The history of altar use is expanded with virtually every archeology discovery that predates our current scope of knowledge. In 1994 the discovery of the Chauvet Cave paintings in France dated to be up to 30,000 years old also unveiled a block of stone with a skull of a cave bear placed upon it, evidence of the oldest altar yet discovered. Robert Farris Thompson states in his book Face Of The Gods: Art And Altars Of Africa And The African Americas (1993), "The altar appears in the art history of virtually all of the world." For those societies that have knowledge of their ancient cultures, such as the Greek and Chinese, the memory of altar use stretches back into the depths of time to the immemorial.

Ritual history is less easily dated than altar use, with the late invention of written languages as we know them, the long-standing oral traditions are forever blurred in the fog of our past. Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, while discussing the history of fire states in his book, Grimoire For The Apprentice Wizard (2004), says, "Gathered around our hearths and campfires, we sang our first songs, chanted our first chants, made our first music, danced our first dances, told our first stories, and performed our first plays." These elements were and are still the foundation for many rituals. Ancient sites show evidence of the probable marriage of ritual and altars as early as Stonehenge, where the "altarstone," as named by Inigo Jones, challenges modern thinkers to imagine the exact uses and inspiration for such mighty works. Jewish history with its written texts is a trove of information for the history and use of altars in Hebrew tradition. Milt Maclin quotes [Deuteronomy 27: 1-8] in Joshua's Altar (1991), "...you shall set up these stones about which I charge you this day on Mount Ebal and coat them with plaster. There, too, you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones...you shall offer on it burnt offerings to the Lord your God...rejoicing before the Lord your God."

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