern hunter-gathererswhich primarily houses Upper Paleolithic paintings and artifacts, but has objects stretching back far earlier. Middle Paleolithic spearheads have been found in Tsodilo's Rhino Cave, many of which were distinctly painted and some of which had apparently travelled long distances with nomadic hunter-gatherers. Rhino Cave presents unusual rock formations that modern hunter-gatherers understand as spiritually significant, and Wightman hypothesises this sense may have been shared by their earliest forebears. He is also curious about the emergence of cave art towards the very end of the Middle Paleolithic, where drawings and traces of red ochre finally emerge 50,000 years ago; this art, the first remnants of true human creativity, would usher in the Upper Paleolithic and the birth of complex religion.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: The emergence of the Upper Paleolithic 40,00050,000 years ago was a time of explosive development. The Upper Paleolithic saw the worldwide emergence of "H. s. sapiens" as the sole species of humanity, displacing their Neanderthal contemporaries across Eurasia and travelling to previously human-uninhabited territories such as Australia. The complexity of stone tools grew, and the production of complex art, sculpture, and decoration began. Long-distance trade networks emerged to connect communities that had complex house-like habitations and food storage networks.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: True religion made its clear emergence during this period of flourishing. Rossano, following in the footsteps of other authors, ascribes this to shamanism. He draws a line between pre-Upper Paleolithic social bonding rituals and faith healing, where the latter is an evolution of the former. Gesturing at the universality of faith healing concepts in hunter-gatherer societies throughout recorded history, as well as their tendencies to involve the altered states of consciousness ascribed to shamanism and their placebo effect on psychologically inspired pain, he conjectures that these rituals were the first truly supernatural tendency to reveal itself to the human psyche. Price refers to an extension of this as the "neuropsychological model", where shamanism is conceptualised as hard-wired in the human mind. Though some authors are unsympathetic to the neuropsychological model, Price finds a strong basis for some psychological underpinning to shamanism.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Upper Paleolithic humans produced complex paintings, sculptures, and other artforms, much of which held apparent ritual significance. Religious interpretations of such objects, especially "portable art" such as figurines, varies. Some writers understand virtually all such art as spiritual, while others read only a minority as such, preferring more mundane functions for the majority.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: The study of religious art in the Upper Paleolithic focuses in particular on cave artreferred to alternatively by some writers (such as David S. Whitley) as "rock art", as not all of it was produced on cave walls rather than rock formations elsewhere. Cave art is frequently conceptualised as a tool of shamanism. This model, the "mind in the cave" conjecture, sees much cave art as produced in altered states of consciousness as a tool to connect the artist with the spirit realm. Visionary cave art, as shamanic art is referred to, is characterised by unnatural imagery such as animal-human hybrids, and by recurring themes such as sex, death, flight, and physical transformation.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Not all religious cave art depicts shamanic experience. Cave art is also connected, by analogy with modern hunter-gatherers, to initiation rituals; a painting that depicts an animal to most members of a tribe may have a deeper symbolic meaning to those involved in smaller secret societies. Comparative evidence for this form of cave art is difficult to gather, as secret societies by definition do not share their nature with outsider anthropologists. In some cases, the lifestyles of modern hunter-gatherers have been rendered so peripheral as to lose that knowledge entirely. Nonetheless, these arts are still studied, and general ideas can still be concluded; concepts associated with secret society cave art include ancestor figures, animals as metaphors, and long-distance travel.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Another art form of probable religious significance are the Venus figurines. These are hand-held statuettes of nude women found in Upper Paleolithic sites across Eurasia, speculated to hold significance to fertility rites. Though separated by thousands of years and kilometres, Venus figurines across the Upper Paleolithic share consistent features. They focus on the midsections of their subjects; the faces are blank or abstract, and the hands and feet small. Despite the near-nonexistence of obesity amongst hunter-gatherers, many depict realistically rendered obese subjects. The figures are universally women, often nude, and frequently pregnant.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Interpretations of Venus figurines range from self-portraits to anti-climate-change charms to matriarchal representations of a mother goddess. Hayden argues the fertility charm interpretation is most parsimonious; Venus figurines are oft found alongside other apparent fertility objects, such as phallic representations, and that secular interpretations in particular are implausible for such widespread objects. He similarly disagrees with the goddess symbolism, as seen in feminist anthropology, on the basis that contemporary hunter-gatherers that venerate female fertility often lack actual matriarchal structures. Indeed, in more recent hunter-gatherer societies, secret societies venerating female fertility are occasionally restricted to men. Contra the traditional fertility interpretation, Patricia C. Rice argues nonetheless that the Venuses are symbols of women throughout their lifetime, not just throughout reproduction, and that they represent a veneration of femaleness and femininity as a whole.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Sculpture more broadly is a significant part of Upper Paleolithic art and often analysed for its spiritual implications. Upper Paleolithic sculpture is frequently seen through the lenses of sympathetic magic and ritual healing. Sculptures found in Siberia have been analysed through such an understanding by comparison to more recent Siberian hunter-gatherers, who made figurines while ill to represent and ward off those illnesses. Venus figurines are not alone in terms of sexually explicit Paleolithic sculpture; around a hundred phallic representations are known, of which a significant proportion are circumcised, dating the origin of that practice to the era. Sculptures of animals are also recorded, as are sculptures that appear to be part-human and part-animal. The latter especially are deemed spiritually significant and possibly shamanistic in intent, representing the transformation of their subjects in the spirit realm. Other interpretations of therianthropic sculpture include ancestor figures, totems, and gods. Though fully human sculptures in the Upper Paleolithic are generally female, those with mixed human and animal traits are near-universally male, across broad geographic and chronological ranges.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: The Upper Paleolithic saw the advent of complex burials with lavish grave goods. Burials seem to have been relatively uncommon in these societies, perhaps reserved for people of high social or religious status. Many of these burials seem to have been accompanied by large quantities of red ochre, but the matter of decomposition makes it difficult to discern whether such pigments were applied to flesh or bone. One remarkable case of a pigmented burial is that of Lake Mungo 3 in inland New South Wales, Australia; the ochre in which the body was found covered must have been transported for hundreds of kilometres, considering the distance between the burial and the nearest sources.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: One of the most elaborate Upper Paleolithic burials known is that of Sungir 1, a middle-aged man buried at the Russian Sungir site. In good physical health at the time of his death, Sungir 1 seems to have been killed by human weaponry, an incision on his remains matching that which would be produced by contemporary stone blades. The body was doused in ochre, particularly around the head and neck, and adorned with ivory bead jewellery of around 3,000 beads. Twelve fox canine teeth surrounded his forehead, while twenty-five arm bands made of mammoth ivory were worn on his arms, and a single pendant made of stone laid on his chest. Two children or young teenagers were additionally interred near him; their bodies were similarly decorated, with thousands of mammoth ivory beads, antlers, mammoth-shaped ivory carvings, and ochre-covered bones of other humans. The children had abnormal skeletons, with one having short bowed legs and the other an unusual facial structure. Burials so elaborate clearly suggest some concept of an afterlife and are similar to shaman burials in cultures described in written records.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Burial is one of the major ways archaeologists understand past societies; in the words of Timothy Taylor, "there can be no clearer "a priori" demonstration of ritual in past societies than the archaeological uncovery of a formal human burial". Upper Paleolithic burials do not appear to represent an ordinary cross-section of the population. Rather, their subjects are unusual and extravagant. Three-quarters of Upper Paleolithic burials were of men, a significant proportion young or disabled, and many buried in shared tombs. They are frequently posed in unusual positions and buried with rich grave goods. Taylor supposes many of these dead were human sacrifices, excluded from the ordinary means of body disposal (he presumes cannibalism) and warded by talismans. Hayden rather speculates these were shamans or otherwise people whose religious prominence was in life, rather than death; he notes especially the frequency of physical disability, comparing it to the many shamans in recorded societies who were singled out for physical or psychological differences.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Upper Paleolithic religions were presumably polytheist, venerating multiple deities, as this form of religion predates monotheism in recorded history. As well as polytheism, religions of the ancient worldthat is, those in recorded history closest chronologically to prehistoric religionfocused on orthopraxy, or a focus on correct practice and ritual, rather than orthodoxy, or a focus on correct faith and belief. This is in contrast to many mainstream modern faiths, such as Christianity, that move the focus to orthodoxy.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Shamanism may have been a major part of Upper Paleolithic religion. Shamanism is a broad term referring to a range of spiritual experiences, practised at many times in many places. Broadly speaking, it refers to spiritual practice involving altered states of consciousness, where practitioners render themselves in ecstatic or extreme psychological states in order to commune with spirits or deities. The study of prehistoric shamanism is controversialso controversial that people debating each side of the argument have dubbed their interlocutors "shamaniacs" and "shamanophobes". The shamanistic interpretation of prehistoric religion is based in the "neuropsychological model", where shamanic experience is deemed an inherent function of the human brain. The symbols associated with shamanic art, such as animal-human hybrid figures, are suggested to originate from certain levels of trance. The neuropsychological model has been criticised; opponents refer to the relative rarity of some forms of art associated with it, to tendencies in modern shamanic cultures they find incompatible with it, and to the work of pre-model archaeologists who cautioned against shamanic interpretations.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: A popular myth about prehistoric religion is bear worship. Early scholars of prehistory, finding skeletons of the extinct cave bear around Paleolithic habitats, drew the conclusion humans of the era worshipped or otherwise venerated the bears. The concept was pioneered by excavations in the late 1910s in Switzerland, where apparent deposits of cave bear bones from which paleontologists could not draw obvious function were interpreted ritualistically. The idea was debunked as early as the 1970s as a simple artefact of sedimentary deposits changing over thousands of years.