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Social Network Analysis of Neolithic Societies

Profile image of Erich ClaßenErich Claßen

Abstract

This paper deals with the use of network analytical methods in archaeology. These methods are well known in the social sciences but have not yet been applied to archaeological data. The aim is to discover and display the social structure of a given network for which relational data is available. The explanation of the determined structure of relationships is therefore the next step in our research. In cultural anthropology, for example, the communication between members of a group, the exchange of raw ma- terial and the diffusion of inventions are all subjects of interest. These are also aspects of human behavior that can be observed in archaeological data. Therefore, the application of these methods is also very promising to our own studies and their inclusion opens new horizons in our research. First applications of this analytical approach in archaeology are currently being conducted at the Institute for Prehistoric Archaeology at the University of Cologne. We are particularly concentrating on the exchange mechanisms involved in the distribution of raw materials for flint artifact production. Similarities in pottery decoration serve as a further indication of communication networks between settlements of the Early Neolithic “Bandkeramik” in the Rhineland. The paper will give an introduction into the archaeological background; will then deal with the principles of social network analysis and preliminary results from the network analyses thus far carried out will be presented.

Figures (12)
Yuacmnuyume 6 Konpepenyunma nped Apxeonoeuueckua Myzett na Cepec, 1 oxmomepu 2004 e. Ot ouppetéyovtes oto ovvédpro pnpoota ano to ApyaodAoyixo povoeto orc Léppec, 1 Oxtwfpiov 2004. The participants of the conference in front of the Archaeological Museum of Serres, 1“ of October 2004.
Yuacmnuyume 6 Konpepenyunma nped Apxeonoeuueckua Myzett na Cepec, 1 oxmomepu 2004 e. Ot ouppetéyovtes oto ovvédpro pnpoota ano to ApyaodAoyixo povoeto orc Léppec, 1 Oxtwfpiov 2004. The participants of the conference in front of the Archaeological Museum of Serres, 1“ of October 2004.
Fig. 1: Map of the research area in the lignite mining area in western Germany. in the lignite mining area of western Germany. cern in the last three decades. The SAP project »Settlement Archaeology of the Aldenhovener Platte“ financed by the DFG (German Research Foundation) between 1971 and 1981, conducted large scale excavations in the Merzbach valley and delivered the essential contribution to our knowledge of Early Neolithic settlement history in this part of western Germany (e.g. LUNING 1982; 1982a). The recently concluded project LAN ,,Landscape Archaeology of the Neolithic“ (1998-2004) financed by the ,,Stiftung Archdolo- gie im Rheinischen Braunkohlenrevier* and the DFG (German Research Foundation) has con- centrated on a further settlement group of the Bandkeramik near Inden (FRANK et al. 2000; ZIMMERMANN 2002; ZIMMERMANN et al. 2005). Be- sides and within the framework of these projects several MA and PhD dissertations, mainly at the Universities of Frankfurt and Cologne, have dealt with the period of the first farmers in the Rhineland.
Fig. 1: Map of the research area in the lignite mining area in western Germany. in the lignite mining area of western Germany. cern in the last three decades. The SAP project »Settlement Archaeology of the Aldenhovener Platte“ financed by the DFG (German Research Foundation) between 1971 and 1981, conducted large scale excavations in the Merzbach valley and delivered the essential contribution to our knowledge of Early Neolithic settlement history in this part of western Germany (e.g. LUNING 1982; 1982a). The recently concluded project LAN ,,Landscape Archaeology of the Neolithic“ (1998-2004) financed by the ,,Stiftung Archdolo- gie im Rheinischen Braunkohlenrevier* and the DFG (German Research Foundation) has con- centrated on a further settlement group of the Bandkeramik near Inden (FRANK et al. 2000; ZIMMERMANN 2002; ZIMMERMANN et al. 2005). Be- sides and within the framework of these projects several MA and PhD dissertations, mainly at the Universities of Frankfurt and Cologne, have dealt with the period of the first farmers in the Rhineland.
Fig. 3: Simplified diagram showing flint raw material exchange on the Aldenhovener Platte, Germany.
Fig. 3: Simplified diagram showing flint raw material exchange on the Aldenhovener Platte, Germany.
Fig. 5. Dataset analyzed in UCINET 6 (Borcarti et al. 2002), actor-by-actor matrix and graph of relational ties according to the similarities of secondary motifs in the older Bandkeramtk. The arrangement of the nodes in the graph approximates the geographical position of the settlements.
Fig. 5. Dataset analyzed in UCINET 6 (Borcarti et al. 2002), actor-by-actor matrix and graph of relational ties according to the similarities of secondary motifs in the older Bandkeramtk. The arrangement of the nodes in the graph approximates the geographical position of the settlements.
Fig. 6: Simplified graphs and the corresponding ma- trices for the study of centrality and centralization (cf. WasseRMAN/Faust 1994, 171, Fig. 5.1).
Fig. 6: Simplified graphs and the corresponding ma- trices for the study of centrality and centralization (cf. WasseRMAN/Faust 1994, 171, Fig. 5.1).
Fig. 8: Bandkeranuk settlements in the Rhineland and their age according to the three periods distinguished for the network analyses. Sites included on this map that do not occur in the tables in figures 7 and 10 (results of network analyses), yielded either no vessels decorated with secondary motifs, or the secondary motifs at these sites are unique.
Fig. 8: Bandkeranuk settlements in the Rhineland and their age according to the three periods distinguished for the network analyses. Sites included on this map that do not occur in the tables in figures 7 and 10 (results of network analyses), yielded either no vessels decorated with secondary motifs, or the secondary motifs at these sites are unique.
Fig. 9: Simplified graph and its cliques (cf. WasserMAN/Faust 1994, 255, Fig. 7.1).
Fig. 9: Simplified graph and its cliques (cf. WasserMAN/Faust 1994, 255, Fig. 7.1).
Fig. 10: Cliques of the Bandkeramik settlement periods analyzed using UCINET 6 (BorcartTi et al. 2002). Social Network Analysis of Neolithic Societies
Fig. 10: Cliques of the Bandkeramik settlement periods analyzed using UCINET 6 (BorcartTi et al. 2002). Social Network Analysis of Neolithic Societies

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Lewis Borck

Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, 2019

Archaeologists reconstruct the activities and interactions of individuals using the accumulated material culture of the past, yet detecting these interactions can be difficult using traditional archaeological analytical tools. The development of a methodological framework emerging from graph theory, coupled with the growth of computational power and a growing multidisciplinary theoretical framework aimed at interpreting these analyses, have eased the difficulties of uncovering, analyzing, and interpreting networks in the past. From examining physical locations of sites and how they interact together (Peregrine 1991) to examining trade routes and migration pathways (Hofman et al. 2018), and the exchange of ideas across time and space (Mills et al. 2013), network approaches have infiltrated archaeology and grown exponentially in published studies (Brughmans 2013; Mills 2017).

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Networks in Archaeology: An Introduction
Helen Dawson

eTopoi Journal for Ancient Studies. Special Volume 7 (2020): Political and Economic Interaction on the Edge of Early Empires, ed. by David A. Warburton, 2020

This paper introduces key concepts of network theory and analysis, and their relevance to archaeological research. The framework is compared to alternative approaches, in particular World-Systems Theory (WST) and its offshoot, World-Systems Analysis (WSA). After reviewing both strengths and weaknesses of a networks perspective through relevant examples, the discussion highlights potential developments for understanding cultural connectivity with particular reference to social complexity.

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Related topics

  • Prehistoric Archaeology
  • Social Network Analysis (SNA)
  • Early Neolithic
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