From the Oxford Journal of Archaeology:

Religious beliefs are the basis of the origins of Palaeolithic art.

"Initially scientists saw this art as the way that the people of the Palaeolithic spent their free time, sculpting figurines or decorating their tools", Palacio points out. His investigation, published in the last edition of Oxford Journal of Archaeology, reveals the reasons for the move from this recreational-decorative interpretation of Palaeolithic art to different one of a religious and symbolic nature."

In a nutshell, scientists frequently mistake bias for fact, then grudgingly admit this deficiency, and suddenly discover that people have been people since the beginning.