I want to test whether religious beliefs and rituals are adaptations or by-products of evolution. How can I do that in an ethnographic study? What indicators should I use? Or what methodology should I use to test it?
Marcel: even if elephants visit the sites of their ancestors' demise that does not imply any religious traits, nor does it when I visit my grandparents' grave, even if it is placed in a churchyard.
Religion can be considered as a collection of beliefs, values and practices that is considered to be true and divine and hence followed by a group of people. We can see that all human civilizations in the history have had some sorts of religious beliefs and practices. The case is same for present world also. Certain most of the rituals and practices change with time and some do not. I think that the rituals and practices that we see now are evolved after many changes and modifications.
I attach a book that familiarises the religious practices of different regions, religions and cultures.
http://www.doc.wa.gov/family/offenderlife/docs/HandbookReligiousBeliefsPractices.pdf
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