Papers by Philip Verhagen
Archaeological Anthropological Sciences, 2023
The Lower Rhine region was of crucial importance for the Roman empire as a transit zone from Gaul... more The Lower Rhine region was of crucial importance for the Roman empire as a transit zone from Gaul to the North Sea. The river Rhine functioned both as a transport artery and as a defence line. Huge investments were made in the first century CE to protect this economic lifeline, by installing a line of forts and legionary camps along the river from Cologne up to the North Sea, known as the Lower Germanic limes. Unlike areas further south, however, its hinterland did not witness a development towards a 'central place' settlement pattern, but instead shows seemingly separate trajectories of development of the 'urban' and 'rural' settlements. In this paper, the apparently weak socioeconomic interaction between the towns, forts and rural hinterland is analysed using a model of settlement hierarchy originally developed by Bertoncello et al. (2012). Data on building materials and ceramic imports found in archaeological surveys and excavations in the Dutch part of the region were used as indicators of socioeconomic status, and settlements were classified accordingly. Statistical and spatial analysis of the resulting settlement classification revealed a weak hierarchy of rural settlement in the region, that was to some extent influenced by the development of towns.
Global Environmental Change, 2022
Analyzing the spatial and temporal properties of information flow with a multi-century perspectiv... more Analyzing the spatial and temporal properties of information flow with a multi-century perspective could illuminate the sustainability of human resource-use strategies. This paper uses historical and archaeological datasets to assess how spatial, temporal, cognitive, and cultural limitations impact the generation and flow of information about ecosystems within past societies, and thus lead to tradeoffs in sustainable practices. While it is well understood that conflicting priorities can inhibit successful outcomes, case studies from Eastern Polynesia, the North Atlantic, and the American Southwest suggest that imperfect information can also be a major impediment to sustainability. We formally develop a conceptual model of Environmental Information Flow and Perception (EnIFPe) to examine the scale of information flow to a society and the quality of the information needed to promote sustainable coupled natural-human systems. In our case studies, we assess key aspects of information flow by focusing on food web relationships and nutrient flows in socio-ecological systems, as well as the life cycles, population dynamics, and seasonal rhythms of organisms, the patterns and timing of species’ migration, and the trajectories of human-induced environmental change. We argue that the spatial and temporal dimensions of human environments shape society’s ability to wield information, while acknowledging that varied cultural factors also focus a society’s ability to act on such information. Our analyses demonstrate the analytical importance of completed experiments from the past, and their utility for contemporary debates concerning managing imperfect information and addressing conflicting priorities in modern environmental management and resource use.
Brughmans, T. & A. Wilson (eds.). Simulating Roman Economies. Theories, Methods, and Computational Models. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 270-291, 2022
Heritage, 2021
Current advances in spatial simulation bring unprecedented possibilities for spatiotemporal model... more Current advances in spatial simulation bring unprecedented possibilities for spatiotemporal modeling. In this paper, we focus on modeling the impact of settlement on land use in the Roman period in the Dutch river area, on the northern frontier of the Roman Empire. During this period, the area witnessed a strong population increase that put more demands on the available land to produce food, not only for the local population, but also for the soldiers stationed on the frontier and the citizens of the newly founded towns. We compare an agent-based model (ABM) of agricultural production in the region (ROMFARMS), and a model using the Past Land Use Scanner (PLUS. Both were used to estimate the effects of increased agricultural demand through simulations of food production, taking into account the available workforce and the productivity and availability of suitable land. However, how should we evaluate the model outcomes? What are the advantages and limitations of each? We discuss issues of scale, temporal resolution and model inputs, together with questions of technical implementation and validation. In this way, we aim to point the way to future researchers to implement these approaches effectively in other contexts.
Applied Sciences, 2021
In archaeology, palaeo-ecological studies are frequently used to support archaeological investiga... more In archaeology, palaeo-ecological studies are frequently used to support archaeological investigations, but linking and synthesizing datasets and concepts from ecology, ethnography, earth sciences, and archaeology has historically been rare. While advances in computational approaches and standards of data collection have enabled more collaborative approaches to understanding the past, these endeavors are only now beginning to pick up pace. Here, we propose a method to collect data of these assorted types, synthesize ecological and archaeological understanding, and move beyond subsistence-focused studies to those that incorporate multifaceted economies. We advocate for the use of 'human-centered interaction networks' as a tool to synthesize and better understand the role of culture, ecology, and environment in the long-term evolution of socio-ecological systems. We advance the study of human-centered interaction networks by presenting an archaeoecological (archaeological-ecological) perspective on the Neolithic transition of the Swifterbant culture in the northwestern Netherlands (approximately 4700-4000 BCE). We employed network science to better understand the relationships of animal and plant species to the uses that people made of them. The analysis of the Swifterbant system reveals a highly connected set of interactions among people, plants, and animals, as could be expected on the basis of the hypothesis of an 'extended broadspectrum economy'. Importantly, this broad spectrum extends beyond the subsistence sphere.
CiST 2020 Actes, 2020
En archéologie, la mobilité est souvent étudiée à partir de voies spécifiques structurant implici... more En archéologie, la mobilité est souvent étudiée à partir de voies spécifiques structurant implicitement notre compréhension du système de peuplement. À l'inverse, l'approche spatiale des systèmes de peuplement régionaux, fondée sur les lieux, tend à structurer notre vision des flux de circulation. Or, lorsqu'il s'agit de comprendre comment un paysage s'est développé ou transformé, cette dichotomie rend notre raisonnement circulaire. Le carrefour se développe-t-il à partir de la distribution de l'habitat ou l'habitat choisit-il le carrefour comme opportunité de développement ? En privilégiant une approche de la mobilité basée sur l'analyse des pratiques de déplacement des agents humains ou non humains, deux projets internationaux, MoveScape et Redes andinas, travaillent sur une approche méthodologique visant à associer au mouvement différentes conceptions de l'espace vécu par les sociétés et mobilisant des traces matérielles, classiquement non inté-grées dans l'étude des flux de circulation.
