Religious beliefs are evident in all known modern cultures. They can be derived from artifacts found associated with Homo sapiens, at least since Neanderthal times. Artefacts found in Neanderthal graves suggest that the first people believed in the afterlife. Sculptures of women with large secondary sex characteristics – which may have been fertility-charms are found widely separated archaeological sites. Moreover, cave paintings, which are dominated by images of hunting animals may reflect a belief that some images have power over events. Anthropologists have theorized that early humans thought their hunting can be more successful if they drew pictures depicting the luck in hunting.
The existence of prehistoric religion can be assumed. There is evidence of a universal religion in historical times. Already in the 5th century BC Herodotus made objective comparisons between religions or communities of fifty, so he traveled from his home in Greece. He noted many similarities between the gods and said clearly for the dissemination of religious worship.
