The examination of palaeoart in light of neuroscientific data has major implications, ultimately revealing underlying reasons for the production of certain types of imagery. The approach provides a sound alternative to simplistic interpretations such as cultural diffusion based solely on visual resemblances between the arts of widely separated regions. The value of considering human universals as a means of answering the questions how and why the same forms recur in palaeoart around the world is addressed. It is further informed by a wide range of additional neuroscientific and perceptual experimentation data relevant to palaeoart imagery. The approach taken is partly informed by recent studies that have used neuroimaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to reveal brain activation patterns associated with the perception of different types of visual stimuli. The temporal scope of the study varies with the evidence discussed. The rock art of hunter-gatherer societies constitutes more than 90 per cent of known prehistoric art, and the scope of the study is limited to palaeoart attributed to pre-European contact, pre-literate hunter-gatherer societies. Specifically, it examines the role of human perceptual-neurophysiological universals in governing palaeoart production, and argues for a basis of artistic parallels in aspects of the evolved neurobiology shared by all normal humans. Positioned within a structuralist framework, this thesis considers recent breakthroughs in neuroscience as a means of understanding them. Despite various attempts, these commonalities have not yet been adequately explained. Similarities in the ways in which this content is executed may also be found. These parallels include a range of recurrent abstract-geometric motifs and patterns, figurative subjects and themes. A fascinating aspect of palaeoart is that striking commonalities or parallels may be observed world-wide.
Palaeoart includes a diverse range of art-like manifestations, predominantly comprising rock art and portable art objects, dating from the Pleistocene right through to the Holocene.
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