ILLUSIONS OF PREHISTORIC REALITY: THE VISUAL EFFECTS ON PALEOLITHIC ART

Abstract

This article is an attempt to delve into the perceptual foundations of Paleolithic graphic creativity. To
do this we look into the perceptions of hominids, the role that some visual effects of nature such as
shadow and brightness have been able to assume in the creation of the prehistoric imaginary. All of
this seems to point to the creation of an imaginary of the real or a way of knowledge of things in which
the spirit is shown as a fundamental category of human knowledge. Without this force that animates
things, the study of nature becomes as tasteless as the skeleton of a stranded whale on the coast.