MOTS CLÉS archéologie spatiale, système de peuplement, mobilité, territoire, réseau, maillage
ABSTRACT In archaeology, movement is often studied on the basis of evidence for specific roads, which implicitly structures our understanding of the settlement system. Conversely, spatial analysis of regional settlement systems, based on locations, also tends to structure our understanding of movement. However, when it comes to studying the development or transformation of a landscape, this dichotomy makes our reasoning circular. Does a crossroads emerge from the habitat or is the habitat located at the crossroads because it is an opportunity for development? By favouring an approach to mobility that is based on the analysis of movement practices of human or non-human agents, two international projects, MoveScape and Redes andinas, work on a methodological approach in which various conceptions of space experienced by societies can be associated to movement, and that incorporates material traces that are traditionally not integrated into the study of movement.
RESUMEN La arqueología de los antiguos sistemas de movilidad se basa generalmente en el estudio de vías específicas, las cuales son relacionadas implícitamente al patrón de asentamiento regional. Recíprocamente, la aproxi-mación a partir de los patrones de asentamiento tiende a condicionar a priori nuestra visión de los flujos de movilidad. Esta dicotomía tiende a producir razonamientos circulares que no contribuyen al estudio de la morfogénesis de los territorios. Este problema puede resumirse en una simple pregunta: los cruces de caminos se desarrollan en función de los sistemas de asentamiento, o bien condicionan la estructuración de estos sistemas? À partir de protocolos de análisis de vestigios arqueológicos de prácticas de movilidad de agentes (humanos y no-humanos) en distintas regiones, los proyectos MoveScape y Redes andinas están desarrollando una metodología para modelizar los procesos de estructuración entre sistemas de movilidad y asentamiento, en el tiempo largo.
Glover, J.B., J. Moss & D. Rissolo (eds.): Digital Archaeologies, Material Worlds (Past and Present). Proceedings of the 45th Annual Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology. Tübingen University Press, Tübingen., 2020
Over the years, predictive modelling has been characterized as being environmentally deterministi... more Over the years, predictive modelling has been characterized as being environmentally deterministic, a-temporal, or even as a way of ‘effectively de-humanising the past’. Over the past ten years, however, spatial analysis of settlement patterns has progressed substantially, paying much more attention to the role of socio-cultural factors and the analysis of settlement pattern dynamics. In this paper, we will present an approach to site location analysis and predictive modelling that can be characterized as essentially data driven, yet is very much theoretically informed, and which has focused primarily on facilitating comparisons between various chrono-cultural contexts. Our experiments, that have been carried out since 2010, have mainly used data from the Roman period in various regions of France, but the general ideas and workflow can easily be transferred to other settings. To enrich the approach new developments were tested to understand the role of settlement hierarchy and its influence on the subsequent development and structuring of settlement patterns. These new developments were applied to three case study carried out in the north-east of France.
Nuninger, L., Verhagen, P., Libourel, T., Opitz, R., Rodier, X., Laplaige, C., Fruchart, C., Leturcq, S., Levoguer, N. (2020). Linking Theories, Past Practices, and Archaeological Remains of Movement through Ontological Reasoning. Information 11 (6): 338. Information, 2020
The amount of information available to archaeologists has grown dramatically during the last ten ... more The amount of information available to archaeologists has grown dramatically during the last ten years. The rapid acquisition of observational data and creation of digital data has played a significant role in this "information explosion". In this paper, we propose new methods for knowledge creation in studies of movement, designed for the present data-rich research context. Using three case studies, we analyze how researchers have identified, conceptualized, and linked the material traces describing various movement processes in a given region. Then, we explain how we construct ontologies that enable us to explicitly relate material elements, identified in the observed landscape, to the knowledge or theory that explains their role and relationships within the movement process. Combining formal pathway systems and informal movement systems through these three case studies, we argue that these systems are not hierarchically integrated, but rather intertwined. We introduce a new heuristic tool, the "track graph", to record observed material features in a neutral form which can be employed to reconstruct the trajectories of journeys which follow different movement logics. Finally, we illustrate how the breakdown of implicit conceptual references into explicit, logical chains of reasoning, describing basic entities and their relationships, allows the use of these constituent elements to reconstruct, analyze, and compare movement practices from the bottom up.
Nuninger, L., Opitz, R., Verhagen, P., Libourel, T., Laplaige, C., Leturcq, S., Le Voguer, N., Fruchart, C., Kokalj, Ž. and Rodier, X., (2020). Developing FAIR Ontological Pathways: Linking Evidence of Movement in Lidar to Models of Human Behaviour. Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology, 2020
This paper proposes an ontological approach to connect the archaeological topographic evidence fo... more This paper proposes an ontological approach to connect the archaeological topographic evidence for movement in the landscape which can be derived from interpretation and spatial analysis of airborne lidar data with models of movement derived from modeling exercises such as Agent Based Modelling or Cost Path Modelling. This computational ontology enables the investigation of movement and its topographic manifestations in the landscape at various spatio-temporal scales. It creates an explicit framework for accessing meaningful information about movement generated through research using both detection and modelling-led approaches. Developing explicit computational frameworks to provide meaningful context is critical, particularly as remote sensing and modelling projects increase in scale and complexity. The process of developing a computational ontology exposes a deeper underlying issue, and one applicable to many topics we address as archaeologists: if we begin to unpack the concept of ‘movement’ it is readily apparent that it is a complex phenomenon, like many human habits, and studying it requires drawing together a variety of types of physical evidence and multiple, often competing, theoretical models of human processes and practices. If we wish to make archaeological ‘data’ on movement available, how do we create appropriate contextual information – really useful metadata – so that this data can be incorporated into the variety of studies for which knowledge of movement is relevant? This is essentially the challenge posed broadly by the FAIR principles, and in particular by the principle of interoperability, which suggests that we “use a formal, accessible, shared, and broadly applicable language for knowledge representation”. Rather than simply seeking to fulfill the requirements of an arbitrary standard, attempting to meet the challenge of interoperability provides an impetus and opportunity to attempt to bridge the gap between data and model, and to reconsider how we conceive and represent knowledge in archaeological digital data and modelling projects. This kind of computational ontology, we suggest, can serve as the key for making the data from both these sources actually FAIR.
