Expert: John J. Shea - 2/3/2009

Question
QUESTION: Jochim's suggestion that there is a link between cave art and salmon exploitation in the Palaeolithic period rather confuses me. If, as he suggests, Paleolithic cave art is a territorial marker for fishing grounds (amongst other things), why doesn't the Palaeolithic cave art show larger representations of fish imagery?

ANSWER: Dear Wendy
It's not necessarily the case that the art depicts the food source.  In fact, I think Paul Bahn some years ago showed no relationship between frequencies of species represented in the art and species represented among faunal remains.  If point of fact, there are a few depictions of fish in caves (I have forgotten the name of the site, but it is right in Les Eyzies).  Most experts on UP cave art think the choice of species depicted probably originates with culture-specific symbol-meaning equations of the same arbitrary nature we use, e.g., red cross for medical care, human figures for toilets, Cardinal birds for football teams.  Bear in mind that these symbol-meaning equations can vary widely in the short-term today and that the UP cave art may reflect many such systems of symbol-meaning pairs.
FWIW:  I think Jochim is probably right about salmon exploitation and territoriality. It certainly is/was an issue for recent groups who depended on salmon in Europe and the Americas.  Salmon is a rich source of fat and one of the few such sources in arctic habitats that isn't likely to be able to kill you if you try to spear it.
Cheers,
John Shea

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Is it possible to have the name of the book by Paul Bahn so that I can follow up on that and may I cite your reply in an essay?
Many thanks
Wendy

Answer
Hi Wendy
I think this study is part of his book
Paul G. Bahn 1984 Pyrenean Prehistory.
I am not sure, though.  If you want to check, you might look in Bahn's more-recent book
Journey Through the Ice Age (2nd edition).
Alternatively, you could write him.  Paul is a well-known and very good science journalist (pgbahn@anlabyrd.karoo.co.uk).
Cheers,
John Shea