Archaeology and Networks

The Minoa, now in Chania harbour. A modern promotion or archaeological reconstruction? See article by A.Simandiraki Minoan Archaeology in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games [Eur.J.Arch. 8(2):157-181 (2005)]

Clay Model 1700-1650BC

My research in archaeology emerged out of an EU funded project known as ISCOM, see for the example the news note on Big cities need a fast-paced life to grow in Nature about this collaboration. The book of the ISCOM project edited by David Lane et al. listed below, has many detailed articles from the participants. This work continues and I am part of the Connected Past team which organises events focussing on the uses of network and complexity ideas in archaeology and history.

Through ISCOM I started collaborating with archaeologist Carl Knappett from Toronto University and Ray Rivers from Imperial. We have presented our work at several meetings so we have some papers available on this – see below or on my publication page. The work is on going. We are studying the Bronze Age Aegean through networks using a JAVA based programme, ariadne to implement our ideas. For instance we want to study the rise and fall of Minoan influence in this region. A mini profile in the Imperial College Reporter on Ray River’s work on archaeology (page 10) might be of interest.

The 39 Middle Bronze Age sites used in our current models, (the 34 sites used originally).

Modelling Software: ariadne

Screen shot of all the windows produced by ariadne, two-dimensional geographical networks modelling software, April 2011 (click on image for large file ariadne screen shot, screen shot of old style ariadne network).

Our work is done ariadne, a java based package written by myself which produces networks based on one of a number of models, though the primary aim is to produce networks based on the cost/benefit optimisation models described in the talks and publications listed below. In principle  ariadne can be used to produce network models for any problem involving two dimensional spatial networks (not necessarily geographical) and currently includes other models such as PPA (proximal point analysis) and gravity models (see interactions paper for comparison). A core part of the package is to produce visualisations (with with eps and jpg output of networks, all based on the jung network visualisations) though it can also be run without visualisations to produce statistical analysis of models. Numerical output in various formats allows visualisation and further analysis using other packages

I am now keeping the ariadne programme including source code at figshare. There is some user documentation but it is not kept up to date, and the programme can be a bit delicate.  So it probably needs face to face help to get it working or a good working knowledge of java (the code itself is pretty well documented using javadoc). I develop it on a Windows PC, it should work fine on Linux, but I have got it running on a Mac too despite issues there with old versions of java.

To be honest the ariadne programme has grown out of all proportion from the initial version (intended as a simple command line network generator) and it is now a general purpose spatial network model analyser.  I think it would make more sense to write some new code with separate parts for model generation (so more are easily added), and another for analysis and visualisation.  In principle the latter part could be done by using a separate package so we might be talking about writing a plugin for another package which generates the networks from various spatial models generators.  On the other hand I found the simple sliders and the ability to have several networks visible on the screen at the same time very useful.

You can download a working ariadne programme and socurce code from figshare DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.97746 (this link takes you to an  older ariadne programme but the page also has some information on installation which may still be of use). 

The data on the sites and distances used in our work is available on figshare as Thirty Nine Minoan Sites
DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.97395

Talks and Publications

Many of the more recent talks are on the Tim Evans figshare account.