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Another controversial hypothesis in Paleolithic faith is that it was oriented around goddess worship. Feminist analyses of prehistoricism interpret findings such as the Venus figurines as suggestive of fully realised goddesses. Marija Gimbutas argued that, as evinced by Eurasian Venus figurines, the predominant deity in Paleolithic and Neolithic religion throughout Europe was a goddess with later subservient male deities. She supposed this religion was wiped out by steppe invaders later in the Neolithic, prior to the beginning of the historical period. The broad geographic range of Venuses has also seen their goddess interpretation in other regions; for instance, Bret Hinsch proposes a line of descent from Venuses to historical Chinese goddess worship. The goddess hypothesis has been criticised for basis in a limited geographical range, and for not mapping onto similar observations seen in modern hunter-gatherers.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: The Mesolithic was the transitional period between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic. In European archaeology, it traditionally refers to hunter-gatherers living after the end of the Pleistocene ice age. Traditional archaeology takes a quotidian view of Mesolithic life, perceiving it as an era of cultural "impoverishment" without great cultural, artistic, or societal advances. The lack of enthusiasm to study the Neolithic, and the lack of encouragement to do so by way of an absence of interesting archaeological findings, tied into one another; for instance, no Mesolithic cemeteries were unearthed until 1975. Serious study of Mesolithic religion would not emerge until the 21st century, reinvigorating the field and reinterpreting prior assumptions of the Mesolithic as a bleak age.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Much research on Mesolithic religion centres on Scandinavia, where evidence has emerged for a lifecycle based around rites of passage. From the finding of places that may have been dedicated birthing huts, it appears that Mesolithic people shared the assumption of some more modern hunter-gatherers that birth was a spiritually dangerous experience, and that heavily pregnant women needed to be secluded from society for the wellbeing of both parties. Nonetheless, the archaeological findings thought to have been birthing huts are disputed; it is possible their spiritual significance was broader, as a place where people who died young in general would be buried separate from the older dead. Later in life, Anders Fischer argues for the existence of a coming-of-age ritual amongst malesperhaps circumcisionconnected to the use of flint blades.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: The bulk of modern understanding of Mesolithic religion comes from burial practices. Mesolithic Scandinavian burial rites are relatively well-reconstructed. The dead were buried with grave goods, notably including food; remnants of a fish stew have been unearthed from some graves. Burial practices themselves varied heavily. Bodies might be buried whole, or partially dismembered before burial; in some cases, animals were found in graves alongside humans, such as deer, pigs, and cats. Bodies were often covered in ochre. The context of Mesolithic burial is unclear; though some have argued these burials were reserved for prestigious individuals, others think just the opposite, noting that dedicated cemeteries in the era overrepresent the very young, the very old, and young women who may have died in childbirth. These dead are traditionally considered more liminal than the average person, and their burials separate from the community may have marked an intentional distancing.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: The Neolithic was the dawn of agriculture. Originating around 10,000 BC in the Fertile Crescent, agriculture spread across Eurasia and North Africa in the following millennia and ushered in a new era of prehistory. Despite prior assumptions of immediate radical change, the encroachment of agriculture was a slow process, and early agriculturalists do not seem to have sharp cultural distinctions from their hunter-gatherer peers. In archaeological terms, the Neolithic is marked by megaliths, ceremonial structures, complex tombs, and elaborate artifacts with apparent spiritual significance. Sociologically speaking, the Neolithic saw the transition from nomadic bands to sedentary villages. This decreased the egalitarianism of those societies that transitioned; instead of more loosely collected confederates, they were now led by individuals with increasing power over those people within their domain. This "big man" framework centralised religion and elevated the status of religious leaders.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: As the spectrum of human experience shifted from hunter-gatherers to farmers, ritual and religion followed. The ritual calendar of Neolithic life revolved around the harvest; the people of the age worshipped grain-oriented deities, prayed and sacrificed for good harvests, and threw celebrations in the harvest season. The Neolithic saw the emergence of a "spiritual aristocracy" of people whose societal role was as mages, missionaries, and monarchs. In the Neolithic, shamanism was increasingly understood as the domain of an elite, rather than the Paleolithic conceptualisation where a relatively broad spectrum of society may be able to practice. The era broadly seems to have heralded the beginning of sharp social stratification, as understood from skeletal and archaeological remains.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Particularly in its heartland of the Near East, the Neolithic was an artistically and technologically rich era. The rock art culturally associated with the Paleolithic did not disappear in the Neolithic, and in regions like south India it indeed flourished well into the era. As well as continuing old forms, the Neolithic permitted the emergence of new kinds of art and design. As people moved from nomadic to sedentary lifestyles, they built houses that represented units united through physical structures, "subsum[ing] individuals into new corporate identities". They also built megaliths, huge stone monuments with widely speculated theological and cultural implications. Though a few hunter-gatherers, such as the Jōmon people of Japan, made pottery, pottery overall is another art form that emerged only in the Neolithic.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Neolithic art with apparent ritual significance occurs throughout broad geographic ranges. The Liangzhu culture of the southern Chinese Yangtze Delta produced complex and abundant jade artifacts, some of vast size for grave goodsup to . Many of these jades featured engravings of unusual creatures in complex finery. In Japan, the transition from Jōmon hunter-gatherers to Yayoi agriculturalists was marked by the production of Jōmon ceramic figurines apparently intended to ward away the Yayoi invaders; the Yayoi in turn carved intricate ornaments and built vast shrines. In Macedonia, clay models of human and ram heads represent apparent household ritual and suggest that ordinary houses could be host to religious activity just as much as shrines or temples.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: One of the most famous forms of Neolithic art and architecture were the megalithic stone circles of Western Europe, of which the most known is Stonehenge in South West England. Stone circles are particularly associated with the British Isles, which hosts 1,303 extant circles, the plurality in Scotland. Stone circles were not simple constructions but built through complex processes where the stones travelled long distances to their foundations; parts of Stonehenge were sourced away in Wales. This technically complex construction is thought a herald of their supernatural power to the people who built them; the Preseli Hills, where Stonehenge was sourced, may have held deep significance to the megalith's builders. Though the exact role of stone circles is unclear, they seem to have been, in part or whole, mausoleums. Many contain skeletons, particularly skulls. These seem to track to ancestor worship, and in particular the veneration of deceased members of elite spiritual social classes. Stone circles also appear linked to cycles of the sun and moon. Stonehenge, for instance, is aligned such that on the solstice the sun rises and sets directly behind it.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Neolithic statues are another area of interest. The 'Ain Ghazal statues unearthed in Jordan in the 1980s were an object of archaeological fascination. These statues may have represented gods, legendary leaders, or other figures of great power. The two-headed statues are of especial interest; Gary O. Rollefson suggests they may have represented the fusion of two previously separate communities. Elsewhere, statues have inspired varied theological interpretations. Maltese statues of women are, to some authors, suggestive of Neolithic goddess worship. The idea Neolithic peoples had a female-centric religion worshipping goddesses holds some purview in popular culture, but is disputed amongst anthropologists. In addition, though the goddess perspective of Neolithic religion oft assumes a female-centric religious practice, goddess-centric religions in comparable written societies may be dominated by men or women.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Burial appears more widespread in the Neolithic than the Upper Paleolithic. In a wide area from the Levant through central Europe, Neolithic burials are frequently found in the houses their denizens lived in; in particular, women and children dominate amongst those buried inside the home. For children in particular, this may have represented the continued inclusion of these children in the family unit and a reincarnation cycle where those children were reborn as living members of the family. As in the Paleolithic, some Neolithic burials may represent sacrificial victims; a group burial in modern-day Henan, containing four skeletons, may have been the death of an important figure heralded by three sacrifices.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Neolithic burials display social inequality. At the Campo de Hockey necropolis in Spain, grave goods are unevenly distributed, and those found are often high-status ornamental objects such as jewellery. This is coterminous with the hypothesised Neolithic emergence of the "big men", societal figures who proclaimed themselves religious and earthly leaders of inegalitarian societies. In the most radical interpretations of Neolithic society, agriculture itself was a practice enforced upon people such that these rulers could acquire power over a more legible sedentary society. Across the Near East, burial inequality is marked in different ways by different societies. In the Lower Galilee, some dead were buried close to their houses, but others were buried in dedicated funerary monuments. Across the Levant, skeletons with the deceased's features modelled in plaster can be found; these dead are thought to have had different status in their societies compared to those buried without such preservation. In the Judaean Desert, decedents were found preserved in a "gelatinous material" and surrounded by blades, beads, and masks.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Sex and gender play roles in Neolithic burial. The Henan burial with potential sacrificial victims was composed of three men and one woman, and was read as a male shaman and his followers. Other Neolithic Chinese burials of people interpreted as shamans have been of girls and women, such as two girls found in elaborate tombs at a site in Shanxithe only non-adults in that burial ground. Sarah Milledge Nelson wrote that burials of subjects of apparent religious importance were often clouded by a lack of clarity as to the subject's sex because of the difficulty of determining sex with certainty from skeletal remains; the focal decedent in "the richest of all Mesoamerican burials" was sexed male, but with low confidence, and could theoretically have been a woman. Neolithic burials broadly suggest gender inequality, with women having fewer grave goods and poorer diets as determined from their skeletons.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Much of what is understood about Neolithic life comes from individual settlements with particularly preserved archaeological records, such as Çatalhöyük in southern Anatolia. Çatalhöyük was settled for a particularly long period of time, from around 7100 BC to 6000 BC, and provides a snapshot of a changing era. Residents of Çatalhöyük lived in shared houses with non-relatives, drawing their closest connections to "practical kin" rather than "official kin"; they seem to have been divided into two sub-communities going by different dental patterns in their skeletal remains, and were possibly patrilocal, with men staying in the community of their birth and women moving away. Nonetheless, Çatalhöyük is not in all ways representative of Neolithic communities; most such communities demonstrated poor nutrition and stunted growth, but the people of Çatalhöyük appeared to have adequate nutrition and indeed were able to support substantial population growth.