Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology

It is hard to form an idea of the spiritual culture of the most ancient Californians without going deep into California prehistory, and without broad parallels with phenomena of similar character for other peoples of the world. In our view, the genesis of native California religious thought, particularly for the inhabitants of the northern and central part of the state, developed in the same way as the religious views of other peoples of the world, e.g., the peoples of Siberia, North Asia, and also the islands of the South Seas. From a scientific point of view, perhaps the most trustworthy and valuable facts which can allow one to reconstruct religious views and mythology for these early Californians are those presented in the sciences of archaeology and ethnography.