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Ecological Interpretations of Palaeolithic Art

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2014

Steven J. Mithen
Steven J. Mithen
Affiliation:
The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, 62 Sidney Street, Cambridge CB2 3JW
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Extract

To describe, let alone explain, the paintings, engravings and sculpture of the Upper Palaeolithic as ‘adaptations’ may sound absurd. These are products of the human mind — a world of symbols and dreams, myths and fantasies. So to suggest that this art can be understood in an ecological framework may strike one as facile. Upper Palaeolithic art is one of the great cultural achievements of human kind. It testifies not only to an immense technical skill but to the human capacity for expressing emotion through the use of line, form and colour. Although we cannot know the meaning of the art, through it we can begin to share the sensitivities of the Palaeolithic hunters to their natural world and the animals of the chase. Like all great art, it transcends the boundaries of time and space to say something fundamental about the human condition — though that ‘something’ is forever elusive. The paintings, engravings and sculpture of the Upper Palaeolithic are indeed the epitome of human creativity. So when faced with either the great bulls of Lascaux or just a scratch upon a broken pebble, surely it must be trivial to invoke notions of adaptation and ecology. After all, is not adaptation solely about the more basic features of human life — the selfish struggle to survive and reproduce — hardly the basis for the fine arts.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 57 , Issue 1 , 1991 , pp. 103 - 114
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1991

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References

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