Nonetheless the recording of events by means of the visual image has a much longer history The earliest creations of pictorial recording go as far back as the Upper Palaeolithic period of about 35000 years ago And although we cannot be sure of the exact purposes of the early cave paintings  whether they record the actual events of hunting whether they functioned as sympathetic magic to encourage the increase of animals for hunting whether they had a role as religious icons or if they were made simply to enliven and brighten domestic activities  pictorial images seem to be inextricably linked to human culture as we understand it