It may have been said before but this time I'd like to present something probative (as they say on CSI) along with it.
Archeology. In the "Fertile Crescent" of the Levant, several sites have been excavated showing the development of the first agrarian culture.
At one of the oldest, Ain Ghazal, there is evidence of ancestor worship. Grandad is buried beneath the hearth to keep him warm, or skulls…