Mark Lake

Visibility studies in archaeology: a review and case study

This paper describes the history and current state of archaeological visibility studies. The first part is a survey of both GIS (geographic information systems) and non-GIS studies of visibility by archaeologists, which demonstrates how advances in GIS visibility studies have tended to recapitulate, albeit over a compressed timescale, theoretically driven developments in non-GIS studies. The second part presents an example of the kind of methodological development required for the use of GIS to contribute to the agenda set by certain strands of a more humanistic archaeology. An algorithm developed to retrieve various summaries of the inclination at which points on the horizon are visible from a specified viewpoint was applied to nineteen recumbent stone circles in the Grampian region of Scotland. The results suggest that these summaries provide a useful tool for ‘unpacking’ what archaeologists mean when they claim that the topographic setting of certain stone circles creates an ‘impression of circularity’.

Explaining the Past with ABM: On Modelling Philosophy

This chapter discusses some of the conceptual issues surrounding the use of agent-based modelling in archaeology. Specifically, it addresses three questions: Why use agent-based simulation? Does specifically agent-based simulation imply a particular view of the world? How do we learn by simulating? First, however, it will be useful to provide a brief introduction to agent-based simulation and how it relates to archaeological simulation more generally. Some readers may prefer to return to this chapter after having read a more detailed account of an exemplar (Chap. 2) or of the technology (Chap. 3). Textbooks on agent-based modelling include Grimm and Railsback [(2005) Individual-based modeling and ecology, Princeton University Press, Princeton] and Railsback and Grimm [(2012) Agent-based and individual-based modeling: a practical introduction, Princeton University Press, Princeton], both aimed at ecologists, the rather briefer [Gilbert (2008) Agent-based models. Quantitative applications in the social sciences, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA], aimed at sociologists, and [Ferber (1999) Multi-agent systems: an introduction to distributed artificial intelligence, English edn. Addison-Wesley, Harlow], which treats agent-based simulation from the perspective of artificial intelligence and computer science.

THE USE OF PEDESTRIAN MODELLING IN ARCHAEOLOGY, WITH AN EXAMPLE FROM THE STUDY OF CULTURAL LEARNING

In this paper I briefly review the use of computer simulation in archaeology and argue that pedestrian modelling has the potential to overcome many of the problems associated with earlier simulation studies. I then introduce the MAGICAL simulation software, which was written to facilitate the use of multiagent simulation within a geographical information system. In the final part of the paper I describe the use of MAGICAL to study the evolution of cultural learning among early hominids.

Cultural Incubators and Spread of Innovation

abstract Several forms of social learning rely on the direct or indirect evaluation of the fitness of cultural traits. Here we argue, via a simple agent-based model, that payoff uncertainty, that is, the correlation between a trait and the signal used to evaluate its fitness, plays a pivotal role in the spread of beneficial innovation. More specifically, we examine how this correlation affects the evolutionary dynamics of different forms of social learning and how each form can generate divergent historical trajectories depending on the size of the sample pool. In particular, we demonstrate that social learning by copying the best model is particularly susceptible to a sampling effect caused by the interaction of payoff uncertainty, the number of models sampled (the sample pool), and the frequency with which a trait is present in the population. As a result, we identify circumstances in which smaller sample pools can act as “cultural incubators” that promote the spread of innovations, while more widespread sampling of the population actually retards the rate of cultural evolution.

COMPUTER SIMULATION MODELING

This article introduces the use of computer simulation in archaeology. It discusses the purpose of simulation before going on to outline the history of archaeological simulation and the various types of model that have been used. It then takes the reader through the main stages of implementing an archaeological simulation and notes some of the more popular computing platforms. Finally the article makes some suggestions about likely future developments.

Geographical Information Systems in Archaeology: Contents

© J. Conolly & M. Lake 2006. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is a rapidly developing archaeological method which is moving from the domain of the computer specialist into that of the broader archaeological community. This comprehensive manual on the use of GIS in archaeology explores the concept of GIS and illustrates how it can be adapted for practical use. Examining issues such as spatial databases, data acquisition, spatial analysis, and techniques of visualization, the book is an essential tool for both students and professional archaeologists.

Geographical Information Systems in Archaeology: List of figures

© J. Conolly & M. Lake 2006. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is a rapidly developing archaeological method which is moving from the domain of the computer specialist into that of the broader archaeological community. This comprehensive manual on the use of GIS in archaeology explores the concept of GIS and illustrates how it can be adapted for practical use. Examining issues such as spatial databases, data acquisition, spatial analysis, and techniques of visualization, the book is an essential tool for both students and professional archaeologists.

Geographical Information Systems in Archaeology: Acknowledgements

© J. Conolly & M. Lake 2006. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is a rapidly developing archaeological method which is moving from the domain of the computer specialist into that of the broader archaeological community. This comprehensive manual on the use of GIS in archaeology explores the concept of GIS and illustrates how it can be adapted for practical use. Examining issues such as spatial databases, data acquisition, spatial analysis, and techniques of visualization, the book is an essential tool for both students and professional archaeologists.

Geographical Information Systems in Archaeology: Frontmatter

© J. Conolly & M. Lake 2006. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is a rapidly developing archaeological method which is moving from the domain of the computer specialist into that of the broader archaeological community. This comprehensive manual on the use of GIS in archaeology explores the concept of GIS and illustrates how it can be adapted for practical use. Examining issues such as spatial databases, data acquisition, spatial analysis, and techniques of visualization, the book is an essential tool for both students and professional archaeologists.

Geographical Information Systems in Archaeology: PUTTING GIS TO WORK IN ARCHAEOLOGY

This chapter reviews four typical applications of GIS in archaeology: management of archaeological resources, excavation, landscape archaeology and the spatial modelling of past human behaviour. For each application we discuss some general issues concerning the use of GIS in that particular context, followed by a presentation of a case study that illustrates the contribution that GIS has made. Although these examples are in no way exhaustive, they do provide a good overview of the capabilities and potential contributions that GIS can make to archaeological management and research. Management of archaeological resources It is not our intention to discuss the objectives of cultural resource management (CRM), nor the appropriate structure of a spatial database for managing the archaeological record, as these decisions are most appropriately made by government bodies and the archaeologists charged with the tasks of recording and managing the archaeological resource. However, we note that archaeological and historic databases have increasingly been subject to government scrutiny. In the UK, this most recently occurred in a parliamentary review of archaeology that took place in 2003 (APPAG 2003; Gilman 2004). In particular, the UK archaeological databases termed ‘Sites and Monuments Records’ (SMRs) are under review in light of recent developments in information technology, especially GIS and the Internet (e.g. Newman 2002). This report makes it clear that SMRs should evolve into broader Historic Environment Records (HERs) that include information such as historic buildings, parks and gardens, historic aircraft crash sites, etc.