Palaeolithic cave art has been perceived since the discoveries of the paintings in Altamira cave as static representations, executed like modern pictures as a product of an irrevocable process. New conservation and documentation techniques combining conventional methods and computer aided diagnosis permit to unravel their creation.

In fact, Palaeolithic cave art is a complex field where, beyond the picture itself, the topography and structure of the grounding is an integral part of the artwork. A new and impartial approach documenting the Lascaux paintings going beyond conventional scientific schemes revealed surprisingly complex structures. Repeatedly adjustments of the initial layout have been made according to the topography of the cave wall, demonstrating that apparent distortions were a deliberate choice of the artist occurring during the execution of the painting, as these distortions were not intended in the original layout. Furthermore the superimpositions of paintings in many cases are not palimpsests originating by the simple reuse of the same surfaces. In many cases such overlappings were done during the same creative phase and were purposefully intended by the same artist(s). Considering these observations, it becomes clear that the Palaeolithic paintings in Lascaux are not static representations such as we today perceive painted artwork. On the contrary, the final stage of this art is the final product of a process including an initial situation that has been modified and more or less obliterated by the following stages of execution. The overlapping of the different stages was carefully chosen, either occluding them or leaving them deliberately visible as such. These observations clearly show, that the representations in many cave paintings comprise much more than the static representation of the specific object (i.e. animal) or its technical making but include a much more complex concept of that art. Many of these paintings obviously are complex processes running through different symbolic and technical stages until the finished product, being the synthesis of the whole cycle.

Until recently, such an approach to Palaeolithic rock art barely was considered in the scientific community. Instead of a static appreciation of these artworks a more dynamic picture emerges, giving these representations a completely different position in the history of art. Furthermore these multi-layered pictures permit a unique insight into the true symbolic world of Palaeolithic man.