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Sun, 16 Jun 2019 13:36:17 +0200

Shaman Miika Vanhapiha from Kuttelo group performs Karhutanssi (Bear Dance) ceremony. The exact nature of the believe system of Mesolithic peoples is unknown. Strong evidence of shamanism is provided by masks made of skull caps of red deer from the excavations at Star Carr in UK. Cave paintings from the Paleolithic (the period before the Mesolithic) show signs of shamanism and from the Neolithic (the period after the Mesolithic) there are also shamanistic ritual objects (like skull masks) found. I find it therefor safe to assume that Mesolithic cultures must have had a form of shamanism, especially since almost all of todays hunter-gatherer societies have a shamanistic believe system.