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: From these preserved settlements, archaeologists try to extract religious practices in day-to-day Neolithic life. In 'Ain Ghazal, "mundane archaeological remains" coincide with striking findings such as caches of skulls, ceremonially buried statues, and hundreds of clay figurines. Many of these figurines seem to have been fertility and birth charms; birth during the Neolithic was "the most dangerous time of a woman's life", and spiritual protection against maternal death of the utmost importance. Other figurines seem to have been used as pseudo-sacrifices, ritually 'killed' and buried around human habitations. Clay figurines broadly have been found in many Neolithic communities, and the individual communities that made them are extrapolated based on their features. Sites in North China, for instance, find a paucity of figurines of humans compared to those of animals, while their southern peers made more human figurines and particularly sexually explicit ones. It is often unclear exactly what role such figurines held to the societies that made them; in addition to religious objects, they may have held more mundane functions such as toys, or even been both at once.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: The theological practices of people in early state societies with written records, somewhat later than the Neolithic, revolved around their daily lives. In particular, these societies focused on the growing and harvest of grains, and their religions followed; they worshipped gods of grains and had liturgical calendars revolving around the harvest. Early agricultural societies also suffered high rates of zoonotic diseases, which they opposed with ritual practice, sympathetic magic, and prayers to healing deities. Like other prehistoric-like societies described in written records, these experiences may be comparable to those of Neolithic agriculturalists.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: People in the Neolithic possibly engaged in ancestor worship. In inegalitarian Neolithic societies, it is possible two separate ancestor cults were practiced; one based around everyday worship of ancestors of individual families, and one based around ancestors of entire tribes, settlements, or cities, which the rulers of those people deemed themselves descended from. In bids to gain spiritual and earthly power, these rulers would posit themselves the heirs of gods. In some regions, evidence also exists for solar worship and lunar worship; for instance, British and Irish stone circles are generally aligned with the movement of the sun, which plausibly played a role in their ritual significance.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Neolithic religions were probably heavily ritual-based. These rituals would have signalled membership of and investment in the communities of those who performed them; these communities had labour- and health-expensive initiation rituals (consider the penile subincision performed by some Indigenous Australians), and practicing them marked people as members of a given community to both the community's allies and its enemies, even if they were later to try strike out on their own. This preserved the health of such communities; their members developed a deep identity as members, as people whose fortunes were tied to the broader community, and preferred to stay rather than split.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: One idea associated with Neolithic religion in popular culture is that of goddess worship. At Çatalhöyük, traditionally considered a centre of goddess worship on account of figurines found in the area, followers of new religious movements would take pilgrimages to the ruins as a holy site; the sociologist Ayfer Bartu Candan reported seeing a woman eat a handful of soil from the ruins in front of the mayor of the nearby town of Çumra. The popularity of the "Great Goddess" concept of Neolithic religion can be traced to Gimbutas's concept of a peaceful matriarchal Neolithic, where a goddess was worshipped in a pan-European religion; its roots lie as early as the 1940s and 1950s, with seminal works by Robert Graves, Jacquetta Hawkes, and O. G. S. Crawford pioneering the concept. However, the idea was based on flawed methodologies and conflation of different movements across vast geographical areas, and is unlikely to be representative of actual Neolithic religious practice.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: In the specific case of Çatalhöyük, the primary objects of worship do not seem to have been human deities but animal ones, and the figurines traditionally interpreted as "goddesses" were possibly anthropomorphic bears, leopards, and cattle. This seems to be reflective of a broad Neolithic tendency towards animal worship; the nearby site of Göbekli Tepe also bears significant evidence for ritual and religious significance of animals. The Xinglongwa and Hongshan cultures of northeastern China carved elaborate jade sculptures of pigs and dragons speculated to have some religious role; China was one of the first major sites of animal domestication, and domestic animals seem to have played wide-ranging roles in Neolithic Chinese ritual practice, in particular as sacrificial goods for high-ranking spiritual leaders.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Compared to the Paleolithic, shamanism seems to have grown peripheral over the course of the Neolithic. In many regions, priests of increasingly centralised faiths probably took over isolated shamanic functions, although shamanism and domestic cults of personal deities clearly continued. Meanwhile, in the highly stratified societies of the Neolithic, elite secret societies flourished amongst the powerful. In these unequal worlds, the spiritually powerful were able to manipulate faith to convince the general population of their social and spiritual subordinacy.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: The Chalcolithic, or Copper Age, was the transitional period between the Neolithic and Bronze Age. In the Copper Age, an early understanding of metallurgy permitted the formation of simple copper tools to supplement stone, but without the deliberate production of its improved alloy bronze. In the Levant, the Copper Age is typified by social, agricultural, and artistic innovation. Horticulture of plants such as olives became a major complement to grain agriculture, while the animal products available to farmers diversified. Settlements expanded and came to inhabit broader geographical ranges, while the art and textiles of the area made great strides in both ornamental capacities and symbolic representation. This contrasts to their peers in Egypt and Mesopotamia, who remained somewhat more inhibited throughout the era. Further west and especially north, the concept of the Copper Age grows controversial; the "British Chalcolithic" is particularly unclear, with both support and opposition for the idea that copper metallurgy heralded a particular era in British prehistory.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: One of the major hypothesised cultures of the Copper Age were the Proto-Indo-Europeans, from whom all Indo-European language and mythology may have evolved. The Proto-Indo-Europeans are speculatively known through the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language, which bears traces of religion; "*Dyḗws", the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European sky god, developed into the Greek Zeus and all he begat. *Dyḗws was the presumed leader of a pantheon of deities including "*Dhuĝhatḗr Diwós" ("sky daughter"), "" ("dawn goddess"), "*Neptonos" ("water grandson"), and "*Perkʷunos" ("thunder god"). There was also "*Manu-", humanity's ancestor, who became Mannus of Germanic paganism and Manu of early Hinduism. There has been some reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European afterlife, "a land of green pastures, where age and sickness are unknown", accessible only via dangerous travels through a watery, hound-guarded maelstrom.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Proto-Indo-European religion is understood through the reconstruction of shared elements of ancient faith over the regions the Proto-Indo-Europeans influenced. For instance, shared portions of the "Odyssey" and the "Mahābhārata" permit reconstruction of a "proto-epic" from which both tales descend. From this scholars infer "a rich mythology of which only distant echoes have come to us" with substantial gaps in the pantheon, particularly with more speculative deities such as a possible war god. Indo-Europeanists J. P. Mallory and Douglas Q. Adams are skeptical about the Proto-Indo-European war god, though Hayden (writing from a more generalist perspective) supposes its existence, possibly represented as a bull. Hayden also argues for entheogenic rites amongst the Proto-Indo-Europeans, particularly a psychoactive "drink of immortality" backformed from the Indo-Iranian soma and madhu and the Greek ambrosia, which was imbibed by Proto-Indo-European priests.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: In the Bronze and Iron Ages, prehistory shades into protohistory. The earliest forms of true writing emerge in Bronze Age China, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, and it is with writing that societies leave their prehistories. Writing was adopted unevenly, across long chronological periods, and the degree to which the Bronze and Iron Ages constitute history, prehistory, or protohistory depends on the individual society. Protohistoric societies have not developed writing, but have been described in written records of societies that have; though this provides more evidence for their cultures and practices than can be gleaned by archaeological records alone, it poses the problem that the only lens these societies are understood through is that of foreigners who may dislike, mischaracterise, or simply misunderstand the people they write about.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: In North Africa, many protohistoric Bronze Age civilisations are known from description by the Egyptians, such as the Kerma culture of what is now Sudan, the Maghrebinians, and the Kingdom of Punt. Before their destruction by their Egyptian enemies, the Kerma served as a true artistic and cultural rival to Egypt's south. They performed lavish burials with a traditional "crouching" style of body placement, the bodies buried on their right sides with their heads facing to the east, and with rich assortments of grave goods. Earlier Kerma burials were accompanied by animal sacrifices, and later by human ones, presumably of servants. The richest members of Kerma society were buried in gold-plated beds with feet of carved lions and hippopotami, in many-chambered burial mounds accompanied by hundreds of human sacrifices and paintings of spectacular imagined scenes.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: The people of the Bronze Age Maghreb, living in liminal geographic regions, were heavily influenced by both European and Khoisan cultures. Maghrebinians appear to have venerated weaponry, with intricate depictions of daggers, halberds, and shields dominating their rock art, perhaps as the southernmost practice of a hypothetical pan-European weapon cult. They also produced art of game animals such as antelopes, horses, and camels. Little is known about the religion of Punt, Egypt's major trading partner, but they seem to have had significant cultural exchange with Egypt in this aspect. Other major cultures of Bronze Age Africa whose religious practices can be gathered include the nomadic pastoralists of the Central Sahara, who produced copious rock art, and the Nubian C-Group culture, with wealthy burials and rock art of "highest artistic achievement" depicting apparent goddess figures.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: The protohistoric cultures of Central Asia are known through their descriptions by ancient Chinese writers, who thought them barbarians contrasting with "civilised" Chinese society; further west, Russian scholarship more often treats these cultures as outright prehistoric. Bronze and Iron Age cultures of Central Asia forged metal grave goods with both utilitarian and decorative forms. Though the spiritual significance of these artifacts is unknown, archaeologists Katheryn M. Linduff and Yan Sun argue they must have been deeply important to those societies that forged them to play such funerary roles. Xinjiang was a major nexus of cross-cultural interaction in these eras, and is now known archaeologically for its "mummies", particularly well-preserved corpses found in burialsperhaps the most famous being the Princess of Xiaohe. This young woman, buried in Xiaohe Cemetery around 1800 BC, was so well-preserved as to retain her long hair and eyelashes; she was found wrapped in a cloak and accompanied by wooden pegs. Other "mummies" of Xinjiang include artificial mummies, not corpses at all but creations of leather and wood, which may represent people who died far from their homes whose bodies were never found.