In a recent YouTube video, Primal Truth attempts to answer this question – with the click-bait title:
The Terrifying Reason Cave Art has no Faces
He presents several theories, all of them have been around for a long time, and none of them are “terrifying.”
It’s an interesting video nevertheless. All of the explanations presented are, to say the least, far-fetched.
I have a better one:
Stone-age humans wandered about in bands. These bands were loosely associated with each other for trade, mating and probably ritual gatherings of a spiritual nature.
A band, or perhaps only a few families, would occupy a cave seasonally and then move on – with the intention of returning to that same cave the next year.
Not all clan relations were cordial. Sometimes, they hated each other. They would often have different appearances, types of clothing or jewelry. This is how they could distinguish members of a friendly clan from members of an enemy clan from a distance.
Drawing portraits of yourself, or your fellow clan-members, on a cave wall would clearly identify that cave as belonging to your clan. Any enemy clan members why discovered that cave would not only take it over, destroy your art and nullify your magic, but they might also lay in wait for you upon your return. At that point, they’d kill you and steal your women.
Leaving human characters neutral would help reduce this risk. Enemy clan members who stumbled upon it would have no idea whether it belonged to a friendly clan (maybe their own) or to a hostile clan. Hence, they would not be inclined to destroy your magic, much less plan to ambush you upon your return. It might be a long wait, possibly for nothing.
The avoidance of human faces in cave art was about safety and survival. That’s my take on it, for what it’s worth.
