ABSTRACT
If there is any truth to the bicameral origins of religion, then the archaeological record should show that no matter how separated civilizations may have been—cut off by inhospitable deserts, insurmountable mountain ranges, unnavigable oceans—the same patterns of intense religiosity, monumental mortuary architecture, and a god-centered existence should be seen everywhere. Of course, the diffusion of civilization cannot be completely discounted, but the basic similarities across early cultures are striking. Consider the great Mesoamerican theocentric societies that were separated from early centers of Eurasian civilization by great distances. That these colorful, god-dominated societies with individuals guided by voice–visions would emerge in relative isolation cannot be a coincidence. Their very existence offers convincing evidence for the reality of the bicamerality, and in this chapter, I highlight bicameral traits of Mesoamerican theopolities.
