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Rock art theories IX
Tuesday 19 May 2015

Rock art theories: a brief overview of the salient theories concerning Palaeolithic rock art in Europe and around the world.

Art as Information

This theory proposes that Palaeolithic rock art, both parietal and portable, was a means of storing and transmitting information. This information was conveyed with both images and symbols.

Palaeolithic rock art, both parietal and portable, was a means of storing and transmitting information. This information was conveyed with both images and symbols.

A non-utilitarian bone (Fig. 31a and 31b) engraved on two sides from the site of Fourneau du Diable. Dated to the Solutrean.
Figs. 32a and 32b - a schematic rendition of the engraved marks indicating the sets.
Fig. 32c - the engraved marks against the lunar model, indicating the possible lunar phasing. (Alexander Marshak 'The Roots of Civilization' )

The theory goes on to suggest that the information was regionally specialized. This was for two reasons; specific information would naturally be restricted to a localised environment, but it would also help reinforce a group's identity within that environment, thereby creating a social cohesion essential for survival.

Following this, in the decorated caves of southern Europe, information was everywhere, even blank panels held a message. Moreover, the parietal art itself was only part of the experience; the task of arriving at the rock art may have been important. In the cave of Rouffignac, located in the Black Perigord of Dordogne in France, there is today a small electric train that takes passengers down into the depths of the cave, arriving at the end chamber where a stunning composition of art is on display. But for our Palaeolithic ancestors it would have taken 45 minutes to reach the end chamber. Rouffignac also has superb examples of rock art on panels throughout the cave, but the end chamber appears to house the artistic zenith. 

Caves, therefore, were actually memory palaces. And this concept is not restricted to European caves; in Australia the Aboriginies follow the 'songlines' or 'dreaming tracks' that traverse the arid landscapes to connect with origin myths and ancestral homes. To Aboriginals they are the 'Footprints of the Ancestors' or the 'Way of the Law' and represent personal identity as well as territorial markers.

Art as Information is believed to be especially evident on bones and antlers. Alexander Marshak carried out extensive research in this field, much of it laid out in his definitive publication 'The Roots of Civilization.' In this he proposed that notches and lines carved on certain Upper Paleolithic bone plaques were in fact notation systems, specifically lunar calendars notating the passage of time. Using microscopic analysis, Marshack showed that seemingly random or meaningless notches or cut marks on bone were structured series of numbers. 

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