ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the genesis of social formations and particularly the emergence of sociality in prehistoric landscapes. It examines the ways in which a sociologically informed archaeological practice can think about the emergence of societies and the kinds of gods, ghosts, figures that they produce and that are recomposed into new historical epochs and formations. The chapter addresses critical questions of historical practice and explanation, the role of data and methodology, and the kinds of narratives that the social sciences construct. Spirits and ancestors were central to the power and social divisions of the social formations. The 'visible social statement' rested upon the power to delineate, conjure up and communicate with the powers of the past. The chapter also addresses the respective work of Steven Mithen and David Lewis-Williams who have offered mutually supportive analyses of the aesthetics of cave art.