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: In Southeast Asia, Bronze Age burials were of far greater complexity than those for their Neolithic predecessors. One burial site in Ban Non Wat, Thailand dating around 1000 BC was lavished with "princely" wealth, with ornate jewellery of bronze, marble, and seashells; in some cases, bracelets covered the whole arm from the shoulder to the wrist. Bodies were found covered in beads in ways implying those beads once served as sequins on masks and hats that rotted away with time. Finely made, intricately painted ceramic vessels were buried with the deceased, in some cases up to fifty in a single grave. In one case, an infant was buried with a particularly well-made vessel bearing a human face, which Charles Higham suggests may represent an ancestor deity. Higham perceives strong evidence for ancestor worship in Bronze Age Southeast Asia, perhaps related to contemporary practice in China. Later in the Iron Age, Southeast Asian societies become trading and cultural partners with the ancient civilisations of China and India. Cambodia and Thailand connected strong trading networks with both regions, becoming protohistoric as they merited discussion in the works of both written societies. Though the burial record for Iron Age Southeast Asia is poorer than in the Bronze Age, lavish burials still happened, and "compelling evidence" for religious practice remains. Vietnamese merchants traded Ngoc Lu drums used for ritual purposes to regions as far-flung as Papua New Guinea.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: In Europe, Bronze Age religion is well-studied and has well-understood recurring characteristics. Traits of European Bronze Age religion include a dichotomy between the sun and the underworld, a belief in animals as significant mediators between the physical and spiritual realms, and a focus on "travel, transformation, and fertility" as cornerstones of religious practice. Wet places were focal points for rites, with ritual objects found thrown into rivers, lakes, and bogs. Joanna Bruck suggests these were treated as liminal spaces bridging the world of the living to that of the dead. She also discusses the uses of high places such as mountaintops for similar ritual purposes; geographic extremes broadly seem to have held spiritual significance to Bronze Age peoples.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Recurring symbolic themes have been described in Bronze Age symbolism across Europe. One repeated symbolism Bruck discusses is sexual intercourse, either between two humans or between humans and animals. She also discusses many figurines of ships found deposited in rivers and bogs, and the use of ships as coffins for water burials. Bronze Age cultures also practiced cremation, and cremains have been found inside model wagons and chariots. Evidence from Scotland suggests Bronze Age Britons may have practiced intentional mummification of corpses, previously thought restricted in that era to the ancient Egyptians.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Iron Age European religion is known in part through literary sources, as the ancient Romans described the practices of the non-writing societies they encountered. From Roman description, it appears that the people of Roman Gaul and Roman Britain were polytheist and accepted the existence of an afterlife. A wide array of ancient authors describe the Druids, which they characterise as a class of philosophers, prophets, and mages. They discuss the importance of sacred sites to Iron Age European religion, in particular sacred groves. Some authors also claim the practice of human sacrifice. Druids attract particular attention in the study of Iron Age religion; the exact degree to which they existed and what their practices were is disputed. Contrary to the pop-culture interpretation of Druids as a major impact on Iron Age religious life, some authors doubt either their provenance or their impact. Though a specialised priestly class is evident, the Druids of Roman description may have been exaggerated and misunderstood by a society to which they were alien.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Religion in the European Iron Age was not a single, homogeneous practice throughout the whole continent. Practices across the continent for which we have strong records included Old Norse religion, Germanic paganism, and Celtic paganism. Traits such as the importance of bodies of water recur across the continent, but the oversimplification of this vast and heterogeneous body of religious faith into a single religion never rises above simple misconception. Simultaneously, the literary records of these faiths clearly miss significant aspects of their practice; although the archaeological record for Iron Age European religion is so dominated by the deposition of statuettes and sculptures into water, this goes almost completely unrecorded by the Romans. Eventually, the Romans converted to Christianity, and set to introduce their new faith to the regions under their sway. Christianity emerged in Roman Britain in the fourth century AD, and the religion was adopted disproportionately by the wealthy residents of such peripheral regions of the empire. After decades, even centuries, of bloody war, European paganism diminished throughout the first millennium AD, and the final sunset of the faith was the conversion of the Vikings in the eleventh century.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: New religious movements such as neopaganism take theological, spiritual, and cultural positions unlike those of the mainstream religions which dominate world discourse. One major stream of neopaganism is reconstructionism, where practitioners attempt to reconstruct the beliefs and practices of long-lost faiths. This is particularly associated with the prehistoric and protohistoric cultures of the European Bronze and Iron Ages. Major groups include Heathenry, which focuses on the reconstruction of Germanic and particularly Norse faiths; Celtic neopaganism, focusing on the reconstruction of the pre-Christian religions of the Celtic people; and neo-Druidism, focusing on the Druids popularly associated with protohistoric Britain. An array of minor prehistoric reconstructionist movements also exist, such as Proto-Indo-European reconstructionism. Other forms of reconstructionism exist working from a more New Age perspective, such as neo-shamanism, the Western reconstruction of shamanic practice.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Pagan positions on prehistoric religion proper are distinct from those written by mainstream authors. Scholar-practitioner Michael F. Strmiska, writing about the Christianisation of protohistoric societies in the first millennium AD, criticises the common perspective of the "rise of Christianity"; he reinterprets it as a bloody and ruthless war where Christian invaders conquered pagan practitioners and suppressed their religious practices. Robert J. Wallis, neo-shaman and professor of visual culture at Richmond University, analyses the academic study of such movements. He argues that the anthropological practice of trying to observe as an outsider is impossible; "sitting and taking notes" is not an approved role in neo-shamanic practice, which requires either being at the centre of the practice or being absent from it entirely. He criticises the neglect of shamanism, reconstructed or otherwise, in archaeology as a consequence of a lack of interest in the form of introspective, theoretical work such study revolves around. Wallis also criticises mainstream archaeological practice as potentially offensive to reconstructionist groups, such as the excavation of bones buried in Stonehenge.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: The degree to which reconstructionism focuses on European "ancestral" religions is a matter of some controversy. The pagan author Marisol Charbonneau argues European pagan reconstructionism "carries notions of implicit ethnic and cultural allegiance" regardless of the practitioner's thoughts and intent; she in part ascribes the lack of communication between mostly-white neopagan practitioners and mostly-nonwhite followers of recent immigrant spiritual practices to this implication. Not all prehistoric reconstructionism is centred on European tradition; for instance, neo-shamanism is generally interpreted as having a specifically non-Western background. Heathenry poses particular problems for this issue. One of the fastest-growing religious movements in Northern Europe and elsewhere, practitioners fear it being co-opted by white supremacist movements. During the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017, a number of far-right protestors used Heathen symbolism alongside imagery such as Nazi and Confederate flags. This was condemned by Heathen leaders across the globe, who were dismayed by the association of their religion with these movements in the public eye.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Wallis sees the study of reconstructionism from the opposite angleinstead of scholar-practitioners defending their religion from bad-faith outside attacks, he focuses on the phenomenon of outsiders fearing "going native", embedding themselves within a marginalised spiritual framework and receiving the ridicule of their academic peers. As a scholar-practitioner himself, Wallis dismisses this concern. Rather, his concern is a gap between scholars and practitioners limiting the understanding of prehistoric religion by placing the two at odds. He particularly concerns himself with archaeology at Stonehenge, today sacred to neo-Druids; he refers to modern practitioners' distress at Stonehenge excavations "digging the heart out of Druidic culture and belief", "stealing" a land from its ancient spiritual guardians. While Wallis does not concur with the anti-archaeological perspective of some Druids, he recognises their concernsand the problems these concerns pose for the study of prehistoric religion. He particularly compares these concerns to those of indigenous spiritual practitioners, who are now more archaeologically respected than they were in the past, when digging up their sacred sites was an easily accepted sacrifice.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Prehistoric fiction emerged as a genre in the 19th century. A subgenre of speculative fiction, Nicholas Ruddick compares the genre to science fiction proper, noting thatalthough the genre lacks the future orientation most readers think synonymous with science fictionit is more closely related to the genre than anything else, sharing a fundamental orientation of projecting human experience into eras deep into the future or past. Ruddick notes their overlap particularly in the subset of prehistoric fiction involving time travel, where modern-day characters are exposed to prehistoric society or vice versa. Where early writers interpreted prehistoric peoples as primitive "cavemen" who could barely speak, let alone comprehend complex abstract ideas such as religion, later work permits this abstraction and delves into the depths of religion's origin.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Some prehistoric fiction juxtaposes the religions of different hominins. In "Before Adam" by Jack London, the Cave People, who the book is told from the perspective of, have "no germs of religion, no conceptions of an unseen world", while the more advanced Fire People who overtake them can conceptualiseand fearthe future. In Jean M. Auel's influential "Earth's Children" series, a recurring theme is Neanderthal and "H. s. sapiens" interaction, for the better and the worse. Neanderthal and "H. s. sapiens" religion are juxtaposed throughout the books. Neanderthal religion revolves almost entirely around totemism, and a recurring element in "The Clan of the Cave Bear" is the female protagonist's Cave Lion totem, an unusually strong totem for a woman in a misogynistic and strictly gendered society. "H. s. sapiens", on the other hand, have a near-monotheist veneration of a singular Earth Goddess, treated as the same figure for groups with vast geographic and linguistic barriers between them. Her worshippers make figurines of her, called "donii", which are clearly intended to be the Venus figurines of paleontologist fascination. Auel's interpretation of Paleolithic religion so shapes the popular image as to be many general readers' entire impression, although her Neanderthal religion in particular is far more complex than many scholars ascribe.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Fiction addressing prehistoric religion does not need to be set in prehistory proper. Prehistoric artifacts, such as stone circles, are commonly used to add an ancient or occult sensibility to a fictional practice's rituals. In particular, such artifacts may be used to lend a "questionable antiquity" to new religious movements such as Wicca. They may also connect these circles to modern ethnic groups far from their provenance, such as Roma people. This contrasts the treatments of such monuments in fiction actually set in prehistory, where they are considered as self-contained and less often linked directly to modern practice. In the furthest examples of taking prehistory out of the past, some fiction engages with prehistory from a future-oriented science fiction perspective. "The Neanderthal Parallax", a trilogy by Robert J. Sawyer, encounters a highly technologically advanced world where Neanderthals are the dominant human species. The Neanderthals of this world have no "God organ" and no concept of religion, although they are advanced far beyond modern technology in other aspects.


