Using Species Distribution Modeling to contextualize Lower Magdalenian social networks visible through portable art stylistic similarities in the Cantabrian region (Spain)

This research argues for a refocus of the study of prehistoric social networks that involves contextualizing the inter-site links that are often interpreted as indicators of inter-site social interactions. It focuses on the social networks created during the Lower Magdalenian of the Cantabrian region (Spain), and visible through similarities of portable art representations. It uses Species Distribution Modeling and Maximum Classification Likelihood on faunal presence data to reconstruct prehistoric biomes, and contextualize the networks reconstructed through the art analysis. It demonstrates the potential of mapping the recreated networks onto the reconstructed biomes and of identifying the linked sites' foraging and minimal band territories to distinguish between local mobility movement and inter-group social alliances. The results show that, during the Lower Magdalenian, the majority of movements seen through artistic similarities probably represent the seasonal mobility of one or two hunter-gatherer groups, and that only a few inter-site links represent social networks used to exchange mates and gather information.