One of the outcomes of my research on transegalitarian societies has been a growing awareness of the important role that secret societies play in the creation of socioeconomic inequalities and political centralization. Since strong arguments can be advanced that many Upper Paleolithic societies in Southwest Europe were transegalitarian societies with significant inequalities, I, together with D'Ann Owens, began to explore the possible implications of transegalitarian dynamics for the interpretations of Upper Paleolithic painted caves. Specifically, we concluded that these painted caves most likely were used for the most costly and high level secret society initiations and ceremonies. Our research was based on theoretical considerations and available information in the literature (see Owens and Hayden 1997). In 2001, Suzanne Villeneuve and I began to extend this research. We wanted to deal with the direct analysis of the physical viewing contexts and other key attributes of cave art images in three caves located in Southwestern France in order to evaluate the notion that caves might have been used for secret society rituals as opposed to individual shamanistic experiences, hunting magic, or tribal initiations. To date, the new questions that we have asked, the new methodologies that we have developed, and the new types of data gathered have provided very provocative and interesting results. The Thesis that Villeneuve has produced (A New Perspective on Old Art: The Social Context of Upper Palaeolithic Cave Art) on the subject provides new insights into who was creating the art in the caves and what their motivations were. Interested viewers are asked to consult this thesis. She continues to explore these issues as M.A. research at the University of Victoria.

References:

2005 B. Hayden, and S. Villeneuve.

Review:"Lascaux, Le Geste, L'Espace, et Le Temps," by N. Aujoulat; and "Chauvet Cave," by Jean Clottes. American Antiquity 70:384-388.

1997 Owens, D'Ann, and B. Hayden.

"Prehistoric rites of passage: a comparative study of transegalitarian hunter-gatherers." Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 16:121-161.

2003 Villeneuve, Suzanne.

A new perspective on old art: The social context of Upper Palaeolithic cave art. Unpublished Honors Thesis, Archaeology Department, Simon Fraser University: Burnaby, B.C.