title: Prehistoric religion

text: Analysis of prehistoric religion in fiction often restricts its study to the Paleolithic, neglecting later treatments of the phenomenon. The chronological focus of prehistoric fiction varies by subgenre; for instance, children's fiction particularly often deals with the Neolithic, in particular Neolithic innovations such as stone circles. Prehistoric fiction often treats religion as a reaction and monotheism specifically as an invention, a corruption of prior, "realer" prehistoric polytheist religion. Some prehistoric fiction is written from actively skeptical positions, painting ancient shamans as frauds, while others take a sympathetic position, even agreeing with the foundations of their reconstructed faith.


title: Archegos Capital Management

text: Archegos Capital Management was a limited partnership family office that managed the personal assets of Bill Hwang, at one time managing over $36 billion in assests. On April 27, 2022 Hwang was indicted and arrested on federal charges of fraud and racketeering.


title: Archegos Capital Management

text: On March 26, 2021, Archegos defaulted on margin calls from several global investment banks, including Credit Suisse and Nomura Holdings, as well as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. The firm had large, concentrated positions in ViacomCBS, Baidu, Vipshop, Farfetch, and other companies, and the firm's use of total return swaps had helped to hide its high exposure from lending banks. Its derivative contracts "exposed the firm to severe losses when the trades went bad." The "Wall Street Journal" reported that Hwang lost $8billion in 10 days, while Bloomberg News reported that Hwang lost $20billion in 2 days.


title: Archegos Capital Management

text: Formerly of Tiger Asia Management, Hwang created the Archegos family office in 2013, which had $10 billion under management as of 2020. Tiger Asia Management has previously pleaded guilty to insider trading of Chinese bank stocks in 2012 and paid a $44 million fine. In 2014, Hwang "was banned from trading in Hong Kong for four years."


title: Archegos Capital Management

text: Archegos' holdings were primarily in the form of total return swaps, a financial instrument where the underlying securities (stocks) are held by banks. This meant that Archegos did not need to disclose its large holdings, while if it had transacted in regular stocks it would have had to. The fund was also heavily leveraged and did business with multiple banks which were likely unaware of Archegos' large positions held by other banks.


title: Archegos Capital Management

text: On March 26, 2021, banks offering prime brokerage services to Archegos started to liquidate billions of dollars' worth of various stocks after it had failed to meet a margin call. The stocks were reportedly tied to the total return swaps held by Archegos. This sale was reported to be the cause of a 27% plunge in share price of ViacomCBS and a similar fall in the price of Discovery, Inc.


title: Archegos Capital Management

text: On March 29, the share price of Credit Suisse was down by 14%, while Nomura Holdings shares declined by 16%. A press release from Credit Suisse said that "the loss resulting from this exit... could be highly significant and material to our first quarter results." According to "The" "Wall Street Journal", Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were able to limit their losses relating to Archegos by acting more quickly than Credit Suisse and Nomura Holdings. Other banks, such as Deutsche Bank, were able to close their substantial positions quickly and avoid any losses.


title: Archegos Capital Management

text: On March 30, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MUFG) securities arm declared a $300 million loss in its EMEA operations linked to Archegos. Baidu was added to the list of affected stocks. MUFG EMEA, whose losses in the Hwang affair totalled about $300 million, only posted a profit in 2019 of $84 million. Shares of Nomura fell again on the 30th, and the Securities and Exchange Commission stated it was conducting an investigation. The demise of the New York-based hedge fund dragged the Nikkei 225 Index down by 0.77% that day, triggering a worldwide sell-off in banking stocks.


