An Enchantment of Digital Archaeology

The use of computation in archaeology is a kind of magic, a way of heightening the archaeological imagination. Agent-based modelling allows archaeologists to test the ‘just-so’ stories they tell about the past. It requires a formalization of the story so that it can be represented as a simulation; researchers are then able to explore the unintended consequences or emergent outcomes of stories about the past. Agent-based models are one end of a spectrum that, at the opposite side, ends with video games. This volume explores this spectrum in the context of Roman archaeology, addressing the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities of a formalized approach to computation and archaeogaming.

The use of computation in archaeology is a kind of magic, a way of heightening the archaeological imagination. Agent-based modelling allows archaeologists to test the ‘just-so’ stories they tell about the past. It requires a formalization of the story so that it can be represented as a simulation; researchers are then able to explore the unintended consequences or emergent outcomes of stories about the past. Agent-based models are one end of a spectrum that, at the opposite side, ends with video games. This volume explores this spectrum in the context of Roman archaeology, addressing the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities of a formalized approach to computation and archaeogaming.

List of Tables
Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1. Imagine a Network
Chapter 2. Reanimating Networks
Chapter 3. Add Agents and Stir
Chapter 4. Archaeogaming
Chapter 5. The Fun Is in the Building
Chapter 6. Artificial Intelligence

Conclusion: Enchantment is Remembering

Afterword: Guidelines for Developing Your Own Digital Archaeology

Appendices
    Appendix A: Tasks for Golems – Building an ABM
    Appendix B: Pot Trade Model Code
    Appendix C: Information Diffusion on a Network
    Appendix D: Golems in the City

References
Index