Hunting magic is the

magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

associated with

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...

in hunter-gatherer cultures, both contemporary and prehistoric.

In rock art

The hunting magic hypothesis, in the archaeology of rock art, is one of the functionalist approaches to explaining why rock art was created in ancient cultures. It originated from ethnographies of modern hunter-gatherers, who used their rock art in the hopes that it would improve their prowess on the hunt. The theory has been traditionally supported by violent imagery found in some rock art alongside animals.

In the history of religion

Walter Burkert Walter Burkert (; 2 February 1931 – 11 March 2015) was a German scholar of Greek mythology and cult. A professor of classics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, he taught in the UK and the US. He has influenced generations of studen ...

in '' Homo Necans'' (1972) suggested that rituals associated with hunting magic are at the

origin of religion The evolutionary origin of religions and religious behavior is a field of study related to evolutionary psychology, the origin of language and mythology, and cross-cultural comparison of the anthropology of religion. Some subjects of intere ...

Henri Breuil Henri Édouard Prosper Breuil (28 February 1877 – 14 August 1961), often referred to as Abbé Breuil, was a French Catholic priest, archaeologist, anthropologist, ethnologist and geologist. He is noted for his studies of cave art in the Somme an ...

interpreted the paleolithic

cave paintings In archaeology, Cave paintings are a type of parietal art (which category also includes petroglyphs, or engravings), found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric origin, and the oldest known are more than 40,000 y ...

as hunting magic, meant to increase the number of animals. As an interpretation of religious-cultic practice of the Paleolithic, the concept of hunting magic is rejected by the majority of researchers today.

Notes

References

Anthropology of religion Magic (supernatural) Hunting {{hunting-stub

In rock art

In the history of religion

See also

Notes

References