title: Archegos Capital Management

text: On April 5, 2021, the Chair of the US Senate banking committee, Sherrod Brown, wrote to Crystal Lalime general counsel at Credit Suisse, as well as Nomura, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to inquire about "the implosion of Archegos Capital" and gave the lenders 14 days to reply. Credit Suisse was mentioned by the "Financial Times" as "allowing the family office (of Hwang) to make highly leveraged bets on US and Chinese stocks". The Securities Exchange Commission and the Financial Conduct Authority also have requested information about the implosion from the lenders, as well as the NGO Self-regulatory organization Finra.


title: Archegos Capital Management

text: On April 6, 2021, Credit Suisse reported losses of $4.7 billion linked to its involvement with Archegos. The bank's chief risk and compliance officer, and head of the investment bank were reported to have departed as a result of the losses caused by Archegos and Greensill crises. Later, the bank announced that it would have to raise up to $2 billion in fresh capital to support its equity base. Reported losses increased to $5.5 billion in late April on a notional exposure of over $20 billion, or more than half of the bank's capital at the time.


title: Archegos Capital Management

text: On April 16, 2021, Morgan Stanley reported a loss of nearly $1 billion related to the Archegos collapse, $644 million by selling stocks it held related to Archegos' positions, and another $267 million trying to "derisk" them. Credit Suisse Group AG and Japan's Nomura Holdings Inc took the main hit, with losses of $5.5 billion and $2 billion, respectively.


title: Archegos Capital Management

text: On April 27, 2021, UBS Group AG, Switzerland's biggest bank by assets, reported that it lost $774 million in connection with Archegos’ failure. Nomura, which initially reported the losses of around $2 billion last month, increased its total loss to $2.85 billion.


title: Archegos Capital Management

text: On April 27, 2022, Hwang and former Archegos CFO, Patrick Halligan, were arrested and charged with racketeering conspiracy, securities fraud, and wire fraud in connection the company's 2021 collapse. In a 59-page indictment, Manhattan federal prosecutors alleged that Hwang and Hallligan schemed to manipulate stock prices. Lawyers for Hwang and Halligan stated that they were innocent of the charges in the indictment.


title: Duck confit

text: Duck confit ( ) is a French dish made with whole duck. In Gascony, according to the families perpetuating the tradition of duck confit, all the pieces of duck are used to produce the meal. Each part can have a specific destination in traditional cooking, the neck being used for example in an invigorating soup, the garbure. Duck confit is considered one of the finest French dishes.


title: Duck confit

text: While it is made across France, it is seen as a specialty of Gascony. The confit is prepared in a centuries-old process of preservation that consists of salt curing a piece of meat (generally goose, duck, or pork) and then cooking it in its own fat.


title: Duck confit

text: To prepare a confit, the meat is rubbed with salt, garlic, and sometimes herbs such as thyme, then covered and refrigerated for up to 36 hours. Salt-curing the meat acts as a preservative.


title: Duck confit

text: Prior to cooking, the spices are rinsed from the meat, which is then patted dry. The meat is placed in a cooking dish deep enough to contain the meat and the rendered fat, and placed in an oven at a low temperature (76 – 135 degrees Celsius/170 – 275 Fahrenheit). The meat is slowly poached at least until cooked, or until meltingly tender, generally four to ten hours.


title: Duck confit

text: The meat and fat are then removed from the oven and left to cool. When cool, the meat can be transferred to a canning jar or other container and completely submerged in the fat. A sealed jar of duck confit may be kept in the refrigerator for up to six months, or several weeks if kept in a reusable plastic container. To maximize preservation if canning, the fat should top the meat by at least one inch. The cooking fat acts as both a seal and preservative and results in a very rich taste. Skipping the salt curing stage greatly reduces the shelf life of the confit.


title: Duck confit

text: Confit is also sold in cans, which can be kept for several years. The flavourful fat from the confit may also be used in many other ways, as a frying medium for sautéed vegetables (e.g., green beans and garlic, wild or cultivated mushrooms), savory toasts, scrambled eggs or omelettes, and as an addition to shortcrust pastry for tarts and quiches.


title: Duck confit

text: A classic recipe is to fry or grill the legs in a bit of the fat until they are well-browned and crisp, and use more of the fat to roast some potatoes and garlic as an accompaniment.


title: Duck confit

text: The potatoes roasted in duck fat to accompany the crisped-up confit is called "pommes de terre à la sarladaise". Another accompaniment is red cabbage slow-braised with apples and red wine.


title: Cymatics

text: Cymatics (from ) is a subset of modal vibrational phenomena. The term was coined by Hans Jenny (1904-1972), a Swiss follower of the philosophical school known as anthroposophy. Typically the surface of a plate, diaphragm, or membrane is vibrated, and regions of maximum and minimum displacement are made visible in a thin coating of particles, paste, or liquid. Different patterns emerge in the excitatory medium depending on the geometry of the plate and the driving frequency.


title: Cymatics

text: The apparatus employed can be simple, such as the Chinese spouting bowl, in which copper handles are rubbed and cause the copper bottom elements to vibrate. Other examples include the Chladni Plate and the so-called cymascope.


title: Cymatics

text: On July 8, 1680, Robert Hooke was able to see the nodal patterns associated with the modes of vibration of glass plates. Hooke ran a bow along the edge of a glass plate covered with flour, and saw the nodal patterns emerge.


title: Cymatics

text: The German musician and physicist Ernst Chladni noticed in the eighteenth century that the modes of vibration of a membrane or a plate can be observed by sprinkling the vibrating surface with a fine dust (e.g., lycopodium powder, flour or fine sand). The powder moves due to the vibration and accumulates progressively in points of the surface corresponding to the sound vibration. The points form a pattern of lines, known as "nodal lines of the vibration mode". The normal modes of vibration, and the pattern of nodal lines associated with each of these, are completely determined, for a surface with homogeneous mechanical characteristics, from the geometric shape of the surface and by the way in which the surface is constrained.


title: Cymatics

text: Experiments of this kind, similar to those carried out earlier by Galileo Galilei around 1630 and by Robert Hooke in 1680, were later perfected by Chladni, who introduced them systematically in 1787 in his book "Entdeckungen über die Theorie des Klanges" (Discoveries on the theory of sound). This provided an important contribution to the understanding of acoustic phenomena and the functioning of musical instruments. The figures thus obtained (with the aid of a violin bow that rubbed perpendicularly along the edge of smooth plates covered with fine sand) are still designated by the name of "Chladni figures".


title: Cymatics

text: In 1967 Hans Jenny, a follower of the anthroposophical doctrine of Rudolf Steiner, published two volumes entitled "Kymatic" (1967 and 1972), in which, repeating Chladni's experiments, he claimed the existence of a subtle power based on the normal, symmetrical images made by sound waves. Jenny put sand, dust and fluids on a metal plate connected to an oscillator which could produce a broad spectrum of frequencies. The sand or other substances were organized into different structures characterized by geometric shapes typical of the frequency of the vibration emitted by the oscillator. According to Jenny, these structures, reminiscent of the mandala and other forms recurring in nature, would be a manifestation of an invisible force field of the vibrational energy that generated it. He was particularly impressed by an observation that imposing a vocalization in ancient Sanskrit of "Om" (regarded by Hindus and Buddhists as the sound of creation) the lycopodium powder formed a circle with a centre point, one of the ways in which "Om" had been represented.


title: Cymatics

text: In fact, for a plate of circular shape, resting in the centre (or the border, or at least in a set of points with central symmetry), the nodal vibration modes all have central symmetry, so the observation of Jenny is entirely consistent with well known mathematical properties. From the physical-mathematical standpoint, the form of the nodal patterns is predetermined by the shape of the body set in vibration or, in the case of acoustic waves in a gas, the shape of the cavity in which the gas is contained. The sound wave, therefore, does not influence at all the shape of the vibrating body or the shape of the nodal patterns. The only thing that changes due to the vibration is the arrangement of the sand. The image formed by the sand, in turn, is influenced by the frequency spectrum of the vibration only because each vibration mode is characterized by a specific frequency. Therefore, the spectrum of the signal that excites the vibration determines which patterns are actually nodally displayed. The physical phenomena involved in the formation of Chladni figures are best explained by classical physics. Modern analysts, including Michael Shermer, have termed anthroposophy's application in areas such as engineering, medicine, biology, and biodynamic agriculture as pseudoscience.


title: Cymatics

text: Devices for displaying nodal images have influenced visual arts and contemporary music. Artist Björk created projections of cymatics patterns by using bass frequencies on tour for her album "Biophilia".


title: Cymatics

text: Hans Jenny's book on Chladni figures influenced Alvin Lucier and helped lead to Lucier's composition "Queen of the South". Jenny's work was also followed up by Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) founder György Kepes at MIT. His work in this area included an acoustically vibrated piece of sheet metal in which small holes had been drilled in a grid. Small flames of gas burned through these holes and thermodynamic patterns were made visible by this setup.