Archaeological Spatial Analysis: A Methodological Guide, 2020
McKeague, P., van‘t Veer, R., Huvila, I., Moreau, A., Verhagen, P., Bernard, L., Cooper, A., Green, C. and van Manen, N. (2019). Mapping Our Heritage: Towards a Sustainable Future for Digital Spatial Information and Technologies in European Archaeological Heritage Management. Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology, 2019
The enormous increase in digital spatial information has led archaeologists all over Europe to re... more The enormous increase in digital spatial information has led archaeologists all over Europe to rely ever more on digital data to prepare and carry out archaeological research, both in academic and heritage management contexts. Spatial information is increasingly used to guide heritage management policies, from urban design to rural planning and tourism. Furthermore, spatial information is more and more employed to involve the general public, using digital technologies in museums and other places of archaeological interest, but also to involve amateur archaeologists in data collection programmes using crowdsourcing. With this proliferation of data and data use, issues of sustainability of digital data repositories, accessibility and reliability of data, standardization of data formats and management of property rights are currently widely debated inside and outside archaeology. However, they have not yet led to generally accepted practices of data management across or even within European countries. In this paper, we sketch the state-of-the-art of archaeological spatial data management, identify the major problem areas and reflect on potential improvements. We conclude that technical solutions are available, but will need a long-term transnational strategy in order fulfill the promise of open and sustainable spatial archaeological data for all user groups involved.
Computational Social Sciences, Simulating the Past (Springer, Cham), 2019
This chapter presents and discusses current approaches and trends in computer-based modelling of ... more This chapter presents and discusses current approaches and trends in computer-based modelling of pathways and movement networks in archaeology. After an introduction to the theoretical concepts involved, we present a state of the art of methodologies applied for reconstructing pathways and movement in ancient landscapes and discuss the various difficulties in using these methods as well as the most important technical hurdles involved. The problems of integrating optimal pathfinding algorithms with ‘softer’ socio-cultural variables are highlighted, as well as the limitations of modelling connections between places using least-cost path techniques. Network analysis reconstruction and analysis approaches are then reviewed as tools to better understand the overall structure of movement and communication in ancient landscapes. It is concluded that, while the potential of current approaches for understanding ancient movement is considerable, improvement is still needed in three main areas: the integration of approaches, sensitivity analysis and validation, and the theoretical underpinning of models of ancient movement.
Computational Social Sciences, Simulating the Past (Springer, Cham), 2019
In this chapter, a simulation model for better understanding the population dynamics of the limes... more In this chapter, a simulation model for better understanding the population dynamics of the limes zone is presented, building on our earlier study on the possible effects of recruitment of soldiers for the Roman army. In this earlier study, a number of questions were raised concerning the realism of using estimates from historical demographical sources for understanding the population dynamics of the region. In the current paper, the available data sets, approaches and hypotheses regarding fertility and mortality in the Roman period are re-assessed, together with the available archaeological evidence on the population dynamics of the region. A revised model is then presented that allows for more refined experimenting with various demographic scenarios, showing that a much larger number of parameters can be responsible for changes in population growth than is often assumed in archaeological studies. In particular, marriage strategies would seem to play an important role in regulating the number of births. The model remains a work in progress that can be further refined and linked to models of settlement and land use development.
Computational Social Sciences. Simulating the Past (Springer, Cham), 2019
The Dutch Roman limes zone has a rich history of archaeological and historical research. In this ... more The Dutch Roman limes zone has a rich history of archaeological and historical research. In this paper, we present an overview of the current state of knowledge as an introduction to other chapters in this volume dealing with the area’s demography, economy and transport system (Chaps. 2, 3, 7, 9 and 12). The main historical developments are sketched against the background of ongoing archaeological research in the area, and the main hypotheses concerning the development of settlement and the rural economy are discussed.
The Encyclopedia of Archaeological Sciences, 2018
Predictive modeling is a technique to predict the location of archaeological sites in uninvestiga... more Predictive modeling is a technique to predict the location of archaeological sites in uninvestigated areas that has been used since the 1970s to aid spatial planning, for example, in cultural resource management. Predictive modeling is also used to develop and test scientific models of human locational behavior, as it is based on either statistical extrapolation of known archaeological data or explanatory models of site location preference. In practice, a number of methods can be used in predictive modeling, and the resulting maps of predicted site density can vary in accuracy. The main difficulties in producing accurate predictive models are coupled with the resolution and representativeness of the archaeological and nonarchaeological datasets used, the theoretical frameworks underlying the models, and the lack of model testing. Nonetheless, predictive models are very useful to provide basic protection to areas of high sensitivity, and can save costs for archaeological investigations.
Siart, C., Forbriger, M. and Bubenzer, O. (eds.) Digital Geoarchaeology. New Techniques for Interdisciplinary Human-Environmental Research. Cham, Springer, pp. 11-25., 2017
GIS has become an indispensable tool for archaeologists to organize, explore and analyse spatial ... more GIS has become an indispensable tool for archaeologists to organize, explore and analyse spatial data. In this introductory chapter, an historical overview of the development of GIS use in archaeology is given. It focuses on three major fields of application: site location analysis, modelling movement and transport and visibility analysis. This state of the art is illustrated by discussing three different case studies. Finally, some thoughts on the future of GIS in archaeology are presented.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2017
This paper aims to compare network construction techniques and evaluate which one achieves the be... more This paper aims to compare network construction techniques and evaluate which one achieves the best representation of a local provisioning system that connects rural settlements with military castella in the Dutch part of the Roman limes. Using an existing site dataset and a dataset of least-cost path reconstructions between all sites, a number of network construction techniques are described and applied, including maximum distance networks, proximal point networks, a Delaunay triangulation, a Gabriel graph and efficiency networks. They are evaluated using the network metric of average path length and 'local' average path length to reach the castella, along with other indicators. Ultimately the Gabriel graph and proximal point networks with a high number of neighbours proved to be the best representation through a good performance on the evaluated indicators as well as the presence of a number of downsides in the other networks, with the Gabriel graph being slightly better due to a smaller number of links needed. This study thus shows that the choice for a network construction technique in archaeological case studies is important and presents a possible strategy to approach such a problem.
