Umeå University's logo

Network methods have seen a rapid rise in archaeology in recent years. There are still concerns regarding how well formal networks are able to effectively model local interaction. These are often present in the so-called qualitative network approaches—studies that tend to be based on close readings of relations between entities and the way they form dynamic networks of agents. Such studies have demonstrated the value in scrutinizing the way in which relations might be acted on in practice, and how that might differ from expected results. But rarely do such studies produce network data of the kind analyzed by formal network analytical methods. Formal approaches, on the other hand, blur the specificity of individual relations and trade much of their specificity for the ability to make general statements about relations across large datasets. More generally, the modality of the relation/edge is a crucial way in which formal network analysis differs from other prevalent relational approaches popular in archaeology today, where the substantivity of individual relations is paramount. Such relations are often seen as starting points for subsequent hybridizations that radically alter, if only temporarily, the structure of their respective networks. I argue that a key step in allowing networks to reformulate from initial, data-driven network schemata is the introduction of a more symmetrical agency between the node and the edge. In this article, I discuss how ethnographic sources can be used to achieve this for archaeological survey data. I use assemblage theory as a framework to explore the potential the edge has to offer archaeological network modelling. While assemblage theory is helpful for this purpose, the lack of a computational formality to assemblage theory immediately places it at odds with network science. As a complement, I will also employ the computational ontology CIDOC-CRM to more explicitly articulate the character of links between nodes in archaeological networks. The paper will end by suggesting a method of network modelling which integrates the line as a key source of agency. As a nod to Ingold’s call for an increased emphasis on the line, I call this approach network linaeology.

It has been common to view the Icelandic economy either from the perspective of the individual farm in terms of its productivity or at the national scale in terms of trade and the role of imports/exports. Given the fact that the economy was largely a tenant-based system with a small number of landowners, there is an important middle ground between the household economics of individual farms and the state-sanctioned trade structures that needs to be explored. The objective of this paper is to examine this middle ground and the way the economy was structured in relation to property ownership and tenancy using the case study of the bishopric of Skálholt during the 17th and 18th centuries. Adopting a modified system of provision approach, three scales of analysis are adopted: the settlement itself, the immediate environs and finally the wider regional property network. Tracing the connections outward at successive scales reveals the complex nature of the economic infrastructure behind one of the largest landowners in Iceland at this time.

As the title suggests, this thesis applies historical documentation as a connective tissue to link together the main conceptual classes in Iceland’s largest SMR, Ísleif. These are the roughly 6000 historic farmsteads used as a classification scheme in Johnsen’s 1847 land census Jarðatal Johnsens. This thesis has three main components. It is primarily an infrastructural work, and most of the time spent on the thesis went into building the underlying database, made in a way to be accessible to a wide audience and integrated with related research infrastructures already in place and in development. Secondly, it is a methodological work, as the highly detailed inter-site relationships encoded in the infrastructure allowed me to model highly contextual networks, which in turn enabled me to develop new methods for modelling archaeo-historical networks by using the computational ontology CIDOC-CRM. Finally, the historiographical component of the thesis investigates the role of networks of interactions between farmsteads in early 18th century Iceland, and more specifically the role of resource claim networks in land use during the post-Reformation and earlier periods.

It is a truism nowadays to say that an archaeological site is embedded in extensive networks of relations. Connectivity has played a role in archaeological thinking for a considerable amount of time, and the adoption by archaeologists of both theoretical and methodological frameworks centring connectivity has become widespread. One such example is network analysis, which has seen a significant surge in interest within the field over the past two decades. Archaeological network analysis is far from a mature science, however, and the character of the archaeological record tends to yield networks with richly contextualised nodes connected by ties that, in stark contrast, are often based on very limited evidence for connectivity. Furthermore, archaeological networks are often accompanied by limited discussion about the implications for a connection between two sites interpreted through a commonality in material culture. In particular, the use of historical records to contextualise the interactions between sites remains somewhat uncommon. This paper takes an archaeo-historical network perspective by characterising land-use practices in early modern Iceland by mapping property records describing relations of ownership, resource claims and social obligations alongside comprehensive field archaeological surveys as extensive networks of interdependence between the known farmstead sites occupied at the time. This approach shows that these vibrant networks, documented both spatially and historically, regularly show signs of emergent properties. As these intersite relations begin to exert their own agency, the networks are cut, and the network lines begin to bundle up in knots and entanglements. The study, therefore, does not aim to quantify the presented networks using formal network analysis, but to use the networks as a starting point to investigate the properties that emerge as people aim to enact and materialise networks of property rights, resource claims and exchange.

