Debate
On this page I will be addressing issues and recent research relating to the relationship between the suggestive natural features of palaeoart and the propensity of the human brain to project images onto the world.
On this page I will be addressing issues and recent research relating to the relationship between the suggestive natural features of palaeoart and the propensity of the human brain to project images onto the world.
Recently pareidolia has begun to be taken seriously as a way of interpreting Upper Palaeolithic art. However, most archaeologists remain somewhat suspicious of this approach due to the psychological nature of the phenomenon which, to some extent, is understandable as archaeologists prefer to base their theories on the solid evidence of the material record. One of the aims of the present page is therefore to provide evidence from neuroscience and perceptual psychology as to the relevance of pareidolia and, by extension, projective hyperimages to the subject.
Recently pareidolia has begun to be taken seriously as a way of interpreting Upper Palaeolithic art. However, most archaeologists remain somewhat suspicious of this approach due to the psychological nature of the phenomenon which, to some extent, is understandable as archaeologists prefer to base their theories on the solid evidence of the material record. One of the aims of the present page is therefore to provide evidence from neuroscience and perceptual psychology as to the relevance of pareidolia and, by extension, projective hyperimages to the subject.
I first brought up pareidolia in relation to projective visual imagery in a series of papers dating from 2003 onwards (see references at the bottom of the Homepage). Since then, a number of scholars have taken up the subject as a way of understanding rock art. However, scholars continue to conflate pareidolia with implicit perceptual priming that engages covert visual memory that I later referred to as "hyperimages". In pareidolia a host of different objects can potentially be summoned up in the mind's eye but, as Upper Palaeolithic art is almost exclusively concerned with the depiction of animals in a typical way over thousands of years, this suggests particular constraints or biases of the perceptual system constitutes the main determining factor.
I first brought up pareidolia in relation to projective visual imagery in a series of papers dating from 2003 onwards (see references at the bottom of the Homepage). Since then, a number of scholars have taken up the subject as a way of understanding rock art. However, scholars continue to conflate pareidolia with implicit perceptual priming that engages covert visual memory that I later referred to as "hyperimages". In pareidolia a host of different objects can potentially be summoned up in the mind's eye but, as Upper Palaeolithic art is almost exclusively concerned with the depiction of animals in a typical way over thousands of years, this suggests particular constraints or biases of the perceptual system constitutes the main determining factor.
27th July 2018
27th July 2018
A paper (Voss et al 2012) on how visual memory functions shows that implicit processes have a much greater effect on conditioning explicit memory than previously thought. This finding supports and reinforces the importance of implicit processes as a determining factor in cave art that I previously outlined as crucial (see Hodgson, 2003 'Seeing the "Unseen" on opening page) especially with regard to priming effects caused by the natural cave formations suggestive of animals.
A paper (Voss et al 2012) on how visual memory functions shows that implicit processes have a much greater effect on conditioning explicit memory than previously thought. This finding supports and reinforces the importance of implicit processes as a determining factor in cave art that I previously outlined as crucial (see Hodgson, 2003 'Seeing the "Unseen" on opening page) especially with regard to priming effects caused by the natural cave formations suggestive of animals.
Voss, J. L., Lucas, H. D. and Paller, K. A. 2012. More than a feeling: Pervasive influences of memory without awareness of retrieval. Cognitive Neuroscience. 3 (3–4): 193–226.
Voss, J. L., Lucas, H. D. and Paller, K. A. 2012. More than a feeling: Pervasive influences of memory without awareness of retrieval. Cognitive Neuroscience. 3 (3–4): 193–226.
6th August 2018
6th August 2018
I recently published a paper with a colleague (Paul Pettitt) in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal highlighting the importance of visual imagery (hyperimages), suggestive natural features and a hunting lifestyle in producing the first figurative depictions. The critical role of priming is also explored in this paper. We make the point that the suggestive natural features served as proxy camouflage that simulated the camouflage that Upper Palaeolithic hunters had to contend with on hunting forays. That correspondence may have induced the cave artists to fix the images of animals as seen emerging from the proxy camouflage of the walls.
I recently published a paper with a colleague (Paul Pettitt) in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal highlighting the importance of visual imagery (hyperimages), suggestive natural features and a hunting lifestyle in producing the first figurative depictions. The critical role of priming is also explored in this paper. We make the point that the suggestive natural features served as proxy camouflage that simulated the camouflage that Upper Palaeolithic hunters had to contend with on hunting forays. That correspondence may have induced the cave artists to fix the images of animals as seen emerging from the proxy camouflage of the walls.
