Return to me, says the LORD of Hosts, and I will return to you (Zech 1:3). Besides functioning to differentiate insiders and outsiders, boundaries may also help to strengthen a group's cohesion. By demarcating a group's 'place' in the environment, a boundary becomes a symbol of the social group and may function to reinforce its identity. The act of encircling or linking a cluster of residential units gives a settlement a more cohesive, unified appearance.(1)