Prehistoric people created art by firelight, new research reveals
Credit: © Kozioł Kamila / stock.adobe.comOur early ancestors probably created intricate artwork by firelight, an examination of 50 engraved stones unearthed in France has revealed.The stones were incised with artistic designs around 15,000 years ago and have patterns of heat damage which suggests they were carved close to the flickering light of a fire, the new study has found.
Following their discovery, the researchers have experimented with replicating the stones themselves and used 3D models and virtual reality software to recreate the plaquettes as prehistoric artists would have seen them: under fireside light conditions and with the fresh white lines engravers would have made as they first cut into the rock thousands of years ago.
Working under these conditions would have had a dramatic effect on the way prehistoric people experienced the creation of art, the researchers say. It may have activated an evolutionary capacity designed to protect us from predators called"Pareidolia," where perception imposes a meaningful interpretation such as the form of an animal, a face or a pattern where there is none.
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