In this study we draw attention to the inherent variability in the results of trial trenching, wh... more In this study we draw attention to the inherent variability in the results of trial trenching, when taking into account the countless variations in orientation and positioning of trenches. Grids of trial trenches were simulated time and again on the excavation plans of 16 archaeological sites from Flanders, Belgium. Orientation and positioning of the grid layout was shifted randomly, whilst the area coverage varied from 2.5% to 80%. The intersection rates of the archaeological features allow to gain more insight in trends and variability that are inherent to the chosen design of trial trenches. It is assessed how robust a chosen grid layout performs on (multi-period) archaeological sites and how variable these results might be. The most effective layout appears to be a grid with short, parallel and discontinuous trenches or a standard grid, closely followed by 2 m wide continuous trenches. Implementing 4 m wide trenches reduces the effectiveness of the latter method substantially. When the area coverage of the trenches is below 10%, the results of the archaeological prospection become unreliable and can potentially lead to a substantial over-or underestimation of the actual feature density on the site.
LAC2014 Proceedings, 2016
This paper describes a method to calculate a " land use heritage map " based on the concept of " ... more This paper describes a method to calculate a " land use heritage map " based on the concept of " memory of landscape ". Such a map can be seen as one variable among many others that can influence site location preference and can be used as input for archaeological predictive models. The computed values equate to an index of long-term land use intensity. This index aims to assess the influence of previous occupation of the landscape on settlement location, in particular Roman rural settlements. The method was applied on a micro-region located in Southern France in order to test its workability. It is concluded that the method is potentially suitable for incorporating the influence of previous occupation in predictive modelling but still needs further refinement in order to be more generally applicable.
LAC2014 Proceedings
In this paper we present the first results of a study that aims to better understand and model th... more In this paper we present the first results of a study that aims to better understand and model the size and development of population in the Dutch Roman limes zone, as part of a larger research project investigating the development of the cultural landscape in the area. Earlier estimates of population size have only used general assumptions based on settlement density and supposed Roman army recruitment requirements and have not considered in any detail the factors influencing population growth and decline. This paper first presents the existing evidence for estimating population size in the area and then discusses the evidence for mortality and fertility estimates in the Roman period, necessary to better understand the large-scale demographic processes involved. From this evidence, new estimates for population size in the Early and Middle Roman period are calculated, using agent-based modelling to better understand the dynamics of population growth and the effects of recruitment of soldiers by the Roman army. It is concluded that earlier calculations underestimated the potential for population growth as well as the effect of forced recruitment on demography.
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Papers by Philip Verhagen
MOTS CLÉS archéologie spatiale, système de peuplement, mobilité, territoire, réseau, maillage
ABSTRACT In archaeology, movement is often studied on the basis of evidence for specific roads, which implicitly structures our understanding of the settlement system. Conversely, spatial analysis of regional settlement systems, based on locations, also tends to structure our understanding of movement. However, when it comes to studying the development or transformation of a landscape, this dichotomy makes our reasoning circular. Does a crossroads emerge from the habitat or is the habitat located at the crossroads because it is an opportunity for development? By favouring an approach to mobility that is based on the analysis of movement practices of human or non-human agents, two international projects, MoveScape and Redes andinas, work on a methodological approach in which various conceptions of space experienced by societies can be associated to movement, and that incorporates material traces that are traditionally not integrated into the study of movement.
RESUMEN La arqueología de los antiguos sistemas de movilidad se basa generalmente en el estudio de vías específicas, las cuales son relacionadas implícitamente al patrón de asentamiento regional. Recíprocamente, la aproxi-mación a partir de los patrones de asentamiento tiende a condicionar a priori nuestra visión de los flujos de movilidad. Esta dicotomía tiende a producir razonamientos circulares que no contribuyen al estudio de la morfogénesis de los territorios. Este problema puede resumirse en una simple pregunta: los cruces de caminos se desarrollan en función de los sistemas de asentamiento, o bien condicionan la estructuración de estos sistemas? À partir de protocolos de análisis de vestigios arqueológicos de prácticas de movilidad de agentes (humanos y no-humanos) en distintas regiones, los proyectos MoveScape y Redes andinas están desarrollando una metodología para modelizar los procesos de estructuración entre sistemas de movilidad y asentamiento, en el tiempo largo.
MOTS CLÉS archéologie spatiale, système de peuplement, mobilité, territoire, réseau, maillage
ABSTRACT In archaeology, movement is often studied on the basis of evidence for specific roads, which implicitly structures our understanding of the settlement system. Conversely, spatial analysis of regional settlement systems, based on locations, also tends to structure our understanding of movement. However, when it comes to studying the development or transformation of a landscape, this dichotomy makes our reasoning circular. Does a crossroads emerge from the habitat or is the habitat located at the crossroads because it is an opportunity for development? By favouring an approach to mobility that is based on the analysis of movement practices of human or non-human agents, two international projects, MoveScape and Redes andinas, work on a methodological approach in which various conceptions of space experienced by societies can be associated to movement, and that incorporates material traces that are traditionally not integrated into the study of movement.
RESUMEN La arqueología de los antiguos sistemas de movilidad se basa generalmente en el estudio de vías específicas, las cuales son relacionadas implícitamente al patrón de asentamiento regional. Recíprocamente, la aproxi-mación a partir de los patrones de asentamiento tiende a condicionar a priori nuestra visión de los flujos de movilidad. Esta dicotomía tiende a producir razonamientos circulares que no contribuyen al estudio de la morfogénesis de los territorios. Este problema puede resumirse en una simple pregunta: los cruces de caminos se desarrollan en función de los sistemas de asentamiento, o bien condicionan la estructuración de estos sistemas? À partir de protocolos de análisis de vestigios arqueológicos de prácticas de movilidad de agentes (humanos y no-humanos) en distintas regiones, los proyectos MoveScape y Redes andinas están desarrollando una metodología para modelizar los procesos de estructuración entre sistemas de movilidad y asentamiento, en el tiempo largo.