This report provides an overview of the main remote sensing methods and geodata types used in archaeological prospection and cultural heritage survey. Based on a literature review, it provides an initial survey of the state of the art nationally and internationally, followed by details on the potential usage of different methods in a Swedish context. The details include pros and cons of methods as well as information on considerations that should be taken into account when applying the methods in different situations. Examples are provided where relevant to explain specific details or illustrate important points. Particular attention has been paid to laser scanning (LiDAR) data due to its increasing prevalence and prominence in landscape and archaeological surveys.

The report continues with a preliminary evaluation of the possibilities for using data provided by Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket), obtained for other stages of the planning process, in archaeological and cultural heritage work. Specifically, the report looks at a number of geodata types obtained from The Geological Survey of Sweden (Sveriges geologiska undersökning/SGU), a nature conservation survey in report form, a ground penetrating radar technical report, terrain laser scanning (LiDAR) and orthophotos (geometrically corrected aerial photographs). The SGU geodata consist of a number of Geographical Information System (GIS) layers describing bedrock and soil types, and the nature conservation survey included accompanying, but incomplete, GIS data. This section consists of concise descriptions of the potential of each group of GIS layers or data, and is complemented by brief, bullet point summaries along with additional technical information in Appendix 1. Comments have been made where additional, related, data sources would be useful. Swedish terms are included in parenthesis where the term differs significantly from the English equivalent.

A final summary provides a compact overview of the main points of the report before providing some conclusions and ideas for further work. This is in turn followed by a list of ideas for enhancing the efficiency with which the types of data discussed can be used in infrastructure projects which have a potential to impact on archaeology/cultural heritage.

References are provided to support important or potentially contentious points or where further reading or research would be advised for a more comprehensive understanding of relevant issues.

This article provides an overview of some of the complex issues involved in reconstructing and visualizing past landscapes. It discusses the importance of empirical data and introduces some of the terminology necessary for understanding methods which are often considered more in the domain of the natural sciences than humanities. Current methods and practices are put in the context of environmental archaeology, archaeological theory and heritage management as well as related, briefly, to the broader context of archaeological theory, practice and research data infrastructure. Finally, some examples and pointers for the future are given in the hope that the article may provide a point of reference for those looking to gain an entry point into the study of past landscapes, and understand their relevance in archaeological visualisation.

The cyberNABO Project is designed to solidify a developing multidisciplinary community through the development of cyberinfrastructure (CI) to study the long-term human ecodynamics of North Atlantic, a region that is especially vulnerable to ongoing climate and environmental change. It builds build upon prior sustained field and laboratory research, rich and diverse datasets, and a strong involvement by local communities and institutions. cyberNABO is currently hosting a series of workshops aimed at taking these collaborators and stakeholder communities to a new level of integration and to develop capacity for building CI and visualizations in subsequent funding cycles. Research on the long-term sustainability in the Arctic requires compiling data from over thousands of square miles, hundreds of years, and multiple disciplines, from climatology to archaeology to folklore. The complexity of datasets of this scale presents a unique challenge to create a CI system that results in interoperability and accessibility of data – a task that needs an explicit plan and extensive expertise from a variety of fields. Investing in a comprehensive CI system provides the opportunity to integrate collaborators and data from the natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities, thus providing the opportunity for a holistic approach to long-term human ecodynamics in the context of rapid social and environmental change and for the creation of digital tools for expanded northern community involvement in global change research. In order to address questions of this scale, however, this collaborative group needs to integrate multiple sources, types, and formats of data to address multidisciplinary questions and provide effective support for visualization and modeling efforts that can connect knowledge systems.