("The Khoisan") The dancing is their only type of religious ceremony, which can bring luck during the hunt, can cure sickness, and bring rain. But, the most important dance involves removing the evil spirits of women. Women, being the weaker of the sexes, are the only ones inflicted with the evil spirits. The men circle the woman, touching and pulling the spirit into their bodies. They collapse into a trance and once awakened, they scream and cry freeing the spirits. (Berberich) The existence of both sculptures and paintings leads one to think that there was an emphasis on the religious, or abstract thought. And with that, one can only imagine that there were ceremonies, much like the !Kung San that enacted religious rites, and could have used the sculptures.
A baton or staff, found at Mas-d'Azil, France, is extremely interesting and abstract. The "baton" is of reindeer horn carved into the shapes of three horse heads. There are two live horses, either a mare and stallion or a colt and adult horse, and a flayed skull of a dead horse. ("Long Foreground) Archaeologists do not know the importance of what this baton is, but the abstractness of the artifact would suggest that not only was Cro-Magnon thinking abstractly, but possibly speaking. The !Kung enjoy sitting in the shade, talking amongst themselves. They avoid angry words and violence. The occasional minor disputes are settled before they are a major dispute. They live a life of equality, seeing the necessity to avoid disputes. (Berberich) Sharing fosters social bonds (Kent: 480) and mitigates the uneven hunting returns, resulting, on average, in higher daily amounts of food for everyone in the village, including the sharing party. (Kent: 479).
One individual found in a 26,000-year-old burial had spinal scoliosis, an asymmetrical skull, and an under-developed right leg. The !Kung San harbor much respect for elders. The older cannot contribute much to the well being of the group, but they are revered for their knowledge of history and help preserve the culture.