The book shows the added value of state-of-the-art computer modelling techniques and bridges computational and conventional approaches. Topics that will be of particular interest to archaeologists are the question of (forced) surplus production, the demographic and economic effects of the Roman occupation on the local population, and the structuring of transport networks and settlement patterns. For modellers, issues of sensitivity analysis and validation of modelling results are specifically addressed. This book will appeal to students and researchers working in the computational humanities and social sciences, in particular, archaeology and ancient history.
kennis zijn van belang om de betrouwbaarheid en efficiëntie van
methoden van prospectieonderzoek te vergroten. Ze vormen een
welkome en noodzakelijke aanvulling op de gegevens die al zijn
verzameld voor de KNA-leidraden booronderzoek en proefsleuven.
In beide leidraden werd al geconstateerd dat de onderbouwing
van de aanbevolen strategieën nog verbeterd kan worden door het
verzamelen en analyseren van meer gegevens over de relevante
prospectiekenmerken van archeologische vindplaatsen. Daarmee
kan een betere (getalsmatige) onderbouwing worden gegeven van
de aanbevolen strategieën, en ook een nader onderscheid worden
gemaakt in de prospectie kenmerken van verschillende complextypen in verschillende landschappelijke contexten.
In dit onderzoek stond het verzamelen van gegevens over de prospectiekenmerken van Steentijdvindplaatsen centraal. Deze categorie vindplaatsen geniet zowel vanuit beleidsoogpunt als vanuit wetenschappelijk oogpunt op dit moment de hoogste prioriteit.
The aim of this session is to take a look at what results GIS delivers for archaeological interpretation and how the use of spatial technologies influences research design. We therefore encourage participants to present papers that focus on the role and perception of GIS in their research. Case studies are welcomed that show examples of GIS-based landscape or intra-site research. Questions that could be addressed are:
- What is the added value of GIS to archaeological interpretation, and what are the limitations?
- Can GIS be used successfully as a central research framework that allows researchers to combine their data in one
environment and achieve a better interaction and dialogue between disciplines?
- How do we find the right methods and tools to deal with our data?
- How do we deal with the debate between the scientistic and interpretative schools of archaeology?
- How do we deal with the GIS based interpretations within our own scientific environments (academic debate, our
countries etc.)
- Do the GIS based interpretations change the embedded perceptions of the past?
On 26 and 27 January 2017, we will organize a conference at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam to present and discuss the preliminary results of our project. You are cordially invited to attend this event and participate in the debate.
Registration is free of charge, and includes coffee/tea and lunch. Please register through the conference website: https://limeslimits.wordpress.com/project-conference-2017
PDFs of the presentations can be downloaded from https://limeslimits.wordpress.com/seminar-2016/
Flanders Heritage Agency therefore has carried out simulations of various trial trenching strategies on excavated site plans from Flanders in order to better understand these effects. The results of this study clearly indicate that low area coverage results in a higher risk of feature densities being wrongly estimated, and thus confirm earlier research results based on statistical modelling. Secondly, the simulations underline the large inherent variation in the possible results of trial trenching campaigns.
The method employed can easily be transferred to other site types and survey methods to estimate the risk of survey results deviating from the actual feature density. It is therefore a useful tool to find the balance between the research effort applied and the reliability of survey results.
In this paper we will discuss these issues using the example of surplus production in the Dutch Roman limes. Recent research - contradicting earlier studies - has suggested that the Dutch River Area possessed sufficient resources to produce a food surplus that could be traded with the Roman occupiers. However, we still don’t know how the change of the supposedly self-sufficient pre-Roman economy to a more market-based economy came about. Was a drastic redistribution of labour necessary, did agricultural practices change, were changes in settlement pattern and territorial division required for a more efficient allocation and redistribution of resources, and why do we seem to witness population growth despite the increased pressure on resources by the Roman administration? In trying to come to terms with these questions, we had to use and develop middle-range theoretical concepts that would allow us to set up plausible models and scenarios of surplus production, and compare these with the archaeological record. In this way, we have tried to build theory bottom-up, instead of relying on (too) grand theories to explain the archaeological record.
As a dynamic fluvial landscape, the Dutch river area is an excellent example of an environment where people would often require multimodal transport systems to exchange information, distribute resources and maintain social contacts. During the Roman period, the Dutch river area formed part of the Roman limes and witnessed the shift from subsistence to surplus agricultural production to at least partially supply the Roman military population, meaning that transport on local to regional scales must have intensified. Furthermore, the Dutch river area possesses extensive datasets from both archaeological as well as physical geographical research, which makes it an ideal testing ground for spatial computational approaches.
This paper aims to study the role of multimodal transport systems as part of the interconnections within the local population as well as between the local population and the Roman military population in the Dutch river area. The research forms part of the NWO-funded “Finding the limits of the limes” project, which aims to investigate the cultural landscape of the Dutch Roman limes, especially concerning the spatial and economic relations between the local and military populations, through spatial dynamical modelling.
To achieve this, a detailed palaeogeographic map is constructed for the study area that allows for least cost modelling of both land-based and water-based connections, as well as a combination of transport modes. Cumulative cost path networks (Verhagen, 2013) are then modelled for different scenarios that represent factors such as the (non-)availability of certain transport modes. Problems that arise and have to be overcome when modelling multimodal transport connections are the heterogeneity of energy consumption in land- and water-based transport, as well as the possibility that water-based transport has the capacity to carry multiple persons and goods, which can be remedied for instance by applying directional cost maps for water transport and using varying access costs for water transport modes. The resulting networks can be compared using network analysis (Verhagen et al., 2014), which can identify sites of central importance in (mass) transport networks and explain the position of military sites in transport networks. Accurate dating of archaeological sites also allows the study of the evolution of transport networks chronologically.
