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.
