ABSTRACT
Space and discourse belong to the fundamental experiences of the human existence: We can exist only in space, and discourse, the most complex form of communication, is that which distinguishes us from all other animals. The significance of space can be analysed reliably owing to the property of rock pictures being highly visible artefacts that have not changed their relation to the surroundings since they were made. By contrast, discourses are ephemeral, and hypotheses as to their character can be put forth only by modelling past social bodies with their activities and behaviour. Under this perspective, rock pictures, in their capability of linking space and discourse, map onto the landscape the signs of meaningful social interaction, identities, and behaviour thus enabling the partial reconstructing of the mental map of the prehistoric painters and with it their feeling of being-in-the-world.
