Methodology in the Evolutionary Study of Art: Perspectives in Philosophical
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Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Steven Jacobs & Prof. Dr. Wilfried van Damme Dean: Prof. Dr. Marc Boone Rector: Prof. Dr. Anne De Paepe Nederlandstalige titel: Methodologie in de evolutionaire studie van kunst: perspectieven in filosofische antropologie, cognitieve archeologie, en evolutietheorie. Cover inspiration and images: Guthrie (2005) Cover design: Gitte Callaert Faculteit Letteren en Wijsbegeerte Eveline Seghers Methodology in the evolutionary study of art Perspectives in philosophical anthropology, cognitive archaeology, and evolutionary theory Proefschrift voorgelegd tot het behalen van de graad van Doctor in de Kunstwetenschappen 2015 Promotoren: Prof. Dr. Steven Jacobs & Prof. Dr. Wilfried van Damme Table of contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... xii List of figures .............................................................................................................................. xv General introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 PART I - PHILOSOPHICAL ANTHROPOLOGY Introduction to Part I ................................................................................................................. 15 Chapter 1. Art and the evolutionary framework 1.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 19 1.2. The archaeological record for visual art ................................................................. 20 1.2.1. Human evolution and migratory patterns .................................................... 21 1.2.2. Classifying prehistoric art ................................................................................. 25 1.2.3. Ca. 50.000 - 10.000 BP ....................................................................................... 28 1.2.4. Ca. 100.000 - 50.000 BP ................................................................................... 46 1.2.5. Before ca. 100.000 BP ........................................................................................ 48 1.2.6. General issues with interpreting this record ................................................ 53 viii Table of contents 1.3. Connecting art and evolution .................................................................................... 57 1.3.1. Historical antecedents of current evolutionary research on art................ 57 1.3.2. Why use evolutionary theory to account for art? ........................................ 60 1.3.3. Mapping evolutionary hypotheses of art ....................................................... 62 1.4. Adaptationist thinking on visual art ....................................................................... 65 1.4.1. The artification hypothesis .............................................................................. 65 1.4.2. The aesthetic fitness indicator hypothesis .................................................... 71 1.4.3. The ancestress hypothesis .................................................................................. 82 1.4.4. The simulation hypothesis .............................................................................. 88 1.5. Byproduct views on visual art ..................................................................................... 94 1.5.1. The cheesecake hypothesis ................................................................................ 94 1.5.2. The sensory exploitation hypothesis .............................................................. 97 1.6. Gene-culture co-evolution and exaptation ...........................................................101 1.6.1. The indirect bias hypothesis ............................................................................101 1.7. Archaeology’s contribution to evolutionary thinking ...................................... 109 1.7.1. Cognitive fluidity ...............................................................................................110 1.7.2. Neurovisual resonance theory ........................................................................ 114 1.8. Evolutionary aesthetics ............................................................................................... 117 1.8.1. Aesthetics in evolutionary hypotheses of art ............................................... 117 1.8.2. Themes in evolutionary aesthetics ................................................................. 119 1.9. Visual art and the brain .............................................................................................. 121 1.9.1. Neuroarthistory and neuroaesthetics ............................................................ 121 1.9.2. The relevance of neuroscience for evolutionary hypotheses ................... 123 1.10. Concluding remarks ................................................................................................. 125 Chapter 2. Defining art in evolutionary research: conceptual and methodological considerations 2.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 127 2.2. The matter of defining art ....................................................................................... 128 2.3. Evolutionary attempts at defining art ................................................................... 130 2.3.1. Analytic confusion ............................................................................................ 130 2.3.2. Evolutionary approaches .................................................................................. 133 2.4. Whither art in evolutionary research? ................................................................... 138 2.4.1. First art and an evolutionary concept of art ............................................... 138 2.4.2. The matter of traits .......................................................................................... 139 Table of contents ix 2.4.3. Towards a pluralist view of art in evolutionary research......................... 142 2.5. Concluding remarks ................................................................................................. 144 Chapter 3. Cross-species comparison in the evolutionary study of art: a cognitive approach to the ape art debate 3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 147 3.2. A history of the ape art debate ................................................................................. 148 3.3. Artistic cognition in the human species ................................................................. 153 3.3.1. Recognition of intentionality ......................................................................... 155 3.3.2. Symbolism .......................................................................................................... 156 3.3.3. Aesthetic sensitivity .......................................................................................... 156 3.4. But is it art? .................................................................................................................... 157 3.4.1. Recognition of intentionality ........................................................................ 157 3.4.2. Symbolism .......................................................................................................... 158 3.4.3. Aesthetic sensitivity ......................................................................................... 159 3.5. Discussion: the relevance of ape art for the evolution of art and an aesthetic sense among humans ......................................................................................................... 161 3.6. Concluding remarks .................................................................................................. 167 PART II - COGNITIVE ARCHAEOLOGY Introduction to Part II ............................................................................................................. 171 Chapter 4. Symbolism and the nature of art: the case of geometrically engraved artefacts 4.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 175 4.2. The behavioural modernity debate in Palaeolithic archaeology ................... 176 4.2.1. The nature of behavioural and cognitive modernity .............................. 176 4.2.2. Debating modernity ........................................................................................ 181 4.3. Symbolism and geometric mark-making: the burden of evidence ............... 188 4.3.1. The nature of symbolism in archaeological research ............................... 188 4.3.2. The objects of analysis and their primary interpretation ....................... 195 4.4. The argumentation assessed ................................................................................... 205 4.4.1. Eliminating other potential explanations ................................................ 205 4.4.2. Circumstantial evidence ............................................................................... 209 x Table of contents 4.4.3. Critical perspectives and alternative explanations ................................... 217 4.5. The behavioural modernity debate revisited ....................................................... 222 4.6. Concluding remarks ................................................................................................