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 Dun nell's (1989; Madsen et al, this issue) bet-hedging hypothesis for the effe ct of variance reduction through wasteful energy expenditure in "evolutiona ry" time. Comparison of the predictions of the two models is based on the a nalysis of the passage graves and associated monuments of the Boyne Valley, County Meath, Ireland, and other Irish Megalithic monuments. Analysis sugg ests that while Neiman's model is one explanation for the generation of mat erial remains that are indicative of extreme expenditures of energy, it is not the only viable explanation. The Irish Megalithic monuments do not fals ify the process of energetically expensive behavior in general, but fail to confirm the predictions of the wasteful advertising model. (C) 1999 Academ ic Press.