title: Cymatics

text: In the mid-1980s, visual artist Ron Rocco, who also developed his work at CAVS, employed mirrors mounted to tiny servo motors, driven by the audio signal of a synthesizer and amplified by a tube amp to reflect the beam of a laser. This created light patterns which corresponded to the audio's frequency and amplitude. Using this beam to generate video feedback and computers to process the feedback signal, Rocco created his "Andro-media" series of installations. Rocco later formed a collaboration with musician David Hykes, who practiced a form of Mongolian overtone chanting with The Harmonic Choir, to generate cymatic images from a pool of liquid mercury, which functioned as a liquid mirror to modulate the beam of a Helium-Neon laser from the sound thus generated. Photographs of this work can be found in the Ars Electronica catalog of 1987.


title: Cymatics

text: Contemporary German photographer and philosopher Alexander Lauterwasser has brought cymatics into the 21st century using finely crafted crystal oscillators to resonate steel plates covered with fine sand and to vibrate small samples of water in Petri dishes. His first book, "Water Sound Images", translated into English in 2006, features imagery of light reflecting off the surface of water set into motion by sound sources ranging from pure sine waves to music by Beethoven, Karlheinz Stockhausen, electroacoustic group "Kymatik" (who often record in ambisonic surround sound) and overtone singing. The resulting photographs of standing wave patterns are striking. Lauterwasser's book focused on creating detailed visual analogues of natural patterns ranging from the distribution of spots on a leopard to the geometric patterns found in plants and flowers, to the shapes of jellyfish and the intricate patterns found on the shell of a tortoise.


title: Cymatics

text: Composer Stuart Mitchell and his father T.J. Mitchell claimed that Rosslyn Chapel's carvings supposedly contain references to cymatics patterns. In 2005 they created a work called "The Rosslyn Motet" realised by attempting to match various Chladni patterns to 13 geometric symbols carved onto the faces of cubes emanating from 14 arches.


title: Cymatics

text: Like many claims in the cymatics community, the hypothesis that the carvings represent Chladni patterns is not supported by scientific or historical evidence. One of the problems is that many of the 'box' carvings are not original, having been replaced in the 19th century following damage by erosion.


title: Cymatics

text: The musical group The Glitch Mob used cymatics to produce the music video "Becoming Harmonious (ft. Metal Mother)".


title: Cymatics

text: Influenced by Yantra diagrams and cymatics, artist and fashion designer Mandali Mendrilla created a sculpture dress called "Kamadhenu" (Wish Tree Dress III) the pattern of which is based


title: Cymatics

text: Aphex Twin suggests learning more about cymatics in reference to 'master tuning of 440 Hz' in a conversation with synth-maker Tatsuya Takahashi.


title: Cymatics

text: Since 2010, the art collective Analema Group creates participatory performances in which cymatic patterns are produced digitally in real-time by the audience.


title: Cymatics

text: In 2014 musician Nigel Stanford produced "Cymatics", an instrumental and music video designed to demonstrate the visual aspects of cymatics.


title: Cymatics

text: Contemporary American painter Jimmy O'Neal created his own cymascope, which he has used to produce various works of public art. One such painting is 511.95 Hz of wine, a large-scale mural based on the pattern created when tracing a finger around the rim of a nearly-empty wine glass.


title: Cymatics

text: Inspired by periodic and symmetrical patterns at the air-liquid interface created by sound vibration, P. Chen and coworkers developed a method to engineer diverse structures from microscale materials using liquid-based templates. This liquid-based template can be dynamically reconfigured by tuning vibration frequency and acceleration.


title: Benjamin Whitrow

text: Benjamin John Whitrow (17 February 1937 – 28 September 2017) was an English actor. He was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor for his role as Mr Bennet in the 1995 BBC version of "Pride and Prejudice", and voiced the role of Fowler in the 2000 animated film "Chicken Run". His other film appearances include "Quadrophenia" (1979), "Personal Services" (1987) and "Bomber" (2009).


title: Benjamin Whitrow

text: Whitrow was born on 17 February 1937 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, the son of Mary Alexandra (Flaunders) and Philip Whitrow, a teacher at St Edward's School, Oxford. He attended the Dragon School, Tonbridge School, and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He served in the King's Dragoon Guards during his national service from 1956 to 1958. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1981. He played Russell in the original radio version of "After Henry" by Simon Brett.


title: Benjamin Whitrow

text: A lifelong fan of the writings of the English author Denton Welch, he was instrumental in bringing the third, revised version of Welch's journals to print in 1984, having made the acquaintance of one of Welch's friends who had possessed the manuscript of the original editor's edition.


title: Benjamin Whitrow

text: In 1989, Whitrow appeared in episode four of the BBC Two sketch show "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" (series one), playing an irate member of the audience who claimed that Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie had stolen several of their sketches from him.


title: Benjamin Whitrow

text: Between 1990 and 1992, Whitrow appeared in the sitcom "The New Statesman" as Paddy O'Rourke, a Labour shadow minister who feigned an Irish accent when in public to attract the working-class vote.


title: Benjamin Whitrow

text: Whitrow was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Mr Bennet in the 1995 adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice".


title: Benjamin Whitrow

text: In the 2000 animated movie "Chicken Run" Whitrow voiced the character of Fowler, an old rooster who claims to have fought in World War II.


title: Benjamin Whitrow

text: Whitrow's last work was two plays for BBC Radio 4, in which he played the late Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman. "Mr Betjeman's Class" was his last completed work; he died during the recording of "Mr Betjeman Regrets", with the voice work being completed by Robert Bathurst. Both plays were broadcast on BBC Radio 4 over Christmas 2017.


