# David Lewis-Williams [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lewis-Williams) ( b. 1934 ) ## Description South African archaeologist whose neuropsychological model of San rock art — connecting its imagery to shamanic trance states and the "entoptic" light-form hallucinations generated by the human nervous system itself — reframed rock art research and became widely cited outside archaeology in studies of altered states, vision, and image-making. ## Key Tags #entoptic #vision #psychedelic #form-constants ## Essential Works - Lewis-Williams, J.D., and T.A. Dowson. "The Signs of All Times: Entoptic Phenomena in Upper Palaeolithic Art." *Current Anthropology* 29, no. 2 (1988). - introduces the entoptic/neuropsychological model to Palaeolithic and San rock art research [JSTOR](https://www-jstor-org.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/stable/2743395?seq=1) - *The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art*. Thames & Hudson, 2002. - extends the neuropsychological model into a general theory of the origins of image-making ## Details Building on [[Heinrich Klüver]]'s earlier laboratory research on the geometric "form constants" generated by the nervous system under altered states, Lewis-Williams and Dowson argued that a recurring set of geometric motifs in San and Upper Palaeolithic rock art derives from entoptic phenomena experienced during shamanic trance, and that image-making itself may be tied to the neurology of altered consciousness rather than purely to representation or symbolism. ### Concepts and Theories - [[Flicker and Entoptics]] - his entoptic/neuropsychological model of rock art is a foundational reference point for this concept - [[Symbolism, Theology, and Occultism]] - links rock-art imagery to shamanic trance and ritual practice - [[Transpersonal and Consciousness Studies]] - *The Mind in the Cave* extends entoptic theory into a general account of consciousness and the origins of art ### Creative and Technical Practices %% none yet %% ### Collaborators - [[Heinrich Klüver]] - his entoptic model builds directly on Klüver's earlier research on the "form constants" of altered visual perception - T.A. Dowson - co-author of "The Signs of All Times" (1988); no page yet in this vault ### Institutional Affiliations and Associated Movements - University of the Witwatersrand - longtime faculty base; founded the Rock Art Research Institute ## References ### Primary Sources Bibliography Lewis-Williams, J.D., and T.A. Dowson. "The Signs of All Times: Entoptic Phenomena in Upper Palaeolithic Art." *Current Anthropology* 29, no. 2 (1988). [link](https://www-jstor-org.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/stable/2743395?seq=1) ### Secondary Sources Bibliography %% none yet %%