Painted in red: In search of alternative explanations for European Palaeolithic cave art

Therefore, an identifiable part of the red marks so common in Palaeolithic cave art (and which could therefore not be considered as art sensu stricto) seems to be produced involuntarily. This could be related with the customs of the Palaeolithic groups attested by the archaeological record, as the frequentation of the innermost areas in the caves or as the decoration their bodies with ochre-based paint.