“…Several cases have been observed where changes in figurativeness occurred in conjunction with contact between cultural groups, e.g. in Aboriginal art (Layton 1992b ; Morphy 1991 , 1998 ; Morphy and Layton 1981 ), Jewish art in medieval Germany (Shatzmiller 2013 ), Greco-Oriental art in the Hellenistic period (Versluys 2017 ) and Early Christian art in Syria (Verstegen 2012 ). Figure 1.…”
“…Several cases have been observed where changes in figurativeness occurred in conjunction with contact between cultural groups, e.g. in Aboriginal art (Layton 1992b ; Morphy 1991 , 1998 ; Morphy and Layton 1981 ), Jewish art in medieval Germany (Shatzmiller 2013 ), Greco-Oriental art in the Hellenistic period (Versluys 2017 ) and Early Christian art in Syria (Verstegen 2012 ). Figure 1.…”
“…In a previous experimental study, we showed that group contact can affect the figurativeness of pictorial representation, with isolated groups producing abstract stylized drawings and contact groups (those often in contact with other groups) producing figurative drawings in a graphical communication task (Granito et al, 2019 ). Several cases have also been observed historically in which changes in the figurativeness of pictorial representation occurred in conjunction with situations of contact between different cultural groups, suggesting the trend of a figurative shift (Layton, 1992b ; Morphy 1991 ; Morphy & Layton, 1981 ; Shatzmiller, 2013 ; Versluys, 2017 ; Verstegen, 2012 ).…”
Image-making is a nearly universal human behavior, yet the visual strategies and conventions to represent things in pictures vary greatly over time and space. In particular, pictorial styles can differ in their degree of figurativeness, varying from intersubjectively recognizable representations of things to very stylized and abstract forms. Are there any patterns to this variability, and what might its ecological causes be? Experimental studies have shown that demography and the structure of interaction of cultural groups can play a key role: the greater the degree of contact with other groups, the more recognizable and less abstract are the representations. Here we test this hypothesis on a real-world dataset for the first time. We constructed a balanced database of Indigenous Australian rock art motifs from both isolated and contact Aboriginal groups (those often in contact with other groups). We then ran a survey asking participants to judge the recognizability of the motifs and to provide interpretations. Results show that motifs from contact Aboriginal groups were more likely to be judged as inter-subjectively recognizable and also elicited more convergent descriptions than motifs from isolated groups. This is consistent with the idea that intergroup contact is likely to be an important factor in the cultural evolution of pictorial representation. We discuss the implications of these findings for the archaeology and anthropology of art, and the parallels with language evolution.
“…In particular, pictorial styles can greatly differ in their degrees of figurativeness, varying from largely inter-subjectively recognisable depictions of objects, people, animals and scenes, to very stylised and abstracted forms (see Figure 1). Several cases have been observed where changes in style figurativeness occurred in conjunction with contact between cultural groups (Layton, 1992b;Morphy, 1991Morphy, , 1998Morphy & Layton, 1981;Shatzmiller, 2013;Versluys, 2017;Verstegen, 2012). However, the empirical causality and generality of this relationship has not previously been tested in an experimental setting.…”
Pictorial representation is a key human behaviour. Cultures around the world have made images to convey information about living kinds, objects and ideas for at least 75,000 years, in forms as diverse as cave paintings, religious icons and emojis. However, styles of pictorial representation vary greatly between cultures and historical periods. In particular, they can differ in figurativeness, i.e. varying from detailed depictions of subjects to stylised abstract forms. Here we show that pictorial styles can be shaped by intergroup contact. We use data from experimental micro-societies to show that drawings produced by groups in contact tended to become more figurative and transparent to outsiders, whereas in isolated groups drawings tended to become abstract and opaque. These results indicate that intergroup contact is likely to be an important factor in the cultural evolution of pictorial representation, because the need to communicate with outsiders ensures that some figurativeness is retained over time. We discuss the implications of this finding for understanding the history and anthropology of art, and the parallels with sociolinguistics and language evolution.
IntroductionPictorial representations are ubiquitous in human culture. We find them in visual art, pictographic writing systems, road signs, graphic design, book illustrations, comics, and animations, just to mention a few examples (Drucker & McVarish, 2009;Harthan, 1997;Hockney & Gayford, 2016;Sabin, 2001). Pictorial representations are tangible expressions of ideas, mental models, and ways of understanding the world. They are highly versatile: they can visualise simple physical objects as well as very complex and abstract concepts and situations; as such, at the individual level, they are external cognitive tools that help elaborate, manipulate, store and retrieve ideas that would be difficult for the mind alone to handle, such as beliefs about supernatural agents (Mithen, 1998(Mithen, , 2004(Mithen, , 2009). Pictorial representations are also effective attention-catching devices, especially when depictive and decorative techniques enhance their aesthetic appeal (Donald, 2009;Gell, 1992). They are sometimes easier to remember than words (Madigan, 2014;Scaife & Rogers, 1996) and, unlike spoken words, they are durable material objects that can reach different audiences in different times and places, and thereby influence minds and guide behaviours (Donald, 2006;Gell, 1998). At the 2 social level, pictorial representations are an effective tool of social coordination, a powerful means to disseminate ideas within a community, transmit them from generation to generation, and create shared worldviews; this makes them ideal vehicles to disseminate ideologies, both religious and secular (Collins, 2016;Donald, 2009;Mithen, 2009). Humans have made use of pictorial representations since before the Upper Palaeolithic (Bahn, 2016;Henshilwood et al., 2002), and image-making is likely to have played an important role in the evolution of human cognition an...
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