To fully understand not only the past, but also the trajectories, of human societies, we need a more dynamic view of human social systems. Agent-based modeling (ABM), which can create fine-scale models of behavior over time and space, may reveal important, general patterns of human activity. Agent-Based Modeling for Archaeology is the first ABM textbook designed for researchers studying the human past. Appropriate for scholars from archaeology, the digital humanities, and other social sciences, this book offers novices and more experienced ABM researchers a modular approach to learning ABM and using it effectively.
Readers will find the necessary background, discussion of modeling techniques and traps, references, and algorithms to use ABM in their own work. They will also find engaging examples of how other scholars have applied ABM, ranging from the study of the intercontinental migration pathways of early hominins, to the weather–crop–population cycles of the American Southwest, to the trade networks of Ancient Rome. This textbook provides the foundations needed to simulate the complexity of past human societies, offering researchers a richer understanding of the past—and likely future—of our species.
A set of interactive tutorials that start with the very basics and lead to more advanced topics. These tutorials are both suitable for beginners and people who want to brush up their modelling skills.
Together with Matt Peeples, lab PI Tom Brughmans wrote the first textbook teaching how network science can be used in all aspects of archaeological research.
This textbook is accompanied by elaborate free resources that teach you in practice using real archaeological datasets all you need to know to do your own archaeological network studies.
Go to online companion for the book
Tom also co-edited the Oxford Handbook of Archaeological Network Research, which showcases across 42 chapters the diversity of network applications to world archaeology and material culture studies.
Itiner-e aims to host the most detailed open digital dataset of roads in the entire Roman Empire. The data creation is a collaborative ongoing project edited by a scholarly community. Itiner-e allows you to view, query and download roads. Each road segment has a URI that allows it to be cited and linked by external resources. It also includes a route-finding tool to explore travel itineries and times in the ancient world (beta version).
The lab is a founding member of the Barcelona Past Networks Summer School. An annual 5-day summer school in Barcelona teaching the theory and practice of network research for those studying the human past (historians, archaeologists, classicists, …). It provides an annually recurring opportunity to learn what network research is, how it can be usefully and critically applied to the study of the human past, through hands-on practicals and critical lectures. The content is curated and delivered by leading experts in the field, and the summer school is a joint effort of the main international scholarly communities in past networks research. The summer school is developed for those establishing or developing their studies and research on the human past (archaeologists, historians, classicists, …).
Project MERCURY develops and shares resources to encourage the use of computational modelling in Roman economy studies. It provides practical tutorials, open access Roman datasets, an open source model library implementing common Roman economics concepts that can be reused, an exhaustive bibliography of studies applying the approach, and organises practical workshops to teach computational modelling to scholars in Roman studies at different stages of their careers.
