Interpreting Prehistoric Cave Art

The Upper Paleolithic period began about 45,000 B.c.It is from this period,in several caves located in Europe,that archaeologists have discovered remarkable examples of prehistoric art.One of the early interpretations of cave art was that it was“art for the sake of art,” much as we today might go to a museum to see the skills of artists. This is a Western-culture-centered interpretation,however,and some would argue that there might be other,context-specific interpretations that are more suitable.The location of this art deep within dark caves, in which small flickering lamps would only reveal small portions of painted walls,also does not seem to fit with an interpretation of prehistoric“art galleries.”

Another early interpretation was based on the fact that most of the images are animals,and the majority of these,such as horses and bison,were hunted for food.This viewpoint became known as the “hunting magic”explanation.The drawing of the animals was interpreted as a way to magically ensure that an upcoming hunt would be successful.The hunting-magic interpretation has much appeal because we know that hunting was an important part of daily life during this period.And,in direct contrast to the art-for-art’s-sake explanation,the practice of these“rituals”deep within caves suggests that not everyone participated.There are many nonhunting images in the caves,however,that do not support this explanation,such as geometric shapes and human figures.

In an effort to include all the types of images in Upper Paleolithic cave art in a comprehensive interpretation,some researchers turned to aspects of how the human mind works during altered states of consciousness and what images the mind“sees”during different phases of altered states.This explanation is called“entoptic phenomena,”and it argues that all modern human brains experience the same sets of visual images in the same progression.For example,during the first stage it is common to see geometric patterns;during the second stage,the brain begins to associate various geometric designs with real objects;and during the third stage,the brain sees actual animals,people,and monsters.Altered states can be achieved in many ways-drugs,intense dancing,sitting in absolute darkness as in a deep cave-and the entoptic-phenomena interpretation argues that cave-art images represent the “visions”seen during these experiences.

Other explanations focus more on the use of cave art as a form of communication.That is,its presence and the types of images were used to establish social identities and perhaps as territorial markers. Communication as an explanation is based on identifying different styles that represent different groups of people and is a key element at aggregation sites,places where these people came together at certain times.Communication also is seen as adaptive because it enhances the survival of groups using social networks or alliances. The abundance of cave art in France and Spain,particularly during the Late Upper Paleolithic,is thought to be one outcome of the dense packing of people as they moved south to escape the harshest conditions of the extreme cold of the glacial maximum of the last ice age.Art was used to form alliances and thus resolve disputes about resources between groups who could not easily move away because of the close presence of many groups and the inhospitable nature of more northern areas in Europe.

In recent years,accumulating evidence suggests that Upper Paleolithic people created wall art not only in relatively inaccessible caves,but also in the rock shelters where they lived.Like Later Stone Age rock shelters in Africa,those of the Upper Paleolithic in Europe were exposed to sun,rain,and other weather,and most of the art present in these locales has long since disappeared.The traces we do have,however,suggest that wall art was a much more common feature of daily life than the art present deep in caves might suggest. And,if wall art was much more widespread and ws typical of people’s living sites,then single-cause explanations for wall art, especially those that are based in part on its inaccessibility in deep caves,seem less likely to be accurate models for all Upper Paleolithic wall art.?

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?The Upper Paleolithic period began about 45,000 B.c.It is from this period,in several caves located in Europe,that archaeologists have discovered remarkable examples of prehistoric art.One of the early interpretations of cave art was that it was“art for the sake of art,” much as we today might go to a museum to see the skills of artists. This is a Western-culture-centered interpretation,however,and some would argue that there might be other,context-specific interpretations that are more suitable.The location of this art deep within dark caves, in which small flickering lamps would only reveal small portions of painted walls,also does not seem to fit with an interpretation of prehistoric“art galleries.”?

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