There are over 4,000 religions existing in the world
and 85% of the world's people are considered to be believers
and through time and across the world
we have no knowledge of a society
that doesn't have beliefs
it seems to be a natural characteristic
a product of our hugely inventive minds
that we communicate with beings and worlds beyond nature.
As fully modern people we go back a 100,000 years
and certainly we recognize in the archaeological record
from Africa and from Southeast Asia and Australasia
really ancient things that show the modern human species
beginning to symbolize thoughts.
The oldest object that we have which shows us very clearly
that we are having a conversation with something
that does not exist in nature is the figure of the lion man.
The lion man is made of mammoth ivory
This is the biggest animal in the late Ice Age environment
the fiercest animal in the environment was the cave lion
bigger than a modern African lion without a mane,
a huge fierce creature
What the sculptor who made the lion man has done
is to combine the mammoth, the lion and the human
So we have human legs and groin
the navel in the correct place for a human being
and then as you come up the body
you come into these immensely broad and strong shoulders
and a head, the head of a lion
made with such naturalism that we can see
that he's watching, that he's listening
the little furrow behind his ear, is the furrow created as the muscles tense
for the ear to be turned and alert while listening
His eyes are looking forward and his mouth in this extraordinary grin
this combination of human and animal features
this alertness, this participation suggests that
there's a conversation going on here
a conversation of a human who is so much part of nature
but wears clothes, makes tools, has fire
but yet is in awe of this fierce lion
from whom it's important to protect oneself
but also to admire.
So this is a really important conversation happening here
now I can't say whether this sculpture represents
an avatar or a deity or a creation story
none of that really matters, what matters is this conversation
this sign of mind and this sign of using a belief
in beings and worlds beyond nature
that help us to get by, that help us to give us meaning and understanding
and to overcome the things that frighten us
but also to share stories with one another
around the fire and we know this has happened with the lion man
because his body is polished by the wear
of being passed from hand to hand
and he's found in a cave, Stadel cave not far from Ulm in Baden-Württemberg
deep in its recesses the lion man was carefully put away
after sharing stories around the fire
bonding, socialising, planning for tomorrow
thinking about the possibilities
so it shows beliefs in other worlds, in other beings
being a really important part for social cohesion
and for confidence for human beings
to have meaning and carry on with their lives.