Definition of Animal-worship

Animal worship covers religious and ritual practices including the worship of a living animal considered as a deity incarnate, animal sacrifice as well as the respect for the bones of a slain animal. Such practices are very widespread in pre-modern societies, and are also found at the historical core of both Abrahamic religions and Dharmic religions. They hark back to hunting rituals which evolved in paleolithic times, and scholars of religion such as Walter Burkert derive all human religious behaviour such contexts (see hunting hypothesis).