Hodgson, D. and Pettitt, P. 2018. The origins of iconic depictions: a falsifiable model derived from the visual science of Palaeolithic cave art and world rock art. Cambridge Archaeological Journal. 1-22. doi: org/10.1017/S0959774318000227
Hodgson, D. and Pettitt, P. 2018. The origins of iconic depictions: a falsifiable model derived from the visual science of Palaeolithic cave art and world rock art. Cambridge Archaeological Journal. 1-22. doi: org/10.1017/S0959774318000227
20th November 2020
20th November 2020
An article in Rock Art Research demonstrates how the concept of hyperimages has been useful in finding and interpreting rock art from Amazonia. In this case, the subject is the human face. Similar to animals. faces are another specialised region of the brain. The phenomenon can be seen in the two following images.
An article in Rock Art Research demonstrates how the concept of hyperimages has been useful in finding and interpreting rock art from Amazonia. In this case, the subject is the human face. Similar to animals. faces are another specialised region of the brain. The phenomenon can be seen in the two following images.
Complex arrangement of head motifs presenting the combination of natural features, like holes and cracks, and petroglyph grooves and cupules delineating contour and facial traces. Pitanga site, Prainha, Pará State. Photo RV 2013. From, Figure 4., Valle et al. 2018. WHAT IS ANTHROPOGENIC? ON THE CULTURAL AETIOLOGY OF GEO-SITUATED VISUAL IMAGERY IN INDIGENOUS AMAZONIA Rock Art Research - Volume 35, Number 2, pp. 123-144. (Thanks to R. Valle for permission to reproduce this figure and the one below from the same paper).
Complex arrangement of head motifs presenting the combination of natural features, like holes and cracks, and petroglyph grooves and cupules delineating contour and facial traces. Pitanga site, Prainha, Pará State. Photo RV 2013. From, Figure 4., Valle et al. 2018. WHAT IS ANTHROPOGENIC? ON THE CULTURAL AETIOLOGY OF GEO-SITUATED VISUAL IMAGERY IN INDIGENOUS AMAZONIA Rock Art Research - Volume 35, Number 2, pp. 123-144. (Thanks to R. Valle for permission to reproduce this figure and the one below from the same paper).
Figure 5 from Valle et al., Rock Art Research 2018, showing detail of the above image.
Figure 5 from Valle et al., Rock Art Research 2018, showing detail of the above image.
What is interesting about this image is that in Upper Palaeolithic art faces are avoided, which begs the question as to why this is the case. One answer could be that during the Palaeolithic animals were such a dominant feature of everyday life that they overshadowed a concern for human features. It may also be the case that human agency is to be found in the actual animals themselves e.g., some of the animals seem to have human-like expressions. In fact a recent brain imaging study found that the human brain is particularly sensitive and is particularly rapid and seeing faces in objects, as a recent brain imaging study demonstrates.
What is interesting about this image is that in Upper Palaeolithic art faces are avoided, which begs the question as to why this is the case. One answer could be that during the Palaeolithic animals were such a dominant feature of everyday life that they overshadowed a concern for human features. It may also be the case that human agency is to be found in the actual animals themselves e.g., some of the animals seem to have human-like expressions. In fact a recent brain imaging study found that the human brain is particularly sensitive and is particularly rapid and seeing faces in objects, as a recent brain imaging study demonstrates.
Brain areas specialising in perceiving faces (top) and brain areas implicated in face pareidolia (bottom). Note how the two areas are similarly activated and face pareidolia is activated at an early stage of the visual processing stream. From, Figure 3 in, Wardle, S.G., Taubert, J., Teichmann, L. et al. Rapid and dynamic processing of face pareidolia in the human brain. Nat Commun 11, 4518 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18325-8
Brain areas specialising in perceiving faces (top) and brain areas implicated in face pareidolia (bottom). Note how the two areas are similarly activated and face pareidolia is activated at an early stage of the visual processing stream. From, Figure 3 in, Wardle, S.G., Taubert, J., Teichmann, L. et al. Rapid and dynamic processing of face pareidolia in the human brain. Nat Commun 11, 4518 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18325-8
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License,
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License,
Interestingly, a corresponding eye tracking study found that nonhuman primates are also prone to pareidolia of faces, which demonstrates the deep evolutionary basis of the phenomenon, though I would surmise that there are significant differences that underlies the human proclivity for the phenomenon.
Interestingly, a corresponding eye tracking study found that nonhuman primates are also prone to pareidolia of faces, which demonstrates the deep evolutionary basis of the phenomenon, though I would surmise that there are significant differences that underlies the human proclivity for the phenomenon.
See, Taubert et al., 2017. Face Pareidolia in the Rhesus Monkey. Current Biology. 27, 2505–2509.
See, Taubert et al., 2017. Face Pareidolia in the Rhesus Monkey. Current Biology. 27, 2505–2509.
