Computational approaches in the practice of archaeology
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)
Computational techniques including visibility and least-cost path analyses and agent-based modelling have rapidly grown in archaeological research. While fruitful, this research focuses on a narrow range of themes, overlooking variability in the practice of archaeology. Archaeologists are aware of variation in archaeological investigations in patterns that are seen on local and national scales, yet we have only a partial understanding of how and why these patterns evolved through time. This situation has obscured the impact of such variability on our understanding of the past. While current efforts including the building of cyber-infrastructures acknowledge variability in sources of geographically-referenced information, they underestimate the social context of archaeology and the intersection of knowledge, space and power, a key factor in the practice of archaeology. Who are the archaeologists and archaeological teams that carried out field investigations, what were their aims, and which methods and tools and technologies did they employ? Where and when did field studies take place and what weight was attached to these places of interest? To begin addressing these questions, this session calls for computational research broadly defined, on social dimensions of the practice of archaeology in any local, national and regional context, covering any period of time.
Other Keywords
Epistemology •
Ethnography •
Maya •
Spatial Analysis •
Geographic Information System •
Modeling •
Gis •
Trading Network •
Landscape •
3D scanning
Geographic Keywords
Mesoamerica •
AFRICA •
Europe •
North America - Southeast
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-6 of 6)
- Documents (6)
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The Inclusion of Ethnographic Data And Controlling for Political Bias Leads to Robust Modeling in Archaeology (2016)
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There have been multiple advances in recent approaches to modeling within archaeology. The power of advanced computational techniques including agent-based modeling, Bayesian approaches, etc., have enabled archaeologists to hypothesize and describe complex multi-scalar processes affecting past societies, while paying heed to multiplicity of variable factors. However, while anthropological archaeologists reject models within economics and political science as "data-poor," recent archaeological...
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Open access, data reuse and the "democratization of knowledge": the case of Italy (2016)
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Open Access (OA) data publication can widen the quantity of data available to researchers and scholars and thus can increase possibilities for cross-cultural comparisons. Low cost and ease of access to data can make possible a “democratization of knowledge”. This paper examines the archaeological community in Italy from the perspective of OA data publication in archaeology. OA data publication in Italian archaeology is not widespread and it currently lacks standards on data sharing that...
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Predictive Modeling and the Ancient Maya Landscape (2016)
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The use of GIS-based analyses has been increasing in archaeology over several years, including predictive modeling from digital elevation models (DEMs). Critics of these methods suggest that these computational approaches leave no room for human agency, and can create improper landscape analyses. However, these methods can be properly used when operating in well-defined theoretical frameworks and correct scale. In this paper, we present recent ground survey data and ethnoarchaeological methods...
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The Role of Agent-Based Modeling in Archaeology (2016)
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Published applications of Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) in archaeology have tripled within the last five years. However, the scope of the research topics investigated has not increased accordingly. A consensus exists among ABM practitioners, that once generally accepted in archaeology, ABM can make revolutionary advances within the overall research paradigm. Within the archaeological community unresolved concerns center on whether ABMs are sufficiently grounded in empirical data, are aligned with...
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Spatial Literacy and Geostatistics in Archaeology (2016)
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Spatial frameworks of cultural activity can be quantified using a number of geostatistic computations available in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). These, too commonly “deterministic” models identify and display trends within a dataset. Although these results can be compelling, they also pose problems for archaeological interpretation by not including room for the ambiguity and unpredictability of human decisions and actions. Human behavior can be understood by the choices people make, but...
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Virtualization, 3D Technologies, and the Democratization of Archaeological Research (2016)
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The promise of the information age is access to data. Advances in online data availability have permeated nearly every scientific and humanities field providing access to unprecedented quantities of research materials. But the key missing element in archaeological (and paleontological research) is access to the material remains that are key to investigating the past. Because of logistical barriers, conservation concerns, conditions of ownership, or other factors limiting access, many of the most...