Caves, Hands and Therianthropes. Methodological Notes for a Philosophy of Prehistoric Art

This paper addresses the philosophical problem of interpreting prehistoric rock art, whose original meanings remain largely inaccessible. After reconstructing the emergence of prehistoric art as an object of scientific inquiry and reviewing major interpretative hypotheses—magic, religion, social symbolism, and shamanism—the paper highlights the limits of approaches grounded exclusively in modern concepts and ethnographic analogies. Drawing on methodological insights from Giambattista Vico and John Dewey, it proposes a two-stage framework. The first stage integrates archaeology with cognitive sciences to reconstruct the biologically grounded cognitive and affective capacities involved in picture-making and aesthetic experience. The second stage develops cautious interpretative hypotheses through historical and ethnological analogies, while acknowledging cultural change and temporal discontinuity. This framework is illustrated through two case studies based on recent fieldwork: the hand stencils of the cave of Gargas, examined as examples of a recurring element of prehistoric rock art, and therianthropic figures in San rock art, analysed as expressions of human–animal continuity. The paper argues that philosophy can clarify both the possibilities and the limits of interpretation, contributing substantively to the study of the prehistory of art.