December 27th 2020
December 27th 2020
I recently came across a study I had not seen before that provides further support for the tendency of ancestral hunter-gatherers to spontaneously see the profiles of animals triggered by hyperimages and the suggestive natural outlines of the cave walls. The study found that those who experienced an enhanced level of thirst were more likely to interpret ambiguous stimuli as transparent (a salient perceptual property of water). As the authors state: "We found that thirsty subjects have a greater tendency to perceive transparency in ambiguous stimuli, revealing an ecologically appropriate modulation of the visual system by a basic appetitive motive." Thus, in the same way as ancestral hunter-gathers may have experienced hunger or were wary of animals, their perceptual system would have been similarly prone to see animal forms in ambiguous stimuli.
I recently came across a study I had not seen before that provides further support for the tendency of ancestral hunter-gatherers to spontaneously see the profiles of animals triggered by hyperimages and the suggestive natural outlines of the cave walls. The study found that those who experienced an enhanced level of thirst were more likely to interpret ambiguous stimuli as transparent (a salient perceptual property of water). As the authors state: "We found that thirsty subjects have a greater tendency to perceive transparency in ambiguous stimuli, revealing an ecologically appropriate modulation of the visual system by a basic appetitive motive." Thus, in the same way as ancestral hunter-gathers may have experienced hunger or were wary of animals, their perceptual system would have been similarly prone to see animal forms in ambiguous stimuli.
See: Mark A Changizi, M. A. and Hall, W. G. 2001. Thirst modulates a perception. Perception. 30: 1489 -1497.
See: Mark A Changizi, M. A. and Hall, W. G. 2001. Thirst modulates a perception. Perception. 30: 1489 -1497.
April 5th 2021
April 5th 2021
With regard to how pervasiveness of the propensity to see animal outlines in suggestive natural features is, Huyge (2008) found that the animal contours depicted on rock outcrops along the Nile in Egypt dating up to 15,000 years ago, which are strikingly similar to the depictions of animals in Upper Palaeolithic Europe, include many natural features. This illustrates that the projective propensity of the visual cortex occurs as much in outdoor sites as it does in caves. As stated by Huyge et al. states: "often natural features, such as the relief of the rock surface and/or fissures in the surface, have been integrated into images. One typical example of this is a large bovid at QII, where a (only slightly modified) natural vertical crack in the rock surface has been used to render/suggest the back part of the animal.
With regard to how pervasiveness of the propensity to see animal outlines in suggestive natural features is, Huyge (2008) found that the animal contours depicted on rock outcrops along the Nile in Egypt dating up to 15,000 years ago, which are strikingly similar to the depictions of animals in Upper Palaeolithic Europe, include many natural features. This illustrates that the projective propensity of the visual cortex occurs as much in outdoor sites as it does in caves. As stated by Huyge et al. states: "often natural features, such as the relief of the rock surface and/or fissures in the surface, have been integrated into images. One typical example of this is a large bovid at QII, where a (only slightly modified) natural vertical crack in the rock surface has been used to render/suggest the back part of the animal.
Huyge, D. 2008. Côa in Africa: Late Pleistocene Rock Art along The Egyptian Nile. International Newsletter on Rock Art (INORA). 51:1-7. http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/inora/ pdf/51.pd
Huyge, D. 2008. Côa in Africa: Late Pleistocene Rock Art along The Egyptian Nile. International Newsletter on Rock Art (INORA). 51:1-7. http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/inora/ pdf/51.pd
August 4th 2022
August 4th 2022
I came across an interesting study by Pinto et al (2015) regarding the way expectations cause the human visual system to detect objects when individuals are given a cue beforehand. In the words of the authors "expected visual stimuli gain access to consciousness more rapidly than either neutral or unexpected stimuli." This finding provides further empirical support for the visual dynamic theory of cave art in that, on entering the dark, provactive caves, hunter gatherers' expectations of perceiving animals were raised to the extent that the likelihood of seeing animals in the suggestive liminal rock surfaces would have been enhanced.
I came across an interesting study by Pinto et al (2015) regarding the way expectations cause the human visual system to detect objects when individuals are given a cue beforehand. In the words of the authors "expected visual stimuli gain access to consciousness more rapidly than either neutral or unexpected stimuli." This finding provides further empirical support for the visual dynamic theory of cave art in that, on entering the dark, provactive caves, hunter gatherers' expectations of perceiving animals were raised to the extent that the likelihood of seeing animals in the suggestive liminal rock surfaces would have been enhanced.
Pinto, Y., S, van Gaal, F, P. de Lange, V. A. F. Lamme, A. K. Seth. 2015. Expectations accelerate entry of visual stimuli into awareness. Journal of Vision. 15(8):13. doi: https://doi.org/10.1167/15.8.13.
Pinto, Y., S, van Gaal, F, P. de Lange, V. A. F. Lamme, A. K. Seth. 2015. Expectations accelerate entry of visual stimuli into awareness. Journal of Vision. 15(8):13. doi: https://doi.org/10.1167/15.8.13.