In a small forager band with only a handful of neighboring bands, everyone tends to know everyone else by face or by name, and rarely comes in contact with a complete stranger. But in large agrarian empires or industrial civilizations, full of migrant traders and workers, it’s really useful to be able to evaluate strangers on sight. Thus there’s a role for badges: visible symbols that convey information about group membership.54 In a religious context, badges may include special hairstyles, clothing, hats or turbans, jewelry, tattoos, and piercings.