1) An environment that was not settled before, offering the best soils and an advantageous topographic position?
2) A site that was occupied before, offering e.g. building materials that were left behind?
3) Or an environment that had already been adapted, e.g. by clearances, parcellation or soil improvements?
In order to study this effect, we developed a method to calculate a ‘heritage map’ based on the concept of ‘memory of landscape’. Such a map can be seen as one variable among many others influencing site location preference, and can be used as input for predictive models. The computed values equate to an index of long-term land use intensity. In this paper, we will first discuss the method used for creating the heritage map, in particular the calculation of an optimal radius for the settlement surroundings that needs to be taken into account, for which kernel density estimates are used.
We will then present the results of using this heritage map for the analysis of location preferences for the Roman period in two different study areas in the southeast of France (Vaunage and Argens). From earlier analyses (Nuninger et al. 2012; Verhagen et al. 2013) it was clear that the influence of the natural environment on settlement location choice in the Roman period is limited. In contrast, the ‘memory of landscape’ seems to have a stronger influence on the placement of new settlements. We will discuss the implications of this for predictive modelling of settlement patterns.
When investigating transport and networks in the Roman Empire, most interest has gone to the Roman military road network, for which archaeological data is plentiful. However, transport occurs on various levels of scale, for different purposes and by different agents and modes. Furthermore, there are external factors which influence the behaviour of transport, examples of which include the limitations and opportunities of the natural environment and political choices. The ability to investigate the functioning of all these transport networks through traditional archaeological research is limited by the nature of the (archaeological) evidence. Therefore alternative approaches are required to fully explore the dynamics of this part of the cultural landscape.
This paper will firstly present a conceptual model for transport dynamics in the Dutch limes. It ideally includes all possible variants of networks and decisions that can be made to establish or avoid certain connections. This model is subsequently applied and analysed in a case study on a part of the Dutch limes, utilising a reconstructed settlement pattern and natural landscape based on existing palaeoenvironmental and archaeological data. The application of this method enables greater insight into the relative importance of governing factors in transport dynamics. It also sheds new light on archaeological questions such as site hierarchy within the cultural landscape, network diversity, and the choice of location of newly founded settlements or even military sites such as forts (castella).
Using an innovative interdisciplinary approach to answer such archaeological questions poses challenges as well, concerning issues such as the validity of the assumptions and methods applied, the shortcomings of the available (archaeological) datasets and the manner by which these uncertainties are taken into account in drawing archaeological interpretations. Working within the interaction between archaeology and science, this study shows how these challenges can be approached and how this integrative framework adds value to archaeological research.
The issue therefore surely is not just a technological one; there is a reluctance, or maybe even resistance within the discipline to deal with uncertainty in archaeological site data. Instead, we are trying to make uncertainty disappear by using ever more precise mapping tools. Uncertainty is however a complex topic that not just involves measurement errors, but all kinds of ambiguities that cannot be easily captured in quantitative terms; furthermore, it is a dynamic property, since new research is often carried out in order to reduce uncertainties in existing data. And while some researchers have tried to deal with this, e.g. by using the concepts of fuzzy logic (e.g. Green 2008; Nicolucci and Hermon 2010; De Runz et al. 2011), aoristic analysis (e.g. Crema 2011), or by using more complex data models (e.g. Rodier and Saligny 2008), an approach to comprehensively address uncertainty in archaeological mapping still has to be developed.
In this paper, I will approach the issue from a practical point of view. The Dutch national archaeological database ARCHIS is a major source of archaeological information in The Netherlands. Yet, its quality is considered to be below the standards needed for scientific archaeological research purposes. Using an example dealing with settlement data from the Roman period, I will highlight the problems of systematically addressing this quality issue, but also how we can use this knowledge of uncertainty to advantage in publication and analysis. I will specifically focus on the problems of dating, reliability of location and reliability of interpretation of finds.
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However, these methods do not provide much information on the possible foci of movement in the landscape. We argue that to this purpose some additional steps are needed. We depart from the creation of multiple least cost paths from and to random locations (Verhagen in press). This will result in structures of least cost paths that resemble networks with different weights attached to the edges, but that do not have any real ‘nodes’, similar to the kind of structures that are analysed in space syntax or other forms of spatial network analysis. We can then assume that edges with a high weight will have been most attractive to travel, and thus may have been more attractive to settlement as well. However, the presence of settlement itself must undoubtedly have influenced travel intensity, and a combination of landscape based accessibility and network analysis techniques would seem necessary to get a grip of their combined influence. An exploratory network analysis was therefore performed to examine a range of structural features of the junctions in the landscape that were identified by the least cost paths. The relative prominence of these nodes as indicated through different network measures was then compared with their relative position to features in the landscape and with their relative position on the least cost paths.
Unfortunately, satisfying software solutions to combine the raster-GIS cost surface techniques with node-and-edge-based network analysis software are missing at the moment. In this paper we want to present an exploration into possible solutions, and show some examples of what might be done by combining both analysis techniques, focusing on settlement location analysis and predictive modelling.
References
LLOBERA, M., 2000. Understanding movement: a pilot model towards the sociology of movement In Lock, G. (ed.) Beyond the Map. Archaeology and Spatial Technologies, pp: 65-84. IOS Press/Ohmsha, Amsterdam.
VERHAGEN, P., in press. On the road to nowhere? Least cost paths, accessibility and the predictive modelling perspective. Proceedings of CAA2010, Granada.
