Integrating Qualitative and Social Science Factors in Archaeological ...

This book covers the methodological, epistemological and practical issues of integrating qualitative and socio-anthropological factors into archaeological modeling. This text fills the gap between conceptual modeling (which usually relies on narratives describing the life of a past community) and formalized/computer-based modeling which are usually environmentally-determined. Methods combining both environmental and social issues through niche and agent-based modeling are presented. These methods help to translate data from paleo-environmental and archaeological society life cycles (such as climate and landscape changes) into the local spatial scale. 
The epistemological discussions will appeal to readers as well as the resilience socio-anthropological factors provide facing climatic fluctuations. Integrating Qualitative and Social Science Factors in Archaeological Modelling will appeal to students and researchers in the field.

• Features the integration of socio-anthropological factors (such as inheritance or locality) into conceptual modeling;
• Contains several examples of formalization case studies; each one describing a method dealing with socio-anthropological factors;
• Includes an epistemological analysis of the way factors are integrated and/or formalized for reducing the gap between environmentally-deterministic and socio-anthropological-formalized modelling.