I have proposed that the animals form pairs of pairs (quaternions, fourfold, or sixfold) that are complementary and thus have the capacity to constitute a multileveled symbolic system or encyclopedia of cultural knowledge. A fourfold (or eightfold) pattern is perhaps first detectable in the European Aurignacian, e.g., Chauvet Cave, pairing bison vs. horse; mammoth vs. rhino; ibex vs. deer; and lion vs. bear. The European Magdalenian comprises a more crystallized system, with a primary pairing of bison (aurochs) vs. horse; and a secondary pairing of deer vs. ibex. This system has the capacity to serve as a mnemonic device that encodes key zoological, social, economic, and psychological information ('memes'), including the basic moral themes described by Chris Knight [(1991). Blood relations: Menstruation and the origins of culture . New Haven, CT: Yale].

The 'shamanic' interpretation of UP art does not preclude the view, following A. Leroi-Gourhan and others, that the animals depicted in this art are symbols in a complex and sophisticated code. As in the case of the geometric signs, they are iconographic, belong to a system of juxtapositions and pairings, and have multilevels of signification.

Drawing upon my proposed decipherment of UP geometric signs, I have proposed that the so-called 'Venus' figurines from Eurasian sites, as well as many other anthropomorphic figures, represent and encode a female and male spiritual transformation processes. These appear to parallel some of the shamanic trance postures identified by the anthropologist Felicitas Goodman.

The latest approach to interpretation of UP art is to view it as depicting 'geometric percepts or phosphenes' and associated cultural interpretations of trance (altered states of consciousness). [See. e.g., J. Clottes and Lewis-Williams, D. (1996). The shamans of prehistory: Trance and magic in the painted caves . NY: Abrams]. Of course, as noted by the authors and others, the art is more complex and multileveled than this.

Palaeoart Representation Mode : Drawing on the palaeoart heritage of our Early and Middle Paleolithic ancestors, Homo sapiens sapiens sites show earliest evidence of representational rock painting, which appears on all continents around 50,000 years ago. (This date however may only be an accident of taphonomy, actual rock painting is probably much older.) Publications on 'rock art' paintings and engravings and portable art, especially of UP Europe, are voluminous and well-known. An excellent overview is given in Paul Bahn and Jean Vertut [(1997). Journey through the ice age . Berkeley, CA: University of California].