Interesting theory.
I’ve always suspected it was usually the shaman or the equivalent doing the paintings, Otherwise 80% of the rocks out west would be decorated. With as many people that lived in various continents over the millennia, if anyone who wanted to tried to do a rock drawing or three how many bare rocks would we see?
Pick a society. Greek, Roman, Viking, Spanish...how many people have lived there over he past 10,000 years? Millions? Hundreds of millions?
How many bare rocks would you see anywhere if everyone, over the past 10,000 years, just like we do today tried to decorate the walls?
I don’t see it. Similar to the Native American cultures, I think it was most likely the Shaman or Priest, whatever designation was used, who was responsible for rock art, whatever it’s quality.
The one exception I think may be places like the Egyptian tombs and such, those were more likely done by hired artists.
This one is similar to many in the American West. I would place it in the shaman category. This would probably be the location of the meeting, and this is the ancient equivalent of the historical markers on our highways. But much more revered at that time.
Why must all cave and rock drawings always have some ‘religious significance’ attached to them? Will future archaeologists see our graffiti street artists as shaman or religious artists when digging up NYC ruins?
Mexican and other American Latino cultures have used murals an wall paintings for centuries, some with religious meaning, but by no means all.
Hobos of the American Depression era left marks for their brethren on the road to indicate danger or free meals or safe abode places.
Military men of all ages have left marks on local geography for references and as a way of saying “Kilroy was here” even in Roman times and before.
In the movie “Castaway” starring Tom Hanks, a true story of a guy lost on an island in the Pacific, he made an analemma on the cave wall using the sunlight shining thru a hole, to use as a calendar. Will some future archaeologist discover this cave long after the movie has been forgotten in the ashes of history and see some astronomical religious significance like Stonehenge?
There are many reasons why people have left their marks on caves and rocks over the millenia but I doubt that they all have any religious basis. I’d imagine a lot of them may just be for decoration......................