The Mind in the Cave, David Lewis-Williams' 2002 study from Thames and Hudson, argues Upper Paleolithic cave art reflects trance states, drawing on ethnographic parallels with San rock art in southern Africa the author researched directly himself. Its strength is grounding in decades of the author's own fieldwork rather than armchair speculation. Its limit is that the neuropsychological model behind it is contested among archaeologists; this atlas cites the book for the documented art and the argument's existence, not as settled fact about what Paleolithic people believed.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier2
David Lewis-Williams' The Mind in the Cave, published by Thames and Hudson in 2002, the middle tier reflecting grounding in decades of the author's own San rock art fieldwork, weighed against the fact that the neuropsychological trance model behind the book is contested among archaeologists; cited for the documented art and the argument's existence, not as settled fact. NotesScholarly study of Paleolithic cave art and the origins of human symbolic consciousness, Thames and Hudson, 2002.
Citation
AuthorDavid Lewis-Williams
PublisherThames and Hudson
Publication Year2002
Source TypeScholarly work
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Africa directly: "with San rock art in southern Africa the author researched directly himself."
Claims Backed By This Source (11 claims)
This source backs 11 claims across the atlas. As facts: 9 well-attested. As cited relationships: 1 holds. Plus 1 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 8 claims: 7 well-attested, 1 holds.
- Articles, 2 claims: 2 well-attested.
- Sacred Sites, 1 claims: 1 general references.
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