ion indicated that the art was part of hunting rituals, but Marshack discovered more. Many of the so-called weapons had barbs in the wrong direction, and the designs actually resembled plants and leaf structures. He concluded that they were indeed plants. He also noted distinct seasonal patterns in the artwork.
These findings suggested that the drawings were not used for hunting magic, but were a more complex type of record of the relationship between humans and their environment. It showed a recognition of seasonal changes and the plants and animals asso-ciated with spring and autumn. It revealed a complexity of thought and abstract thinking beyond what had been assumed.
Similar discoveries about human images suggests that rather than mere fertility images, the images may have been used for record keeping. It appears that they may have been used by adult women to count or document menstrual cycles.
Marshack's findings suggest that the Cro Magnon culture was considerably more sophisticate
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