Upper Palaeolithic Installation Art: Topography, Distortion, Animation and Participation in the Production and Experience of Cantabrian Cave Art

Abstract

The physical nature of cave walls and its impact on Upper Palaeolithic image making and viewing has frequently been invoked in explanations about the function of cave art. The morphological features (convexities, concavities, cracks and ridges) are frequently incorporated into the representations of prey animals that dominate the art, and several studies have attempted to document the relationship between the cave wall and the art in a quantitative manner. One of the effects of such incorporation is that undulating walls will distort the appearance of images as viewers change their viewing position. Was this distortion deliberate or accidental? Until now, the phenomenon has not been investigated quantitatively. We address this here, analysing 54 Late Upper Palaeolithic animal images deriving from three Cantabrian caves, Covalanas, El Pendo and El Castillo. We introduce a novel use for photogrammetry and 3D modelling through documenting the morphology of these caves’ walls and establishing the specific relationship between the walls and the art created on them. Our observations suggest that Palaeolithic artists deliberately placed images on very specific topographies. The restricted nature of these choice decisions and the fact that the resulting distortions could have been avoided but were not suggest that the interaction between viewer, art and wall was integral to the way cave art functioned.

[Retracted] Interactive Innovation Research on Film Animation Based on Maya‐Unity Animation Simulation of Visual Sensor

“…They can integrate and develop with many other industries, promote industrial innovation and structural optimization, and point out the way for the development of some traditional industries. At the same time, the development of cultural and creative industries has also driven the development of a series of emerging industries such as animation industry, film, and television industry [15].…”

Application of Line of Sight and Potential Audience Analysis to Unravel the Spatial Organization of Palaeolithic Cave Art

“…Furthermore, it is evident that some figures have been positioned in specific sites because the natural forms of the supports (volumes, reliefs, fissures) evoke animal shapes (e.g. Sauvet & Tosello, 1998;Sauvet & González-Pumariega, 2017;Sakamoto et al, 2020).…”

“…Nonetheless, there is general consensus that the distribution of cave art is usually strongly influenced and conditioned by the prevailing topography and morphology of the cave (e.g. Lejeune, 1985;Sanchidrián, 1990;Lorblanchet, 1995Lorblanchet, , 2010Sieveking, 1997;Sauvet & Tosello, 1998;González-García, 2001;Bahn, 2003;Vialou, 2004;Villeneuve & Hayden, 2007, Garate, 2010Ruiz-Redondo, 2014;González-Sainz, 2007a, 2007bRobert, 2007Robert, , 2009Robert, , 2011Robert, , 2017Sauvet & González-Pumariega, 2017;Ochoa & García-Diez, 2018;Jouteau et al, 2019a;Sakamoto et al, 2020).…”

Bringing science to the study of ancient senses - archaeology and visual psychology

“…An important lesson in her work is that we ignore the physical context of art in relation to its viewers at our cost. Tsen (see below) also provides a Medieval example of how the changing perspective offered by installation can alter the participant's seeing of religious imagery; and installation has been shown to have been an integral part of at least some Upper Palaeolithic cave art (Sakamoto, Pettitt, and Ontañon 2020), as was a physical interaction with surfaces, termed palpation (Pettitt et al 2014). A concern with keeping ritual areas dark, presumably to heighten the emotions and reinforce the feeling of liminality, is noticeable among many ancient cultures (e.g.…”