That an abrupt expansion of human consciousness occurred toward the close of the last glacial age, some 30,000 years ago, is evident in the appearance at that time in southwestern France and northern Spain of the earliest known works of visual art—both the rock paintings of the vast temple caves of the men's hunting ceremonials, and the numerous nude female figurines that have been found associated chiefly with dwelling sites (see I.1:58-79). (Foreword)

That a fundamental transformation of human consciousness occurred toward the close of the last great glacial age, some 40,000 years ago, is evident in the sudden appearances in Europe at about that time of the two symbolic visual arts of rock painting and stone sculpture; respectively, in the painted temple caves of the men's hunting rites and in the "Venus" figurines and reliefs associated both with dwelling sites and with sanctuaries in veneration of the female power (see Vol. I.1: pages 58-79).