Proceeding from the information exchange theory of style, we argue tha
t the changing temporal and spatial distributions of mobile and pariet
al art in Paleolithic Europe are related aspects of a single evolution
ary process: alternating selective pressures differentially favoring t
he expression of assertive and emblemic style over the 30-7 kyr BP int
erval. These pressures result from demographic and social change acros
s the European subcontinent in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene
. We develop a model of cultural selection for symbolic behavior manif
est as art that proceeds from and parallels natural selection in neo-D
arwinian evolutionary theory.