Seeing in the Dark

The hunting magic theory sounded plausible and was widely adopted, but lost influence as the evidence collected. Researchers could determine the diets of encampments nearest the caves by analyzing the layers, and found the animals depicted had little correlation to the animals hunted. Many sites relied chiefly on reindeer herds for food, but pictures of reindeer were rare, while the horse and bison were the most common. Very few of the pictures actually had lines through them which might indicate spears or injuries. All the pictures of supposed missiles, weapons or blood could just as easily have other meanings. There were no actual scenes of humans hunting animals. Carnivores, which might be a problem and need to be killed, were rarely shown (Bahn 152). Bahn makes an interesting point - excavations of much later Roman sites show pottery decorated with wild species while bones indicate nearly all meat from domestic animals (157). The hunting magic theory "fitted in well with what people in Europe knew about witchcraft" (Lewis-Williams 47), but it was too simple to explain all the complex images.