Palaeolithic Cave Art (World University Library)

The interpretation of Palaeolitihic cave art has been a subject of controversy ever since the first dramatic discoveries of decorated caves in France and Spain almost a century ago. The first problem that confronted scholars was to explain how such remarkable artistic activity could have been undertaken by Stone Age hunters who until then had always been thought of as living in a state of primitive savagery. Since the beginning of the twentieth century most scholars have accepted that the art should be able to to tell us something about the thoughts and beliefs of Palaeolitihic man, but their interpretations have varied widely. Some have seen it as intended for nothing more than aesthitic enjoyment, others as evidence of hunting magic or fetility magic or totemistic beliefs. Most recently it has been interpreted as expressing the symbolism of a Stonge Age mythology and cosmology. This book offers the first systematic investigation of the facts that lie behind these various interpretations. It examines the context of all the paintings, engravings and low relief sculptures, the artistic tecniques employed in them, and the evidence to be drawn both form prehistoric activities associated with the art and from comparable activities on the part of existing non literate peoples. In producing an assement the authors emphasize the complexity, richness and variety of Palaeolithic art. They question whether it is ssensible to expect ot find a unitary explanation for it any more than for the art of many modern societies.