School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations CAVE ART AND THE EVOLUTION OF THE HUMAN MIND MARTIN PAUL GRAY A thesis submitted to Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Philosophy 2010 For Mum and Dad The more I learn, the less I seem to know… iii Abstract The discovery of cave paintings made by our Upper Paleolithic ancestors in Western Europe was an astonishing find – so astonishing, that they were originally believed to have been fakes. However, as more sites were uncovered, their authenticity was confirmed. But how could these people, who at the time of the discovery were believed to be merely dumb brutes, create such beautiful and naturalistic representations? And an even more difficult question to answer was, why? In this thesis I examine the phenomenon of Paleolithic cave art and what it might be able to tell us about the minds of the Cro-Magnon artists who produced it. I survey the paintings that have so far been discovered, as well as the processes involved in creating them. I also discuss and critique a selection of the many theories that have attempted to explain the motivation behind this radically different type of human behaviour. But due to the lack of hard evidence, none of these theories are ever likely to be fully substantiated. So a more promising line of investigation I take is to appraise the cognitive abilities Cro-Magnons would have needed to produce the paintings – and this then allows me to consider whether cave art was indicating any new cognitive development. I therefore highlight one of the effects that creating cave paintings had: it allowed information from the brain to be stored in the environment. But the manner in which this form of epistemic engineering might enhance human cognition is a hotly debated subject. I examine two theories: the extended mind hypothesis, and the theory of niche construction. In concluding this thesis, I argue that cave art seems more like an example of epistemic niche construction than a constituent of an extended mind. iv Acknowledgements First of all I have to thank my primary supervisor Professor Kim Sterelny. Kimbo, thanks for your undying patience with both me and this project, along with its many previous incarnations. I am sure, like me, you wondered at times whether this was ever going to be completed, but we both hung in there and I got it done. Nick Agar was my second supervisor, and although I never ultimately made use of his assistance, he was the one who first introduced me to consciousness studies. It was to be the start of a long and winding path that ended up in the caves of Western Europe! My initial contact with Victoria’s philosophy department was swift: I arrived on campus for an informal chat following a brief and speculative phone call made a mere thirty minutes earlier! The first person I met was Ed Mares. I wandered into an office that looked like a bomb had hit it, and as I introduced myself I suddenly realised that all I really wanted to do right there and then was study philosophy – even though I had never formally encountered the subject before. Fortunately, Ed was so helpful, and in less than another thirty minutes he had provided me with a route into the department and a plan that would allow me to study for this Masters Degree. There are so many people to thank in Victoria’s philosophy department, but I shall only mention a few by name. Tony Scott has been such a great help: whenever I had a question, often a stupid one, Tony would always listen and give me an answer that would make me realise that some of this stuff is actually pretty hard to fathom; he also spent much time reading through this thesis and providing me with excellent feedback, and at the level that I needed. Matt Gers provided me with the article that linked cave art and the extended mind – just at the time when I needed some impetus. Dan Turton (sorry, but Dan Weijers just doesn’t sound right!) was always around for a chat and willing to impart some wise words and guidance. Whilst Ben Jeffares provided plenty of technical advice when I got totally bogged down. The department even managed to supply me with a few extra golfing buddies! Finally, my thanks go to my partner Carole, who did her best to remove many of my day-to-day distractions, which allowed me to concentrate on completing this thesis. v Contents FIGURES..........................................................................................................................................vii INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1 – Cave Art.........................................................................................................................3 1. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................3 2. THE CAVE ART OF WESTERN EUROPE ........................................................................................3 2.1 Discovery.............................................................................................................................................3 2.2 Geography............................................................................................................................................5 2.3 Chronology ..........................................................................................................................................6 2.4 Dating Methods....................................................................................................................................7 3. THE IMAGES ........................................................................................................................................10 3.1 Production..........................................................................................................................................10 3.2 Location .............................................................................................................................................14 3.3 Subject Matter....................................................................................................................................17 3.4 Representations other than paintings within the caves ......................................................................22 3.5 Quality ...............................................................................................................................................23 3.6 Dangers ..............................................................................................................................................25 3.7 Climate and preservation ...................................................................................................................26 4. OTHER ANCIENT ART ......................................................................................................................28 4.1 Other Paleolithic images and representations found in Western Europe...........................................28 4.2 Other regions with Paleolithic images...............................................................................................30 4.3 Other forms of early art .....................................................................................................................32 4.4 More contemporary cave and rock art ...............................................................................................33 5 ANALYSIS...............................................................................................................................................34 5.1 Why Western Europe? .......................................................................................................................34 5.2 The ‘Creative Explosion’? .................................................................................................................35 5.3 Did Neanderthals create art?..............................................................................................................37 5.4 What wasn’t drawn ............................................................................................................................39 5.5 Why didn’t Paleolithic art happen earlier? ........................................................................................42 6 CHAPTER SUMMARY.........................................................................................................................43 Chapter 2 – Evolutionary Issues.....................................................................................................45 1. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................45 2. WHY DRAW? ........................................................................................................................................45 2.1 Evolutionary Biology.........................................................................................................................46 2.2 Evolutionary Psychology...................................................................................................................47 2.3 Summary............................................................................................................................................48 3. Early theories..........................................................................................................................................49