The Paleolithic arts and culture assumes its significance from more studies conducted on the issue. Shea, John (441-450) argued that recently found stone artifacts of Middle Paleolithic occupations of Kebara Cave (Mount Carmel, Israel) depict that the Middle Paleolithic populations used technology-assisted hunting as the artifacts had clear representation and meanings regarding the use of tools and this use of tools was not limited to hominids. This suggests that the paintings, artifacts, and the cultural significance of carvings is more than usually thought by some researchers. The way of life that was prevalent in that era clearly impacted the artifacts. Further the cognitive development of human is also represented in the artifacts as these were drawn, carved, and developed by using same tools and technology materials used by those people.

Conclusion

The Paleolithic era people have produced many artifacts that have provoked an archeological controversy in the academic and research-based quarters of archeology. Some scholars such as Leroi-Gourhan and Lewis-Williams have tried to correct the techniques and meaning given to the artifacts of Paleolithic era. Others such as Halverson have taken a totally opposite approach to describe that no meanings and representations of deeper things, such as those related to mythical,...

The rational approach may be to take a middle course while developing an opinion about the significance of Paleolithic arts and culture by assuming that although the early artifacts may have been the outcome of random cognitive development of human mind in the Paleolithic era, the lateral development into the arts and culture was not without deeper meanings. The arts and culture of Paleolithic era have helped the subsequent cultures of the world. A synthesis approach that incorporates rational arguments of both positions may provide a plausible understanding of significant of Paleolithic era's arts and culture.
Works Cited

Halverson, John, et al. "Art for Art's Sake in the Paleolithic [and Comments and Reply]." Current Anthropology 28.1 (1987): 63-89.

Leroi-Gourhan, Andre. "The evolution of Paleolithic art." Scientific American 218 (1968): 58-70.

Lewis-Williams, J. David, et al. "The Signs of All Times: Entoptic Phenomena in Upper Paleolithic Art [and Comments and Reply]." Current Anthropology 29.2 (1988): 201-245.

Pfeiffer, J.E. (1985). The emergence of humankind (p. 38). New York: Harper & Row.

Shea, John J. "Spear points from the Middle Paleolithic of the Levant." Journal of Field Archaeology 15.4 (1988): 441-450.