For this study, we have departed from the methodology developed in the 1990s during the Archaeomedes Project (Favory et al. 1999, van der Leeuw 1998; van der Leeuw et al. 2003; Nuninger et al. 2007). By analyzing the surroundings of Roman settlements in the French Rhône Valley, it proved possible to make cross-regional comparisons of settlement location factors, in particular slope, aspect, solar radiation and soil type. However, at the time this method was not used for PM purposes, and did not include an analysis of non-environmental factors. For the current research, we modified this approach, and analyzed not just the surroundings of the known Roman settlements, but of every pixel in three different study regions, Vaunage (Languedoc, France), Argens-Maures (Provence, France) and Zuid-Limburg (Netherlands). Furthermore, the set of variables analyzed was expanded with a number of ‘socio-cultural’ factors, in particular accessibility, visibility, and the effect of previous occupation (the ‘memory of landscape’). From this, we created predictive models using a combination of principal component analysis and cluster analysis. By making a side-by-side comparison of predictive models based on environmental variables, and models based on a combination of environmental and socio-cultural ones, we could show that, at least for this particular archaeological context, the inclusion of socio-cultural variables will increase the predictive power of the models. More importantly however, we have developed a protocol for PM using both environmental and socio-cultural factors that can easily be implemented for different regions and time periods.
REFERENCES
Favory, F., Girardot, J.-J., Nuninger, L., Tourneux F.-P. 1999. ARCHAEOMEDES II : une étude de la dynamique de l’habitat rural en France méridionale, dans la longue durée (800 av. J.-C.-1600 ap. J.-C.). AGER 9, 15-35.
Nuninger, L., Tourneux, F.-P., Favory, F. - From Archaeomedes to Archaedyn. In: Poslushny, A., Lambers, K., Herzog, I. eds. – Layers of perception, proceedings of the 35th Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Achaeology Conference, Berlin, Germany, April 2-6, 2007, Bonn (Germany): Habelt, 2008 (Kolloquien zur Vor- und Frühgeschichte, vol. 10) : p. 278 and CD.
Van der Leeuw, S.E. (Ed.) (1998). The Archaeomedes Project - Understanding the natural and anthropogenic causes of land degradation and desertification in the Mediterranean. Luxemburg: Office for Official Publications of the European Union.
Van der Leeuw, S., Favory, F. & Fiches, J.-L. (Eds.) (2003). Archéologie et systèmes socio-environnementaux: études multiscalaires sur la vallée du Rhône dans le programme ARCHAEOMEDES. Valbonne: Presses du CNRS (Monographies du CRA).
For our current research, we have used this method not just for the characterisation of the settlements’ context, but also for predictive modelling purposes. In most published predictive modelling studies, comparison of settlement and environmental characteristics is done for the sites’ locations only, and the immediate surroundings of the settlements are not usually taken into account. The environmental contexts of settlements can however be defined with relative ease with the method described. It is then a small step to extrapolate the classification results to all locations in the landscape, and see how well these correspond to a context that is known to contain settlements. However, for predictive modelling we also need information on the occurrence and distribution of contexts that do not have settlements. For this reason, we have extended the analysis to characterize the context of each position (pixel) in the landscape. Furthermore, we have tried to add new, ‘socio-cultural’ descriptors to the ones already used, like visibility, accessibility, the hierarchical position of settlements and the effect of previous occupation (‘the memory of landscape’). In this way, it will become possible to move away from a purely environmentally based characterization and prediction of settlement patterns.
The ambition is to develop quantified spatio-temporal palaeo-economic scenarios of agrarian production in a complex context. The study area and period offer two challenges in this respect. Firstly, the Roman Empire developed macro-economic policies concerning taxation and land ownership that strongly influenced the local agrarian economy. Furthermore, the Dutch part of the limes zone is located in the Rhine-Meuse delta, a dynamic fluvial environment in which the Romans developed a sophisticated water management infrastructure. An integral analysis of the socio-economic system in that area therefore has to consider all the local, regional and supra-regional factors involved in economic development. The interaction of environmental, economic and socio-cultural factors must also be examined. The Dutch limes zone is one of the archaeologically best researched areas in the world. Consequently, a rich set of archaeological and palaeo-environmental data has been collected over the past decades. It is therefore an ideal laboratory area to construct new models of the development of the cultural landscape.
This paper will present the project's research strategy and its intended outcomes. It is based on three separate but closely related axes of investigation:
• agricultural production modelling on the basis of archaeobotanical and archaeozoological data;
• palaeo-demographic modelling on the basis of archaeological (survey and excavation) data;
• and spatial analysis of settlement development and interaction using GIS and network analysis techniques.
All these analyses will be done at various spatial scales (household, settlement, micro-region and region). The modelling components will rely on agent-based modelling as a primary tool to better understand the underlying processes of settlement and land use development in space and time. However, equally important will be the construction of a complete and reliable archaeological data set of the region for purposes of testing the models and facilitating further research. In this way, the project aims to connect the empirical and theoretical angles of research in the area, and to provide more insight into the uncertainties of data sets as well as interpretational frameworks.
However, the challenge remains to apply a global, comparative approach to regional settings, especially when comparing across national borders. In particular, there is a tension between two contrary perspectives: understanding human experience and contingency on the one hand, and studying trends and similarities in settlement system trajectories on the other. The first one relies mostly on simulation modelling and complexity theory, while the second one is more based on ´traditional´ quantitative methods and spatial analysis, promoting analytical simplicity. To understand regional trajectories within a multiscalar context, however, both approaches appear fundamental.
In this round-table we want to evaluate and discuss current approaches to comparative inter-regional analysis in various European countries. How can we exploit existing datasets, stemming from different scientific and heritage management traditions, for cross-border studies? How to develop common procedures for diachronic analysis, applicable to both large-scale questions and regional settings? How to build a bridge between different theoretical and conceptual frameworks?
In this session, we invite papers demonstrating and reflecting on the use of low-cost digital tools for archaeology. Over the past 25 years, archaeology has become more and more ‘digitized’ – but it comes at the price of investing considerable amounts of money in the necessary hardware, software, training and hiring of personnel. The availability of adequate digital tools for archaeologists can therefore be uneven, depending on the allocated financial means in different parts of the world, and in different environments (universities, government services and enterprises). While in some cases we can profit from a general trend of technology becoming ever more cheaper (drones, GPS, Structure From Motion, and open source software), in other cases, access to digital technology is much more problematic (proprietary software platforms, advanced geophysical and laser-scanning equipment, supercomputing access). On top of that, the price of digital data varies enormously as well. How do these barriers influence the way that archaeologists are using digital technology in their work all over the world? What are the best ways to profit optimally from digital tools, even when money is hard to find? And can archaeologists develop their own low-cost solutions, and to share these with colleagues?
