Seán Burke

So the firelight's sort of dancing across the walls, lighting up these unusual stalagmites and stalactites and undulating surfaces. And we might even tactically engage with the space around us, feel the sort of smooth flowstone or the rough surfaces of the cave wall.

Wow.

Wow.

So all of these sensory experiences would have been embedded in the making and experience of this art. And recently in archaeology, we've been appreciating these sensory experiences in what's kind of a sensory turn in our interpretation.

So all of these sensory experiences would have been embedded in the making and experience of this art. And recently in archaeology, we've been appreciating these sensory experiences in what's kind of a sensory turn in our interpretation.

So we're trying to appreciate how these different dynamics, the acoustics, the firelight, the tactile interactions would have enriched the art that they're making. And for me, especially firelight is really an amazing way of imagining this art in a new light. So I didn't intend to have a pun there. So this unpredictable light source is probably kind of animating the art in some way.

So we're trying to appreciate how these different dynamics, the acoustics, the firelight, the tactile interactions would have enriched the art that they're making. And for me, especially firelight is really an amazing way of imagining this art in a new light. So I didn't intend to have a pun there. So this unpredictable light source is probably kind of animating the art in some way.

If we look back on the panel of the lions here, we can imagine as the flickering light is dancing across this. We see one lion and then the next and it creates this sort of animation effect to the art. And this warm light also makes us feel more sociable, comfortable as well. So all of this is really, like, enriching this experience of the art and the art making.

If we look back on the panel of the lions here, we can imagine as the flickering light is dancing across this. We see one lion and then the next and it creates this sort of animation effect to the art. And this warm light also makes us feel more sociable, comfortable as well. So all of this is really, like, enriching this experience of the art and the art making.

So pareidolia is a psychological phenomenon of seeing meaningful forms in random patterns. And this is something that everyone experiences. So it's that phenomenon of if you look at a cloud and you see it looking like a face or a rabbit or a dog or whatever, that's all pareidolia. What some of my research has focused on is trying to understand how pareidolia influenced the making of cave art.

So pareidolia is a psychological phenomenon of seeing meaningful forms in random patterns. And this is something that everyone experiences. So it's that phenomenon of if you look at a cloud and you see it looking like a face or a rabbit or a dog or whatever, that's all pareidolia. What some of my research has focused on is trying to understand how pareidolia influenced the making of cave art.

So we think that maybe the flickering sort of firelight enriched this experience of pareidolia and then they're drawing sort of what they're seeing on the cave wall.

So we think that maybe the flickering sort of firelight enriched this experience of pareidolia and then they're drawing sort of what they're seeing on the cave wall.

That's all pareidolia.

That's all pareidolia.

Yes.

Yes.

Yeah, kind of. So we experience a lot of face pareidolia. So we see faces everywhere. But if you imagine that you're a hunter-gatherer living in the Paleolithic, you're not encountering many other humans. They're living in quite sparse populations. But what you are focusing your attention on is animals. So you're tracking migrating herds across the landscape. You have to be attuned to sort of

Yeah, kind of. So we experience a lot of face pareidolia. So we see faces everywhere. But if you imagine that you're a hunter-gatherer living in the Paleolithic, you're not encountering many other humans. They're living in quite sparse populations. But what you are focusing your attention on is animals. So you're tracking migrating herds across the landscape. You have to be attuned to sort of

If a bison is going to leap out and attack you or something, you have to really be paying attention to these subtle visual cues of animals. So my little pet theory is then where we see faces all the time, they're seeing animals all the time. And that might account for why animals are such a dominant theme in Paleolithic art.