thought to follow its own story imprinted in plas- tic arts, images, and rock combined. The sequence of chambers, their distance from day- light, total obscurity, oppressive dampness, and low temperature condition are the soul for the reception of founding myths as to the justification of the group and the mysteries with which all conscious existence is confronted. The solutions were there, revealed as soothing, real with respect to the dangers of the path taken into the cave, and unreal with respect to the secrets of life, all com- bined in a dazzling of physical and spiritual senses. Gothic windows do nothing other than seduce in order to convince. And the temples of Science are even more suspect of soliciting, with their columns, tympanums, porticos and statues from Antiquity. The revelations contained in the depths of damp dark caves harnessed the suspended conscience, by adolescence as much as by the dangers overcome. But the solutions were there, in the trembling illumination on the damp walls with bright vivid colors. Their harmony, linked to the scale of forms, gigantic and dancing fig- ures, came literally out of the darkness and anguish. The revelation of the mysteries of exis- tence was accorded by the seduction stimulated by the rhythms, color, and strangeness. Paleo- lithic art, like man who overcame the challenges of earthly life, also contributes one of the culmi- nating points in the spiritual adventure of civilization. Cross-References ▶ European Upper Paleolithic Rock Art: Sacredness, Sanctity, and Symbolism Further Reading CLOTTES, J. 2008. L’art des cavernes pre ´historiques. Paris: Phaidon. LEROI-GOURHAN, A. 1965. Pre´histoire de l’art occidental. Paris: Mazenod. LORBLANCHET, M. 1995. Les grottes orne´es de la pre ´histoire. Nouveaux regards. Paris: Errance. Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art Georges Sauvet 1 , Cesar Gonza ´lez Sainz 2 , Jose ´ Luis Sanchidria ´n 3 and Valentı ´n Villaverde 4 1 Centre de Recherche et d’Etude de l’Art Pre ´historique, Universite ´ de Toulouse-II, Toulouse, France 2 Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehisto ´ricas de Cantabria (IIIPC), Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Spain 3 Area de Prehistoria, Departamento de Geografı ´a y Ciencias del Territorio, Facultad de Filosofı ´a y Letras, Universidad de Co ´rdoba, Co ´rdoba, Spain 4 Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueologı ´a, Universitat de Vale `ncia, Valencia, Spain Introduction In its broadest sense, the term prehistoric rock art covers the whole of graphic manifestations affixed by prehistoric humans on rock surfaces of all kinds. The surfaces can be rocks out in the open air, walls protected by shallow rockshelters, or deep cave walls in total dark- ness. For deep cave situations, the term “parietal art” is often used, but these two terms cover the same reality. The phenomenon is widespread throughout the world, as it meets the basic needs of preliterate human societies. In Europe, prehistoric rock art extends from northern Nor- way to Andalusia and covers more than 30,000 years, from the Upper Paleolithic to the Roman conquest. As a result, it responds to an infinite number of motivations depending on beliefs, systems of social organization, and types of sub- sistence economies. In formal terms, it uses a wide range of techniques (engraving, sculp- ture, finger strokes in clay, line drawings, mono- chrome or polychrome painting) and a wide range of styles (from figurative naturalist art to schematic and to geometric abstraction). Although the word art is sometimes criticized because of its contemporary connotation, it is difficult to escape the idea that the human groups Europe: Prehistoric Rock Art 2599 E E