Overview
- A compilation of leading approaches used by practitioners in the field provides a rapid introduction and informs readers of the state of the art
- A focus on "re-usable concepts" makes it a work that will remain up-to date even years after publication, and will thus be preferred to "state of the art snapshots"
- Includes developments in archaeological ABM in graphical form
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: Advances in Geographic Information Science (AGIS)
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Table of contents (11 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Applications
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Front Matter
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Summary and Outlook
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Front Matter
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Keywords
About this book
Archaeology has been historically reluctant to embrace the subject of agent-based simulation, since it was seen as being used to "re-enact" and "visualize" possible scenarios for a wider (generally non-scientific) audience, based on scarce and fuzzy data. Furthermore, modeling "in exact terms" and programming as a means for producing agent-based simulations were simply beyond the field of the social sciences.
This situation has changed quite drastically with the advent of the internet age: Data, it seems, is now ubiquitous. Researchers have switched from simply collecting data to filtering, selecting and deriving insights in a cybernetic manner. Agent-based simulation is one of the tools used to glean information from highly complex excavation sites according to formalized models, capturing essential properties in a highly abstract and yet spatial manner. As such, the goal of this book is to present an overview of techniques used and work conducted in that field, drawing on the experience of practitioners.
Reviews
From the book reviews:
“Agent-based Modeling and Simulation in Archaeology provides a much-needed update, in one solid volume, on the methods and practice of using agent-based modeling to understand the past. … The most useful portion of this book to those new to agent-based modeling is probably the Methods section. … this book will be a worthwhile addition to our bookshelves, and I can already imagine incorporating it into courses in agent-based modeling.” (simulatingcomplexity, simulatingcomplexity.wordpress.com, February, 2015)Editors and Affiliations
About the editors
Kerstin Kowarik is an archaeologist working at the Natural History Museum Vienna specializing in the European Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. She is currently engaged with several research projects on the prehistoric salt mines of Hallstatt. Her research focuses on provisioning structures, organization of trade and human – environment interaction. She has a special interest in exploring the potential of computer based simulations for archaeological research, economic archaeology and environmental archaeology.
Hans Reschreiter is an archaeologist working at the Natural History Museum Vienna specializing in prehistoric crafts and technology as well as prehistoric mining. He is head of the archaeological excavations in the prehistoric salt mines of Hallstatt (Austria). His research focuses on working processes and mining technology. He has a special interest in prehistoric wood working, experimental archaeology and ethnoarchaeology.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Agent-based Modeling and Simulation in Archaeology
Editors: Gabriel Wurzer, Kerstin Kowarik, Hans Reschreiter
Series Title: Advances in Geographic Information Science
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00008-4
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental Science, Earth and Environmental Science (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-00007-7Published: 21 November 2014
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-34282-5Published: 23 August 2016
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-00008-4Published: 08 November 2014
Series ISSN: 1867-2434
Series E-ISSN: 1867-2442
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIV, 269
Number of Illustrations: 14 b/w illustrations, 46 illustrations in colour