624 



NATURE 



[February 3, 19 16 



PREHISTORIC ART A 



IN an advancing- science like anthropology, it is 

 well to take stock periodically of the material 

 which is so rapidly being- accumulated. Mr. 

 Parkyn in this book displays much industry in 

 studying the literature of the subject ; but his 

 work must not be taken to be the last word 



Marcel. Reindeer on schist. (Natural size.) From "An ItUroJuction to the Study 

 of Prehistoric Art." 



on the subject, nor does it supply an adequate 

 history of prehistoric art. His survey covers 

 an enormous period, from the Palaeolithic Age 

 down to that of Late Keltic ornament, and 

 the pressure on his space in dealing with 

 such a mass of material necessarily forbids de- 

 tailed investigation of evolu- 

 tion or aesthetics, while his 

 imperfect sense of style and 

 the desire to compress the 

 facts make his book hard 

 reading. At the same time, 

 it is well documented and 

 provided with a number of 

 good illustrations, some of 

 them in colour, and many 

 old friends, which will ren- 

 der it useful to the student if 

 he is prepared to treat it as 

 a " source " book. It may 

 be used with advantage as a 

 supplement to the "Ancient 

 Hunters," by Prof. Sollas, 

 who has described with not- 

 able success early man 

 from the physical and ethno- 

 graphical side. 



The account of the cave frescoes, which con- 

 stitutes the most valuable part of the book, opens 

 up a school of art our knowledge of which starts 

 from the discovery in 1879, by M. S. de Santuola, 



1 " An Introduction to the Study of Prehistoric Art." By E. A. Parkyn. 

 Pp. xviii + 349. (London : Longmans, Green and Co., 1915.) Price 10s. dd. 



of paintings in the now celebrated cave of Alta- 

 mira a Santilane, near Santander, in north-west 

 Spain. Since then numerous discoveries in the 

 Pyrenean and Dordogne regions and iri Spain 

 have largely added to our knowledge. They intro- 

 duce us to an art school, keen observers of the 

 animal life which surrounded the workers, and 

 possessed of admirable skill both ia 

 drawing and painting, Mr. Par- 

 kyn, except in a summary way, 

 does not discuss the many points of 

 interest suggested by these frescoes. 

 He believes that the art of sculpture 

 preceded those of engraving and 

 painting, but the materials at pre- 

 sent available seem to be insufficient 

 to indicate the seriation or course of 

 evolution of these phases of art pro- 

 duction. Another interesting fact is 

 that while the artists represent 

 animal forms with much skill and! 

 powers of observation, their delinea- 

 tions of the human form are little 

 better than caricatures, even if it be 

 admitted that some examples repre- 

 sent masked dancers. Again, as at 

 the cave of Combarelles, the paint- 

 ings occupy the walls, not of the 

 outer dwelling-place, but are found 

 in an interior gallery. These facts 

 have led to the theory that the fres- 

 coes adorned the walls of some kind 

 of shrine in which a form of animal oir 

 totemistic cult may have been carried on. The 

 human performers are regarded as subordinate to 

 this ritual, whatever form it may have taken, and 

 the object of the cult may have been to promote 

 the fertility of the fauna which supplied their food 



NO. 2414, VOL. 96] 



Fig. 2.— Cogul. Figures painted in black and 

 red, on rock surface. From "Anltntro- 

 duction to the Study of Prehistoric Art." 



or to act as a kind of magical performance to 

 ensure success in the chase. But all this is still 

 very uncertain, and we must await fuller know- 

 ledge. 



Another interesting point which might have 

 been discussed with more detail is the strange 



