We left the Paleolithic art and ventured into the Holocene era which vastly differed from all other eras . In the Holocene era, the people started to settle down and farm small areas of land. Consequently, there was an abundance of food which created an increase in population. The people started to specialize in certain areas of work which formed a community sense in their small villages. The people of the Holocene era formed small groups which started to create a sense of group identity. These groups were small, about 30-40 people, which formed a concrete group identity. A social hierarchy formed in the villages enforcing the importance of the group but also defining an individual's role in the society. Religion formed identities for all individuals within a group and also explained many situations with spiritual/religious answers.
With the Neanderthals and in the Paleolithic era we saw certain aspects of religion, but certainly never a solid religion. We know that Neanderthals formed communities and had some sort of social order but were not as organized as the Holocene era. In the Paleolithic era, a more naturalistic "religion" formed with emphasis on icons and nature. Art was extremely important for people during the Paleolithic era but an organized religion was not able to be formed due to the lack of reasoning process. When the Holocene era arose a more modern religion formed with spiritual importance. One huge difference in the Holocene era is the realization of self awareness. These individuals were aware that they were alive and were not alone in the world. The Holocene era's religion was deeply spiritual and was created for many reasons. Once this people were self aware they wanted explanations of uncontrollable situations. Religion was a perfect explanation for all of these problematic times. Identity was more defined with the use of religion; people would feel a sense of worth due to religion. People also conformed to the community or group identity with religion strengthening the bond between people in the villages. The institution of religion was formed for multiple reasons but ultimately joined people together and formed a strong sense of identity.