Network Analysis in Archaeology: New Approaches to Regional Interaction

by Carl Knappett (editor)

While the study of networks has grown exponentially in the past decade and is now having an impact on how archaeologists study ancient societies, its emergence in the field has been dislocated. This volume provides a coherent framework on network analysis in current archaeological practice by pulling together its main themes and approaches to show how it is changing the way archaeologists face the key questions of regional interaction.

Working with the term 'network' as a collection of nodes and links, as used in network science and social network analysis, it juxtaposes a range of case studies and investigates the positives and negatives of network analysis. With contributions by leading experts in the field, the volume covers a broad from Japan to America, from the Palaeolithic to the Precolumbian.

Genres: Archaeology

372 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Avinash Hindupur · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great introduction to network analysis covering a wide variety of approaches, complexities, and archaeological contexts. The disparate datasets in studies across the chapters showcase the various angles which can be explored while also forcing us to first define what it means to be a node or an edge in the network.

This book makes me excited to see how the field incorporates temporal networks and sparse data to hopefully unlock new insights, especially when applied to ancient and classical periods of India.