What Is Paleolithic Art?

Jean Clottes is a prominent French archaeologist and former general inspector for archaeology and scientific advisor for prehistoric art at the French Ministry of Culture. He is the author of Cave Art, among other books.

This is a journey and a personal reflection by one of the most renowned figures in cave exploration and painting. This exploration of the art, which has captivated people the world over, continues Clottes pursuit of an explanation for the why of Paleolithic cave painting, and is steeped in his thoughts about the shamanistic explanations. Clottes summarizes the history of earlier explanations of and approaches to rock art in Southwest Europe, and then takes readers on a tour to visit rock art sites and specialists in aboriginal artists and shamans around the world. He evokes a continuum between the living rock art sites to the Ice Age sites of Chauvet, Altamira, and hundreds of others. Clottes s views illuminate the animals and figures that adorn cave walls, and his deep understanding, love, and empathy that he has for the art, imagination, and spiritual world of our Ice Age ancestors is unparalleled. "