Tom Brughmans

This article addresses a significant challenge hindering large-scale research into past human social networks: the lack of structured and standardised documentation for published network data, alongside inconsistent community-wide adoption of such practices. Although the community of practitioners applying network analysis to historical and archaeological sources remains small and the corpus of available network datasets is still limited, there is a clear demand for shared infrastructural resources, which are increasingly viewed as essential to sustaining and scaling the field. To overcome these obstacles, the authors propose a formulation of past network data standards that reflect current usage and identify missing components to achieve best practices while adhering to the FAIR and LOUD principles of Open Science. The proposed standards aim to enhance understanding of data provenance, licensing, and feasibility for specific research scenarios, while also promoting reproducibility and facilitating the automation of data reuse for large-scale comparative studies. Additionally, the Past Networks Repository was developed to support the uptake of these common standards and improve resource findability. The repository explicitly implements these data standards to facilitate collaboration and research dissemination.

Ancient infrastructure can leave lasting imprints on modern settlement patterns and mobility. The Roman road network connected vast regions of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, and is often mentioned as an example of such long-term impact. Yet its structural characteristics remain largely unquantified. Here we present a high spatial resolution quantitative exploratory analysis of the Roman Empire’s road system, enabled by our creation of a spatially detailed Empire-wide dataset. We address long-standing questions concerning the straightness and persistence of these roads, and the centrality of cities like Rome. We show that Roman roads tend to be straight where topography allows but less so than modern roads; provincial capitals were more centrally located than other cities for mediating terrestrial mobility; segments hypothesised to be main roads were more important intermediaries than secondary roads; and Roman road density correlates with major modern roads.

The Roman Empire’s road system was critical for structuring the movement of people, goods and ideas, and sustaining imperial control. Yet, it remains incompletely mapped and poorly integrated across sources despite centuries of research. We present Itiner-e, the most detailed and comprehensive open digital dataset of roads in the entire Roman Empire. It was created by identifying roads from archaeological and historical sources, locating them using modern and historical topographic maps and remote sensing, and digitising them with road segment-level metadata and certainty categories. The dataset nearly doubles the known length of Roman roads through increased coverage and spatial precision, and reveals that the location of only 2.737% are known with certainty. This resource is transformative for understanding how mobility shaped connectivity, administration, and even disease transmission in the ancient world, and for studies of the millennia-long development of terrestrial mobility in the region.

This paper presents novel insights into the long-term chronological patterns related to the distribution and consumption of amphora-borne foodstuffs in Italy. The study specifically focuses on the consumption of wine, olive oil and fish sauces, which exhibit diverse provenances. Notably, it contributes significantly to our understanding of the Roman economy by utilising an open dataset and a replicable research method. The analysis reveals a pronounced growth pattern during the late Republican to early Imperial period. Importantly, quantitative evidence demonstrates that the diverse consumption pattern observed in the capital city of Rome is less exceptional than previously believed. The study draws upon a substantial dataset comprising 28,851 diagnostic amphora fragments excavated and documented from 28 different urban and rural settlements in the North Adriatic and Central Italy, spanning the period from the 4th c. BCE to the 7th c. CE. The analytical approach employs a probabilistic aoristic method, evenly distributing amphora frequencies across relevant date ranges.

Agent-based modelling (ABM) is one of the most widely applied computational modelling research techniques in archaeology, because it is well suited to the questions asked by archaeologists. However, the access to vocational training for ABM is limited. In this paper we present the Open Educational Resources (OER) that we produced in an international cooperation. For this purpose, we created online and open tutorials for ABM for archaeologists. In addition, how-to guides and support material were created, both for teachers and students. The materials adhere to international (European) standards in relation to education and the Digital Skills Passport for archaeology. The teaching materials have been well tested using a diverse group of archaeologists during various international conferences and meetings. It was shown that the knowledge and skills of the participants in relation to ABM improved. In addition, the demand for the teaching materials and the workshops was high, ensuring that the tutorials on ABM will be used in the future.

La investigación de redes en arqueología es una subdisciplina en auge, en la que una gran diversidad de preguntas de investigación sobre el pasado humano se estudian a través de la teoría relacional y los métodos formales de redes. Este artículo pretende exponer el potencial de la investigación de redes en arqueología. Para ello, comenzamos definiendo la propia subdisciplina, abordando la importancia de cada uno de los elementos que la constituyen y qué tipo de preguntas históricas pueden resolverse a través de ella. Como resultado, tratamos de que el lector comprenda mejor “qué” es la investigación de redes, “qué” podemos hacer con ella y, lo que es más importante, “por qué” la necesitamos.

Network Science in Archaeology - April 2023