Taught or Copied? Using 2-Mode Network Visualization to Distinguish between the Two

Summary

Traditional research on European Upper Paleolithic social networks rely on raw material sourcing as well as the distribution of similar "artistic" styles. This project aims to improve the methods of the latter. While similar representations found in different sites have often been assumed to represent the presence of social contacts between those sites, the possibility that such representations were exchanged or even simply copied without direct contact has always loomed over researchers’ head. In this research, I use an experiment to evaluate the retention of motor habits in the production of different designs, and demonstrate the potential of using 2-mode analysis of design and technique when studying art to differentiate between copied and taught designs. I then apply this method to portable art objects of the Cantabrian Magdalenian to shed light on the social networks that may have taken place during that period. These networks are compared to the ones identified solely through design to demonstrate the importance of considering technique when looking at cultural transmission.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20541