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The origin of art has been an enduring issue in archaeology since the nineteenth century with many contending theories. While we are not concerned here with the origins of simple image-making (images consisting of patterned scratches or minimal representations), we would like to propose that one important reason for the elaboration and widespread use of more labor intensive and complex images--especially those requiring considerable time, effort, and training--may be the need for impressive images by traditional secret societies. We document such elaborations ethnographically and point out the inherent reasons for investing in them by secret societies. Beginning with complex hunter/gatherers, secret societies had the motivations, the resources, and the psychological insights to develop sophisticated art and architecture, resulting in some of the most impressive displays in prehistory. We use the remarkable petroglyph site of Thorsen Creek in British Columbia as a prime case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most common tendencies of human settlements is for larger settlements to display higher population densities. Work in urban science and archaeology suggests that this densification pattern reflects an emergent spatial equilibrium where individuals balance movement costs with social interaction benefits, leading to increases in aggregate productivity and social interdependence. The temporary camps created by hunters and gatherers exhibit a tendency to become less dense with their population size. The different manner in which hunter-gatherer groups express their sociality in residential space suggests that they typically lack the social structures and material technologies necessary for humans to live at greater spatial densities in permanent settlements. Here we examine why this difference occurs and consider conditions under which hunter-gatherer groups may transition to sedentism and densification. We investigate the relationship between population and area in hunter-gatherer camps using a data set representing a large cross-cultural sample derived from the ethnographic literature. We present a model based on the interplay between social interactions and scalar stress that describes the observed patterns among mobile hunter-gatherers. We find that the transition to a densification scheme does not necessary involve domestic food production, only surpluses and storable resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Megan Kassabaum has developed a useful approach for interpreting feasting remains, but its application to the Feltus site demonstrates that modifications need to be made. In particular, the characterization of competitive feasting is too simplistic, and her model does not include work types of feasts, which may be responsible for the remains at the Feltus site. The interpretation of feasting at the Feltus site as resulting from social solidarity needs of a dispersed egalitarian society appear questionable on the basis of a high incidence of special meat, the occurrence of smoking pipes, monumental architecture, and indications of possible human sacrifices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]