The Visual Dynamics of Upper Palaeolithic Cave Art

Abstract

Franco-Cantabrian cave art continues to be the focus of much speculation but despite the many theories put forward there has been little progress in explaining the range of perplexing features of this ‘art’. Only by regarding such wide-ranging and anomalous characteristics as central to this debate might some progress as to derivation be possible. The account presented in this article will demonstrate how the many ‘contradictions’ prevailing might provide an important indication as to provenance that can be explained through an understanding of the shifting nature of visual imagery in the context of the everyday lives of Upper Palaeolithic communities. This will be based on the notion that the visual world as perceived can be disrupted by certain types of psychological effects that can be subsequently triggered by particular kinds of stimulus cues and evocative situations.