Abstract
Abstract This chapter focuses on the role of caves and cave walls in the production, experience, symbolism and meaning of Upper Palaeolithic cave art in France and Spain. Their crucial role in art and society is discussed by paying attention to what are regarded as their most important properties and related activities. First, the notions “encavement” and “perception shifting” are used to illustrate the cognitive effect of caves. Next, manipulations of cave walls by means of art (specifically, animal representations and handprints) and other symbolic activities are presented as practices of transformation of and communication via walls. Then, manipulations of sound and vision in creating drama, evidence of rituals, and secrecy are discussed in a way that reveals the relationships between caves and practice. Finally, the apparent great significance of caves suggests that they were central to the worldview of their users. This consisted of a cognitive focus on animals, an animistic ontology, and three “interaction spheres”: the “world outside,” the “world between” (caves), and the supernatural “world beyond.”
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