Long before the myths of full moons and silver bullets, the very seed of the werewolf legend was sown in the deepest shadows of human history.

Origins of Lycanthropy embarks on a riveting archaeological and mythological journey, tracing the primordial human impulse for transformation from the paleolithic cave paintings of Chauvet and Lascaux to the great cradles of early civilization.

Author Caleb Winston uncovers the symbolic echoes of the shapeshifter across the ancient world:

• The hybrid figures and shaman-sorcerers of Prehistoric Cave Art, revealing a spiritual world where the boundary between human and animal was fluid.
• The powerful "wild man" archetype of Mesopotamian myth, epitomized by Enkidu, a primal being who struggled with the dichotomy of savagery and civilization.
• The potent, animal-headed deities of Ancient Egypt, such as Anubis and Sekhmet, who embodied divine power channeled through the untamed strength of the jackal and the lioness.

This book explores how a universal human anxiety-the fear and awe of the wild, the struggle between instinct and order-evolved over millennia, creating the foundational concepts that would eventually coalesce into the enduring legend of the howling beast within. Discover the true, ancient genesis of the man-wolf.