• Robust SpatialNetwork Analysis. Talk given on 1st November 2013 at the University of Toronto as part of the workshop on the Networks of Maritime Connectivity in the Ancient Mediterranean organised by Carl Knappett and Justin Leidwanger [doi: 10.6084/m9.figshare.834936].
• Which Network Should I Use?, in The Connected Past: challenging networks in archaeology and history, T. Brughmans, A. Collar and F. Coward (eds), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (in press).
• What makes a site important? Centrality, gateways and gravity to appear in volume edited by Carl Knappett and published by OUP, article co-authored with Ray Rivers and Carl Knappett.
• Which Network Model Should I Use? Towards a Quantitative Comparison of Spatial Network Models in Archaeology, DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.100855 for slides or video of talk with slides given at The Connected Past symposium, Southampton, 25th March, 2012.
• The Theran eruption and Minoan palatial collapse: new interpretations gained from modelling the maritime network.
  Antiquity 85 (2011) 1008-1023, with Carl Knappett and Ray Rivers. This looks at the effect on Late Minoan civilisation of the destruction of Thera (Santorini) by volcanic eruption. We show that the effects of removing a major port of call could have impacted after an interval, as increased costs of transport gradually led to ever fewer routes and eventual economic collapse. See Greek newspaper article for press comments (provided you read modern Greek). I appear to be Τιμ Εβανς
• Interactions In Space For Archaeological Models
  Advances in Complex Systems 15 (2012) 1150009 with Carl Knappett and Ray Rivers. This is in a special edition ed. J.Steele and A.Kandler (proceedings of ‘Cultural Evolution in Spatially Structured Populations’ UCL 13.-15.09.2010). This looks at different network models used in archaeology (more mathematical than next paper, [arXiv:1102.0251]).
• Network Models and Archaeological Spaces
  To appear in “Computational Approaches to Archaeological Spaces” A.Bevan and M. Lake (ed.s), with Carl Knappett and Ray Rivers. This looks at different network models used in archaeology (less maths than previous paper). To appear in 2013 from West Coast Press.
• Interactions In The Aegean Bronze Age
  Invited talk given by Tim Evans at the meeting on “Cultural Evolution in Spatially Structured Populations” 14th September 2010 at UCL.
• Modelling Maritime Interaction In The Aegean Bronze Age
  Paper published in Antiquity 82 (2008) 1009-1024, with Carl Knappett and Ray Rivers.
• Articulating Scales in Sea-Based Social Networks: A Transdisciplinary Approach
  A presentation given by Ray Rivers at the World Archaeological Congress in Dublin, 4th July 2008 (WAC-6).
• Presentations given at “Network Analysis in Archaeology and History”, Århus, Denmark, 8th May 2008.
  First by Carl Knappett, then by Ray Rivers and finally by Tim Evans.
• SAA 2008 meeting Vancouver, 26th-30th March 2008.
  Paper given by Carl Knappett Articulating scales in studying past social networks: a transdisciplinary approach, part of the symposium on Connected Pasts: Current Network Approaches in Archaeology.
• The Networks in Archaeology talk I gave at ECCS07 Dresden 2007.
• The Networks in Archaeology talk I gave at the Laboratory of Computational Engineering of the Helsinki University of Technology, 1st August 2007.
• Modelling Cultural Dynamics: A Macroscopic Approach To Cultural Transmission In The Prehistoric Aegean.
  Submission to ECCS07 conference in Dresden, October 2007.
• CAA UK meeting 24th-26th January 2007, Southampton.
  My talk Networks for the Minoan Aegean
• X-TAG 2006, Exeter
  My talk Networks for the Minoan Aegean from the session Scaling and Networks.
• Chapter entitled Using Statistical Physics To Understand Relational Space: A Case Study From Mediterranean Prehistory (updated 17/7/07) in Complexity Perspectives on Innovation and Social Change edited by D.Lane, D.Pumain, S. van der Leeuw and G.West (Springer Methodos series, 2009). This is the culmination of my involvement with the ISCOM project.
  This paper is based on the presentations made at the ISCOM Meeting in Venice, May 2006, given in the following order: Carl Knappett, Ray Rivers and then Tim Evans. Note the discussion by Coward in Science 319 (2008) 1493-1495.
• Physical And Relational Networks In The Aegean Bronze Age, accepted for the proceedings of the ECCS06 conference held in Oxford.
• Island Identities meeting of FIRE (Forum for Island Research and Experience) 6th November 2006, UCL.
• CRASH meeting, Cambridge 2005
  Paper presented Dynamic networks and Hamiltonian landscapes: a case study from the Aegean Bronze Age

Useful Links

• Networks in Archaeology, the Networks Network Google group.
• Antiquist including a Antiquist Wiki and a Antiquist Google Group. The focus is on general computing in archaeology, including the work done by professional archaeologists.
• Society for American Archaeology (SAA) has interesting meetings.
• FIRE – Forum for Island Research and Experience
• CAA UK (Computer applications and quantitative methods in archaeology, UK Chapter)
  CAA UK 2012 annual meeting, Univ. Southampton, 26th-30th April, 2012. There is a particularly interesting satellite meeting Connected Past focusing on networks and modelling in archaeology and history which is onthe weekend before the main CAA UK meeting (24-25 March 2012) and also at Southampton.
• Historical Network Research group
  Hold a series of biannual workshops “Historische Netzwerkforschung” to bring together network scholars from all historical disciplines.
• NetSci 2011 satellite conference on Arts, Humanities, and Complex Networks – 2nd Leonardo satellite symposium at the Ludwig Museum � Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest, on Tuesday, June 7, 2011.
• Tracing Networks project based at Leicester University and other places.
• Leif Isaksen and Tom Brughmans are both at the University of Southampton and are interested in networks for archeaology. They both have interesting blogs – Archaetech – Travels on the Convex Hull of Normality and Archaeological Networks respectively.
• Søren Sindbæk now at University of York has done some interesting work on Viking networks e.g. “Networks and nodal points: the emergence of towns in early Viking Age Scandinavia“
• Shawn Graham now at the University Of Carleton, Ottawa. Includes a very nice NetLogo based simulation Travellersim using an agent based generalisation of the ideas of Rihll and Wilson. See also his Electric Archaeologist blog and other Shawn Graham ABMs.
• Helen Dawson at the Univ. Kent gave a nice talk at FIRE (UCL 2006) on Island Colonisation, Abandonment, and Resettlement in the Prehistoric Mediterranean.
• CAA UK (Computer applications and quantitative methods in archaeology, UK Chapter) Old meetings:-
  UK Meeting at the University of York, 1st and 2nd of February 2008.
  International CAA 2008 meeting, Budapest, 2nd to 6th April 2008.
• TAG 30 at the University of Southampton, 2008.
• Y-TAG 2007 December at York
• X-TAG 2006 (Theoretical Archaeology Group) at Exeter
• TAG-NYC (Theoretical Archaeology Group) May 2008 hosted by Centre for Archaeology at Columbia University.