THINKING ABOUT 'STYLE' IN THE 'POST-STYLISTIC ERA': RECONSTRUCTING THE STYLISTIC CONTEXT OF CHAUVET

Summary.   Over the past decade, new radiocarbon dating from several art caves has conflicted with the traditional stylistic sequence of Palaeolithic art. Using Chauvet as a paradigm, some archaeologists have suggested that stylistic approaches to Palaeolithic art should be rejected in favour of more sophisticated methods, such as AMS radiocarbon dating. Contrary to this proposal, we suggest that the high antiquity of the Chauvet paintings (dated to c .32,000 years BP) does not necessarily imply the end of all stylistic approaches to Palaeolithic art. Taking the recent discoveries (2003) at the site of Hohle Fels and the attribution of the Palaeolithic engravings of the cave of l'Aldène to the Aurignacian (2005) into account, we suggest that the Chauvet paintings can be placed within an Aurignacian stylistic context. Throughout this analysis, we propose some critical thoughts on the concept of 'style' and discuss some ways in which stylistic approaches can be used to improve our knowledge of Palaeolithic art.