From Protective Mound to Sacred Mountain: A Unified Taphonomic‑Ritual Theory on the Origin and Evolution of Pyramids

Part 2 of the Homo sepultus Trilogy. This work proposes a unified theory: the pyramid form was not invented suddenly. It accumulated over roughly 400,000 years as a sequential human response to three universal needs: to shield human remains from scavengers, to preserve memory amid uncertainty about death, and to build a symbolic bridge to the transcendent. Eight distinct evolutionary phases are documented from Sima de los Huesos to digital permanence. Fire emerges as the central mechanism that transformed practical care into ritual communion and later into an instrument of political control. The Lightning Wood Battery model explains Phase 3 intermittent Neanderthal fire at Roc de Marsal and Pech de l'Azé IV. Governed by the Toumai Code: if hollow == True: plug_hollow(). All phases obey thermodynamic and cost-accounting constraints under environmental command. CC BY 4.0. Related to: Toumai Code [10.5281/zenodo.21314868].