Since the 19th century, the phenomenon of ritual has captured the attention of variousscientific disciplines, such as theology, sociology, and ethnography. In the last 25 years,empirical research applying the theories and research tools of cognitive sciences hasyielded a significant increase in knowledge about the psychologically active elements ofrituals. Despite this impressive accumulation of data and the many years of theorizing,researchers rarely delve into questions about the evolutionary origins of this distinctlyhuman behavior. Moreover, attempts to integrate the latest discoveries from prehistoricarchaeology—especially those from the Paleolithic era—into evolutionary-cognitiveperspectives on ritual are typically lacking. Hence, the purpose of this conference is to uniteresearchers from distinct disciplines and foster a fruitful interdisciplinary dialog. We aim tocollectively assess our current understanding of ritual evolution and identify shared researchperspectives. We believe that the scientific investigation of ritual evolution demands agenuinely cross-disciplinary approach—one that deliberately transcends the historicalbarriers between the humanities and natural sciences. Scholars from prehistoricarchaeology, psychology, primatology, anthropology, and other fields within the social andcognitive sciences will explore various aspects related to the four central themes of theconference:1. What do we know about ritual behavior of today’s Homo sapiens?2. What do we know about the ritualized behaviors of our closest primate relatives?3. What do we know about the oldest rituals in the Paleolithic?4. What are the connections between the evolution of ritual and Paleolithic art?