Wasteful advertising and variance reduction: Darwinian models for the significance of nonutilitarian architecture

This article presents a comparison of Neiman's (1998) wasteful advertising hypothesis for the function of monuments in "anthropological" time with Dunnell's (1989; Madsen et al, this issue) bet-hedging hypothesis for the effect of variance reduction through wasteful energy expenditure in "evolutionary" time. Comparison of the predictions of the two models is based on the analysis of the passage graves and associated monuments of the Boyne Valley, County Meath, Ireland, and other Irish Megalithic monuments. Analysis suggests that while Neiman's model is one explanation for the generation of material remains that are indicative of extreme expenditures of energy, it is not the only viable explanation. The Irish Megalithic monuments do not falsify the process of energetically expensive behavior in general, but fail to confirm the predictions of the wasteful advertising model. (C) 1999 Academic Press.