title: Benjamin Whitrow

text: Whitrow was married to Catherine Cook, with whom he had two children: Hannah Mary Whitrow (b. 1973) and Thomas George Whitrow (b. 1976). He also had a son, Angus Imrie (b. 1994) with actress Celia Imrie.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: A Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) is an undergraduate professional degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. In some countries such as Tanzania and Kenya, additional tasks like field work and research are required in order for the student to be fully qualified to teach. It may also be accompanied with or followed by tests for licenses or certifications required for teachers in some areas.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: Since the Educational Reform of 2006, a National Institute for Teacher Education (INFD) was established to develop a standard and coherent teacher training structure throughout the country. According to the Argentine Ministry of Education, the creation of the INFD has helped greatly to reform the previous system establishing a national requirement of a 5-Year National Bachelor of Education to work across the nation at public schools, while there are private universities granting a 4-Year Provincial Bachelor of Education with the regional application.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: Other harmonization measures included the standardization of academic qualifications by creating a “National Catalog of Titles and Certifications in Professional Technical Education” and a federal system of degrees and transcripts for most levels of education (excluding university education). The 2005 Vocational and Technical Education Law seeks to systematize training standards and quality assurance mechanisms in vocational education throughout the country. At the secondary level, the government is currently standardizing curricular streams nationwide – a reform that is expected to be completed by the end of 2019. Recent guidelines of Education in Argentina on compulsory education aim to decrease the dropout rates in secondary school and improve promotion and graduation rates throughout Argentina.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: In Australia, a 4-Year Bachelor of Education degree combines practical/pedagogical study with a Major sequence in the academic discipline of Education. In the majority of Australian universities, there is usually 2 distinct types of the Bachelor of Education: Primary and Secondary. The subjects and degree programs are quite different in both degrees e.g. for a student studying the Bachelor of Education (Primary) the focus of their degree would lie in behaviour, children, basic literacy, how children learn etc. For a student studying the Bachelor of Education (Secondary) they would therefore be teaching roughly 11–18-year-old adolescents and their programs would have less focus on those kinds of areas by the Primary degree. Instead, the degree is based around the student's intending teaching subjects; usually 1 or 2. In NSW, these teaching areas provide the major focus for their degrees in their final years. They consist of: English, Mathematics, Science (Biology, Physics & Chemistry), Geography, History, Business Studies, Legal Studies, Economics, Society & Culture and Languages.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: The longer duration of the course allows for more practical experiences and greater personal or professional development before teaching service. Most Australian State Teacher-Certification bodies require either a Bachelor of Education, or a bachelor's degree in one or two subject areas, with a Graduate Diploma in Education as a minimum. A B.Ed. is not to be confused with the lesser degree Bachelor of Teaching, which is usually an 'End-On' course similar but slightly longer than a Graduate Diploma in Education.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: A Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) is given to teachers who focus on ages 5–8 years of age. Though this degree does not stop Early Childhood teachers teaching students who are older in Primary school, this degree is still equivalent to a Bachelor of Education Primary and noted as a "specialty" in Early Childhood. , all teachers (with an exemption to Early Childhood Teachers) must sit the LANTITE exam (Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teachers Exam) to gain their registration and prior to their 16th unit of study undertaking. However, in special circumstances this exam requirement can be waived and the select student given a passing grade.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: Prior to 2016, the Graduate Diploma of Education was no longer accredited, as the label Bachelor of Education is now the complete title.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: , Early Childhood Teachers are required to learn the EYLF (Early Years Learning Framework) a framework that is based on theoretical practice and holistic teaching methods for ages birth to five years old. In Queensland, there is a framework more commonly used called QKLG (Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guide), based on the EYLF and used to teach children ages 3–6.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: Note: In Australia, the term Undergraduate Degree is used to describe all degrees undertaken by a first-time university student and usually no pre-requisite tertiary level studies are required, mostly just the completion of Secondary High School. Postgraduate degrees are used to describe the degrees completed with an Undergraduate degree as pre-requisite.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: In Bangladesh, Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) is an undergraduate professional degree for Hons. (4 years) and Diploma (1/2/3 years) in Education offered by the authorized Teachers Training Institutes or colleges for those aimed their profession as a teacher or as an education and curriculum specialist or as an educationalist in the government and non-governmental educational institutes or any educational organizations such as Save the Children, UNICEF, United Nations Development Programme, BFES, SSUF, ASA etc. B.Ed. degree is mandatory for the teaching profession in both of primary and Secondary school level. Without teaching profession, if anyone wants to go other professions such as education & curriculum specialist, researcher, administrator etc. in any educational or other sectors, he/she must have the minimum qualification of Hons. graduation degree in education (B.Ed. hons. degree). Every year many talent Hons. graduate students from this subject get international scholarship from well known universities of other countries like UK, USA, Japan, Australia, Canada etc. The minimum qualification required for entry into B.Ed. Hons. (4 years) course is passed H.S.C. or equivalent and for entry into Diploma (1/2/3 years) course in education is Bachelor of Arts (B.A) or Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.). The Hons. students of this subject have to read basic educational course contents as their major courses with some minor subject courses. In addition, usually for diploma (1/2/3 years) students from Arts faculty are trained to lecture subjects like history, civics, geography and languages and from Science faculty are trained to follow their lecture on mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology etc. whereas graduates from Commerce faculty trained up to lecture on accounting & finance, economics, management & marketing. After B.Ed. hons., one can continue for Master in Education (M.Ed.), M.Phil, PhD in education in some universities of Bangladesh. National Council for Education and related universities as well as their institutions is the constitutional authority to standardize courses for the educationalist and teachers in Bangladesh.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: In Canada and the United States, this degree is awarded for coursework completed within a programme lasting one to five years, depending on the requirements established by the place where the province or state in which the university is located. In Canada, a B.Ed. degree is required for teaching certification.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: A B.Ed. programme may have direct entry from high school; as a combined degree with another bachelor's degree (e.g., B.A./B.Ed.); or as an after-degree programme where the candidate has obtained a bachelor's degree, usually in the field in which the student wishes to teach. A good rapport or previous experience with young children or teens is also a desired characteristic of applicants.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: There are several streams to a Bachelor of Education, each corresponding to the particular level of instruction. In the United States, this includes elementary school education, middle school education, and high school education. Students in the elementary education stream generally study for a Liberal Studies degree. In the high school (secondary education) stream, the student specialises in one to two subject areas. Upon completion of the degree, they will prepare and eventually sit for the state's Board of Education certification examination.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: A typical B.Ed. program may include coursework in pedagogy, educational psychology, educational policy and leadership, assessment, curriculum development; and lesson planning, social justice, special education, and instructional technology.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: In Israel, Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) is a course offered Suitable for those interested in developing the field. Developed unique training programs tailored contemporary trends in professional training for teaching. In addition, there are plans Sitting studies of academics and teachers complete undergraduate studies. In Israel there are a number of colleges and universities offering B.Ed. studies as and B.Sc.Ed. at The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology


title: Bachelor of Education

text: course is open to intermediates, with an emphasis on the principles and methodology of teaching, leading to the Bachelor of Teaching (B.T.), subsequently renamed as Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree. In some states, there is Licentiate in Teaching


title: Bachelor of Education

text: (L.T.), which is considered equivalent to the B.Ed. degree. Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) is an undergraduate course offered for those interested in pursuing a career in teaching. The B.Ed. degree is mandatory for teaching at the secondary (classes 6 to 10) and higher secondary (10+2 or classes 11 and 12). The minimum qualification required for entry into B.Ed. course is intermediate (10+2). While students from the Arts stream are trained to teach subjects like History, Civics, Geography, and languages, the students from the Science stream are trained to teach Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. The duration of the course will be four years from session 2020-21 as per NCTE Regulations, 2019. After B.Ed., students can pursue Master of Education (M.Ed.) in any Indian university or teacher-training institutes offering the course. The National Council for Teacher Education is the statutory body which regulating teacher training courses in the country of India.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: The "Right to Free and Compulsory Education for Children" (RTE Act 2009) came into force from April 2010. The act emphasizes on quality education for every child. As such, with the view to bring about quality education in schools, it is required that the entry level percentage to B.Ed. be 50 for those candidates in the General Category and 45 for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: The Bachelor of Elementary Education (B.El.Ed.) programme is a two-year integrated professional degree programme offered after the higher secondary stage of school. B.El.Ed. is designed to integrate the study of subject knowledge, human development, pedagogical knowledge, and communication skills. Both professional and academic options are available to students who graduate with a B.El.Ed. degree.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: Those who complete this course can offer their educational services in the state and in the country as well as abroad


title: Bachelor of Education

text: In the Republic of Ireland, a 4-Year Bachelor of Education degree combines practical/pedagogical study with a Major sequence in the academic discipline of Education. Modules in the Irish and English languages are compulsory.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: Students study a range of Education-related subjects, including Psychology, Sociology, History, Social Policy, Professional Practice. Students also study subjects from another field or discipline as qualification for an intended teaching area or method.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: The degree is available in several specialisations, including Primary, Secondary, Human Movement/Health, Music, or Early Childhood education. The longer duration of the course allows for more practical experiences and greater personal or professional development before teaching service. Teacher-Certification bodies require either a Bachelor of Education, or an Undergraduate/Bachelor's Degree in one or two subject areas, with a Diploma of Education as a minimum. A B.Ed. is not to be confused with the lesser degree Bachelor of Teaching, which is usually an 'End-On' course similar but slightly longer than a Diploma of Education.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: The 3-year Bachelor of Education prepares graduates to teach in early childhood centres, primary, intermediate schools and secondary schools. With the Bachelor of Education one can specialise in Primary, Early Childhood, Physical Education and Huarahi Māori. The qualification is designed to equip students with the skills and knowledge they need to be effective teachers, and to gain provisional registration with the New Zealand Teachers Council. Teaching practicums allow students to gain invaluable experience in diverse education settings as they study. The Bachelor of Education can lead on to further postgraduate study.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: In Nigeria, the Bachelor of Education degree is awarded at universities and colleges of education across the nation as a first degree. There are a few specialised universities of education in the country that exist to train teachers professionally. Some of these specialised universities include Tai Solarin University of Education and Ignatius Ajuru University of Education. The B.Ed. can be done as combined honours with a B.A. or B.Sc. It can also be done as a single honours degree with specialisations in nursery and primary education, curriculum development, educational administration and policy studies, among others. Students usually undergo intensive teaching practices at the 2nd and 3rd years of study. Upon graduation, they are registered by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) and can be employed as teachers afterwards. Postgraduate education usually take the form of an M.Ed, PGDE, and GDE.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: The Bachelor of Education degree was first introduced by the University of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 1963. J. E. Jayasuriya, then professor of education at University of Ceylon, introduced the course to meet the growing demand for professional teacher qualifications. Then the practice was to join the teaching profession with a bachelor's degree either in arts or sciences, and after four years of teaching in a secondary school teachers get the one-year postgraduate diploma in education.


title: Bachelor of Education

text: The University of Ceylon used to take only 50–60 postgraduate diploma candidates at a time in an annual program. The B.Ed. degree was introduced combining the bachelor's degree and the postgraduate diploma in education. B.Ed. was introduced as a four-year special degree and in contrast with the 9–10 3-hour papers at the final degree examination, a B.Ed. degree required a candidates to sit for 19–20 papers for the finals. This happened due to combining of the bachelor's degree and the postgraduate diploma in education. Only the top-performing students were admitted to B.Ed. degree at University of Ceylon, Peradeniya. The first batch graduated in 1967. Following this Australia introduced the B.Ed. degree. Upali M Sedere was the first first-class holder of the B.Ed. degree from University of Ceylon, Peradeniya in 1969. Subsequently, in 1973, the B.Ed. program at the University of Sri Lanka changed in its scope and character.