The possibility can be tested ethnographically by studying contemporary Indigenous societies, and archaeologically by examining the art of both contemporary and past societies in other parts of the world. While specific social and material influences on Barunga art cannot automatically be applied to other societies, we should consider such factors when analyzing the art of past societies. Even a category as clearly defined as gender can find vastly different expressions. While researchers can identify links between material culture and human behavior in the present, earlier societies may have included social structures quite different from anything we are aware of today. The most important implication of this work is to emphasize that different artistic styles can be produced by the same people in the same place at the same time.
Styles can vary drastically according to the materials used and the social strategies being pursued.
A single, all-encompassing explanation based on one art form will rarely suffice, since it most likely tells only part of the story.