Episode
#1278 Paul Pettitt: Human Mortuary Practices, and Other Animals' Awareness of Death
- Podcast
- The Dissenter
- Published
- Jul 10, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4064
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not_requested
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Summary
******Support the channel****** Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter PayPal: paypal.me/thedissenter PayPal Subscription 1 Dollar: https://tinyurl.com/yb3acuuy PayPal Subscription 3 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9l PayPal Subscription 5 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpz PayPal Subscription 10 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9m PayPal Subscription 20 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y95uvkao ******Follow me on****** Website: https://www.thedissenter.net/ The Dissenter Goodreads list: https://shorturl.at/7BMoB Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/ Twitter: https://x.com/TheDissenterYT This show is sponsored by Enlites, Learning & Development done differently. Check the website here: http://enlites.com/ Dr. Paul Pettitt is Professor of Palaeolithic Archaeology at Durham University. He specializes in Palaeolithic art and in the long-term development of the treatment of the dead. His survey of the biological and behavioral evolution of Homo sapiens was published by Thames and Hudson in 2022 (Homo Sapiens Rediscovered: The Scientific Revolution Rewriting our Origins). He is currently researching aspects of the visual psychology that underpins the earliest cave art. In this episode, we start by talking about the origins of paleoanthropology, and the development of evolutionary thanatology. We then discuss mortuary practices in human evolution and across human societies, and mortuary practices in mammal societies. We talk about how people react to death, and the social roles of funerals. We discuss whether other animals are aware of death. Finally, we talk about the evolution of symbolism, and what can we learn about human cognition from the study of paleolithic cave art. -- A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: PER HELGE LARSEN, BERNARDO…