In archaeology, digital technology has up to now been mainly the province of experts. Mastering digital techniques is not an easy task, and will go at the expense of doing other aspects of archaeology. The consequence, however, is that ‘digital archaeology’ is mostly seen as a technicians' specialization, whereas in current society new technologies take an ever more central role. We think that this separation of the digital side of archaeology from its mainstream discourse is detrimental to the integration of new technologies into archaeological practice. In order to critically reflect on the use of new technologies, we need to properly understand them. In this session we want to address how ‘thinking digitally’ can be integrated in the archaeological curriculum. How are we going to create a fruitful dialogue between the practices and theories of archaeology and the digital world? What skills should students master, even when they are not going to be experts in digital archaeology? What teaching methods are most appropriate? How can we educate the professionals? How can we ensure transdisciplinarity between archaeology and computer science? And how can we engage the computer science community to help educate new professionals?
At CAA2015, we organized a fruitful and stimulating session on spatio-temporal modelling of socio-economic processes in archaeology. At this year’s conference, we want to continue the debate, and in particular focus on the issue of establishing boundaries of production. Past societies, whether they were hunter-gatherers or complex state societies, were all forced to deal with the problem of producing sufficient food and other resources to meet economic as well as social demands.
The debate on the limitations of socio-economic systems for the production of resources is currently more often based on educated guesses than on a good understanding of the processes involved. The interplay between the (potential) availability of resources, and the necessary workforce, technology and socio-economic structures (like land ownership, taxation or access to markets) is a complex field of study, in which significant steps forward are being made through the combined use of GIS, statistical simulation and dynamical systems and agent-based modelling.
We are, however, still far removed from a common modelling approach to these issues that will allow us to easily make cross-regional, multi-scalar and diachronic comparisons. In this session, we want to address questions such as:
– what data sources and variables to include
– what modelling techniques and analysis protocols to use
– what theoretical frameworks to apply
– how to model at different scale levels
– and how to interpret the results of our models.
We therefore specifically want to invite papers dealing with one or more of the following issues:
– demographic processes and their socio-economic impact
– competition for resources at different scale levels, from the household to the state
– settlement patterns, territories, accessibility and control of resources
– the role of socio-economic and cultural constraints
– the utility of ethnographic data and comparisons
– sensitivity analysis of modelling approaches
– modelling with large data sets
Research on transport systems thus far has largely focused on the documented and partly surviving road systems, ranging from the Roman imperial road systems known from the itineraries and the Peutinger Table to the road systems documented by medieval cartographers, even when it is well known that secondary road systems were in use simultaneously. Empirical evidence for the existence, location and chronology, particularly for secondary roads, is however scarce in many cases. In addition, transport over water (both fluvial and coastal) is often not considered. In order to bridge the gap between our theoretical notions of short- to medium-distance transport and the surviving (archaeological and historical) evidence for transport systems, in this session we want to focus on the practical and theoretical implications of using spatial modelling and analysis techniques, such as GIS-based cost surface modelling and social network analysis, for better understanding transport at the local and regional scales. We want to explore in what way spatial modelling can provide more insight into the organisation of local and regional transport, as well as the implications it has for the interpretation of the position, function and potential for trade of settlements within the local and regional transport system. We specifically invite papers that deal with:
1) new approaches to modelling transport networks, including aspects of differential access to the system, different modes of (wheeled) transport and diverse cost considerations (energetic, economic etc.);
2) studies that combine transport network modelling and quantitative analysis approaches such as social network analysis;
3) studies that link transport networks to models of trade/exchange at the local and regional scale;
4) applications of transport network modelling in different landscapes and environments
• An ArcGIS ASCII-grid is imported into a matrix (array);
each element in the matrix represents an excavation square, with a corresponding number of finds;
• An equilateral triangular core sampling grid is simulated 100,000 times, changing the starting position and rotation of the grid in each run; because of this, the sampling points will be in different locations in each run
• In each run, the density of finds is registered for each sampling point (on the condition that finds are present). Using Stone's (1981) equation, the detection probability of this find density is determined, depending on the diameter of the core used. The probability of observing the finds in the core sample is always set equal to 1.
• The detection probability is compared to a random number between 0 and 1; if this number is lower, the core sample is considered successful in detecting one or more finds.
• The number of successful cores is summed for each run, and the total number of succesful cores is presented at the end of the simulation.
This model is an appendix to Verhagen, P., Rensink, E., Bats, M., Crombé, P., 2011. Optimale strategieën voor het opsporen van Steentijdvindplaatsen met behulp van booronderzoek. Een statistisch perspectief. Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, Amersfoort (Rapportages Archeologische Monumentenzorg 197).
The model is applied in the context of recruitment practices of the Roman army in the Dutch limes zone. In the Early and Middle Roman period (15 BC - 275 AD), the Roman authorities levied soldiers from the local, Batavian population. The effects of this practice on demography and economy are poorly understood. The model is specifically intended to simulate what happens to the reproduction rate if a proportion of the male population is recruited, and taken from the marriage pool.
The model shows that, if the assumption of non-marriage of soldiers is correct, then the effects of recruitment on population growth will be considerable. The model results indicate that there is an 'optimal' recruitment that will leave the population stationary, and will guarantee the steady supply of recruits. This optimal level depends on the natural population growth. With higher levels of recruitment, the populations will quickly go in decline. Very low levels of recruitment on the other hand will require very large populations to supply sufficient recruits.
This model is an appendix to Verhagen, P., J. Joyce and M. Groenhuijzen 2016. 'Modelling the dynamics of demography in the Dutch limes zone'. LAC2014 Proceedings, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (http://dx.doi.org/10.5463/lac.2014.62)
t-test
ANOVA