It was learned, practiced, and transmitted.

The consistency of the imagery across different enclosures and different periods of the site’s use suggests a continuous tradition of training and practice, in which skilled carvers transmitted their knowledge and techniques to successors over many generations.

The question of who the carvers were — whether they were community members who carved as one among several activities, or whether they were recognized specialists whose primary social role was the production of sacred or communal imagery — cannot be definitively answered.

But the quality and consistency of the carving suggests sustained, practiced expertise of a kind that typically implies specialization or at least a very strong commitment to the maintenance and development of specific skills across a community’s social structure.