Introduction: Representing Extinction

In his remarkable study of the Upper Palaeolithic parietal art of Western Europe, The Mind in the Cave, David Lewis-Williams suggests that some imagery present in caves such as Chauvet and Lascaux was inspired by experiences of altered states of consciousness.¹ Emergence from such altered states can be accompanied by the appearance of afterimages, mental pictures that hang suspended in the field of vision for a minute or more. These images gradually lessen in intensity and clarity, slowly blending with the background of the surrounding visual field before ultimately disappearing. Lewis-Williams suggests that through their drawings and paintings, prehistoric people