Beyond the image: Interdisciplinary and contextual approaches to understanding symbolic cognition in Paleolithic parietal art

Abstract

Symbolic cognition—the ability to produce and use symbols, including (but not limited to) linguistic symbols—has often been considered a hallmark of human achievement. Given its importance, symbolic cognition has been a major topic of interest in many academic disciplines including anthropology, archeology, and the cognitive sciences. Paleolithic rock art holds vast potential for understanding the early roots of symbolically mediated behavior. Specifically, geographic and temporal differences in parietal motifs across sites may provide important evidence about the sociocognitive processes that occurred in the deep past of our lineage, how they varied across groups, and how they changed over time. However, the fragmentary nature of the rock art record often makes direct inferences about past symbolic behaviors difficult to assert. Additionally, because scholars working within different disciplines may differ in their interests, theories, methodologies, epistemologies, and terminology, interdisciplinary dialog can be challenging. If we accept the challenge, however, we believe that interdisciplinary dialogs can increase our understanding of this important topic. Through interdisciplinary approaches we can, for instance, integrate information from dating and materials used, with insights into the particular conditions and sociocultural contexts in which the art could have been made and experienced. The workshop Understanding the Development of Symbolic Cognition through Rock Art: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue was held on 15 and 16 May 2023 at the new rock art center in Puente Viesgo (Cantabria, Spain)—home to the Upper Paleolithic cave art sites of Monte Castillo. It was organized by the ERC project eSYMb: The Evolution of Early Symbolic Behaviour, and intended to bring together perspectives from diverse disciplines to discuss the different theoretical and empirical approaches that can be used to understand what rock art might indicate about the evolution of symbolic cognition in the Upper Paleolithic. Eleven participants attended the workshop (Figure 1) that had expertise from diverse disciplinary backgrounds (archeology, anthropology, art, semiotics, psychology, and cognitive science) and represented six different academic institutions from Denmark, Spain, Norway, and the United Kingdom. The Monte Castillo caves were a focal point of the workshop, with their rich and extensive record of Paleolithic art stimulating ideas and discussion among the participants. The different perspectives offered by the participants productively generated new discussions about interdisciplinary approaches to Paleolithic art and have encouraged future collaborations between the different disciplines.