Abstract:

The article considers the existing approaches to the problem of the origin of Paleolithic art as a special kind of activity of Homo sapiens, as well as its genesis in fossil species of Homo. The author turns to archaeological data and based on their systematic analysis concludes that the existing theoretical and methodological apparatus is inconsistent, as well as the general «archaeological» approach to studying the problem of the origin of fine art. A fundamentally new interdisciplinary approach using methods of cognitive neuroscience is proposed.

Keywords: Paleolithic art, cave painting, psychophilogenesis, paleoanthropology, cognitive neuroscience.