AT-1568

The cultural evolution of shamanism

DOI · Academic research

verifiedRetraction / correction review1 usage record

Source record

This is one canonical bibliographic record with topic-scoped research-use entries. It does not reproduce the paper, book, text, dataset, image, or manuscript and does not imply that full text was reviewed.

Canonical source ID: AT-1568
Accepted usage IDs: AT-1568
Types: DOI
Roles: Academic research
Verification: verified
Archive state: unavailable-through-registered-public-or-tdm-routes
Access: unavailable-through-registered-public-or-tdm-routes
Rights: https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms; not cleared
Public reproduction: Not cleared; citation and link only.
Correction / retraction: no retraction flag in checked Crossref/OpenAlex metadata

Recorded research uses

AT-1568

Shamanism

Why Connected Atlas uses this citation here

Manvir Singh's peer-reviewed comparative theory article; evidence for recurrent specialist patterns and proposed social-cognitive mechanisms, not proof that local roles are identical or descend from one institution.

What this usage does not establish

Bibliographic verification does not by itself establish that the full text was read.

Topics citing it and claims using it

Topic citing this source

Shamanism

Supporting citation for public claim

Comparative scholarship identifies recurrent ritual-specialist patterns, but shamanism remains a debated category historically grounded in Siberian contexts rather than one global institution.

The ethnographic and historical base is strong, but the category becomes weaker as it moves farther from local traditions and into universal prehistoric claims.

Open claim topic

Supporting citation for public claim

Spirit mediation and altered-state ritual may be ancient, but the listed historical and archaeological sources do not identify one continuous oldest religion called shamanism.

Answer / theory: It may preserve very old patterns of spirit mediation, healing, and altered-state ritual, but it cannot be identified as one single oldest religion. What supports it: Cross-cultural recurrence and possible prehistoric ritual evidence. What is weak or disputed: Direct prehistoric proof is limited. Evidence level: Plausible but Unproven.

Open claim topic

Supporting citation for public claim

Priest and shaman are comparative labels that may overlap or fail to map onto locally named ritual roles.

Answer / theory: Not usually. Priests often serve established cults, institutions, temples, or calendars, while shamans are often spirit mediators and healers, but overlap exists. What supports it: Comparative religious studies. What is weak or disputed: Local categories may not match outsider distinctions. Evidence level: Strong Evidence.

Open claim topic

Supporting citation for public claim

Institutional cult service and spirit mediation can be analytically distinguished, but local roles cannot be classified from those labels alone.

Answer / theory: Not usually. Priests often serve established cults, institutions, temples, or calendars, while shamans are often spirit mediators and healers, but overlap exists. What supports it: Comparative religious studies. What is weak or disputed: Local categories may not match outsider distinctions. Evidence level: Strong Evidence.

Open claim topic

Supporting citation for public claim

Documented traditions organize meaningful ritual life around locally understood spirits, deities, or other-than-human agents; this evidences practice and belief, not independent metaphysical existence.

Answer / theory: It proves that many communities organize meaningful ritual life around spirit relations. It does not scientifically prove the independent existence of spirits. What supports it: Ethnographic documentation of belief and practice. What is weak or disputed: Metaphysical claims are not directly testable by historical method. Evidence level: Mythic but source-supported.

Open claim topic

Supporting citation for public claim

Ethnographic documentation of spirit relations does not scientifically establish or disprove the independent existence of spirits.

Answer / theory: It proves that many communities organize meaningful ritual life around spirit relations. It does not scientifically prove the independent existence of spirits. What supports it: Ethnographic documentation of belief and practice. What is weak or disputed: Metaphysical claims are not directly testable by historical method. Evidence level: Mythic but source-supported.

Open claim topic

Access and actions

The cultural evolution of shamanism