Several aspects of the depiction of animals in rock art can be explained by certain perceptual correlates relating to the visual brain and evolutionary factors. Recent evidence from neuroscience and the visual brain not only corroborates this claim but provides important new findings that can help delineate which graphic features relate to biological/genetic criteria. In addition to highlighting how the insights from visual science and evolutionary studies can promote a greater understanding of the depictive strategies employed to portray animals, this paper will also explore ways in which the findings from these disciplines can be assimilated with semiotics that provide novel insights into the preference for depicting animals in a particular format over an extended period. The emphasis throughout is placed on dual-inheritance theory where culture and evolutionary determinants are seen as complementary. 1. Introduction It is becoming increasingly clear that the immense period during which animals were depicted in palaeoart, as well as their universality, is unable to be adequately accounted for by cultural factors [1–3]. The obvious similarity in the way animals were depicted across widely separated and divergent cultures suggests that the influence of more prevailing factors may be relevant. In this respect, animals can potentially be portrayed in a myriad of ways but were depicted in a relatively stereotyped fashion over long periods throughout the world. Moreover, recent research has shown cultural explanations need to be regarded with caution as it has been shown that spots applied to depicted Upper Palaeolithic horses, which were once believed to be shamanistic in origin, probably represent natural dapples [4, 5]. Moreover, the many distortions that typify depicted animal in rock art (see, e.g., Figure 1) can be reliably explained by perceptual and cognitive processes rather than cultural conventions [6]. These findings that provide further support to the notion Franco-Cantabrian depictions portrayed real animals produced by keen observers of fauna [2, 7–9]. Figure 1: Outline of a Rhinoceros from Chauvet Cave, France, up to 30,000-year old showing the sideways view in outline with prominent defining features exaggerated. The ears, however, appear to be based on a local convention. The necessity to rapidly detect and identify animals has consequences for understanding the preoccupation with animals and their portrayal in rock art. For example, this is predominantly in contour profile [2], which is a phenomenon that can be found in such diverse
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