The management of space during the Paleolithic

This contribution addresses various aspects of the management of space (symbolism, style, art, sacrality, ritual as well as landscape, climate, protection, hunting and domestic activities) observed in ethnographic contexts and shows how they equally played a role in the Paleolithic. The spatial organization developed by an ethnic group within its environment reflects the dual relationship that it holds between itself as dwelling-place (inhabitation) and its place in nature (habitat). The range of potential solutions appears vast, yet limited, since the same range of variability observed in the past is comparable to what can be observed today across space. Such adaptive modes, in response to internal and external constraints, appear to have been completely mastered from the earliest periods, as if they were proper to humanity as a whole; they reflect functional mechanism.