This review article summarizes some of the major research on ``paleolithic art'' since 1979, with the explicit intent of evaluating how this research has contributed to the search for the meaning of paleolithic art. The article reviews recent major publications and argues that the emphasis on the diversity of the materials and on their contexts is changing the scope and interpretive possibilities of ``paleolithic art.'' Particular attention is given to studies that have focused on aspects of the technologies that generated the imagery.