Paperback, 210 pages
English language
Published June 30, 2020 by Berghahn Books.
Raising the Dead with Agent Based Models, Archaeogaming, and Artificial Intelligence
Paperback, 210 pages
English language
Published June 30, 2020 by Berghahn Books.
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 appendices to this book form an ABM (Agent-Based Model) teaching guide hosted on the Berghahn Books Digital Archaeology platform, with interactive code available on GitHub.