ABSTRACT

From the first decades of the twentieth century, the visitors of European Palaeolithic caves were mainly interested in discovering and recording groups of motifs, as well as describing and identifying their component elements. Debates concerning approaches to recording and interpretation arose in the middle years of the same century. Detailed descriptions were further developed, transcriptions of panels were made, and attention was given to reconstructing the original composition, spatial structure, function, and meaning. Interpretations were initially based in an evolutionary sequence, from the ‘primitive’ images (Palaeolithic naturalistic representations) through to ‘elaborate’ images (Neolithic synthetic representations). But such a scheme based on traditional methods suffered numerous and important objections because both kinds of image were placed into the same spaces (Leroi-Gourhan 1966). Better description of motifs encouraged interest in a more detailed appreciation of murals in areas that could not be observed because of damage. Geology allowed the study of minerals, and the first studies on the alteration and conservation of rock-art sites were carried out. Henry Breuil set up the first colour palette for classifying the pigments composing the main colours of prehistoric rock-art paintings (van Riet Lowe 1945).