| This study uses the circulation of exotic lithic raw materials, items of personal ornamentation, and portable decorated objects to investigate the nature and extent of hunter-gatherer social interactions across six countries in Western Europe during the Late Glacial Magdalenian period (ca. 17,000--11,000 uncalibrated BP). Specifically, it evaluates whether population density, represented by site density, was correlated with intensity of visual display and use of individual versus group signaling. The study is informed by a combination of theoretical perspectives, including "social identification via comparison" and "costly signaling", as well as by ethnographic data on hunter-gatherer object circulation and visual display.; Included are 509 sites located in Cantabrian Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Sites are assigned to one of three Magdalenian phases---Lower (ca. 17,000--14,500 BP), Middle (ca. 14,500--13,000 BP), or Upper (ca. 13,000--11,000 BP). Microsoft Access and Manifold Geographic Information System 5.0 are used to organize and display the relevant data, and to create maps showing the distribution of sites, raw material sources, and artifacts.; It was expected that regions with low population density would have low levels of visual signaling, with an emphasis on individual displays, while regions with high population density would demonstrate high levels of visual signaling, and an emphasis on group displays. Different kinds of analyses are performed on each of the object categories, for each Magdalenian phase, with the results examined individually and collectively.; Expectations for the relationship between population density and visual display are inconsistently met, so it is suggested that time since colonization, more than population density alone, may influence object circulation and visual signaling. Accordingly, a three-phase model for the use of visual display is offered. Based on the model and on current interpretations of variability in degree of hunter-gatherer egalitarianism, it is suggested that the Magdalenian of Western Europe was a mix of societies that (1) enforced social equality, (2) allowed for achieved inequality, or (3) developed institutionalized social hierarchy. In conclusion, future avenues of investigation are suggested for studying the relationships among length of habitation, population density, resource structure, and use of object circulation and visual display. |
