Looking at our Looking: A New Approach to the Definition of a Rock Art Scene

Abstract

The specific aim of this article is to offer a precise definition of a scene and of related terms such as juxtaposition and association. Its larger aim is to introduce a new way of talking about rock art images in general, viz. by reference to the way we have evolved to see them. In this connection I put forward a philosophical argument which touches on various issues relevant to perception of a scene: the intention of those who made the rock art, the methodological ideal of objectivity, the role of neurophysiology and symbolic interpretation, and the assumption of the universality of perception. Show more