Modelling Prehistoric Networks of Slavonia is a research project funded by Croatian Science Foundation (IP-2019-04-5344). The main goal of the project is to understand the social dynamic in the late Neolithic Slavonia through computational simulations and the development of social and cultural relations and change models which will be built using data collected by field and laboratory research within the project, as well as the results of the previously conducted research. The existing framework of archaeological interpretations relies on theoretical models and concepts developed by other social and humanistic disciplines, formed during the first half of the 20th century and as such proved inadequate for a comprehensive understanding of social dynamics in the past. Paradigmatic changes in the 21st century archeology require new theories and explanatory models for the interpretation of life in the past. As part of the project, agent-based modelling (ABM) will be used, because it produces results that reflect stochastic complexity, similar to the history of human activities, thus exceeding the traditional limitations of interpretation and analysis of the past. This project will involve experts from 4 scientific fields: archaeology, geology, biology and sociology. Each of the team members is an expert in specific research issues and analysis of specific data sets: analysis of material culture, spatial data analysis, data science, agent-based modelling, social dynamics, field research and remote sensing, geological and geo-archaeological analysis, and analysis of fauna and plant residues. Large and heterogeneous data sets collected during the project will be analysed and modeled by computational methods through new ways of conceptualization, scale and resolution in social complexity and change research. Through the application of ABM, mutual relations of different variables in a spatial environment populated by agents that mimic social behavior will be investigated in order to build models of possible causes and reasons of social dynamics and social change in the Neolithic Slavonia.
- Izvođač: Rajna Šošić Klindžić