Did Cave Drawings Serve a Religious Function or Were They Merely Art Created for “Art’s Sake”?

When reading the chapter on Paleolithic Art and Religion you are presented with two theories about what purpose cave drawing served to the people that created them. The first was that it really served no practical function. It was just “art for art’s sake” as put in the chapter. This theory was written off by a new theory. This second theory explains how cave drawing actually served a religious function.

When thinking about the Paleolithic time it is hard for me to believe that humans would have done anything that was not of practical use to them in anyway. It is hardly unlikely that they would have spent time doing something that was not going to aid in their survival. Although humans have a creative side engraved in them during this point in time I feel that was not yet developed. The development of religion and the expression of religion in a physical way would have been extremely important and practical. Religion would have made more sense to have been developed first since at this point in human kind’s history I don’t think that we had yet reached the point where art was a normal way to express emotions. The showing of emotions during this point in time was most likely viewed as a weakness. Humans during this time were more focused on survival than anything else; their needs were raw and basic.  

The art that was created during this time did not seem to be replications of the human’s entire environments but rather it was drawings about different types of animals. Animals were essential to their survival because of all they supplied. Because the world during that time was such a harsh place to survive it would have made sense for humans to try and create a way that they could feel that they could control a part of this dangerous and random world. The creation of hunting magic with the drawings of certain animals with spear like objects through them is a way to control their environment, and must have been extremely functional to these people at this time. It would have given  them a sense of control which may have motivated them to go out and hunt and be optimistic about the outcome of their hunt. Religion is a way to live life, a way to create the illusion of some control in your life. I feel that cave drawings and the hunting magic is a perfect example. It depicts a certain ritual that was done that gave the illusion of control. I feel that religion is made up of beliefs that are of practical use to people and cave drawing and hunting magic were of pratical use to people during the paleolithic time.