6533b857fe1ef96bd12b3bfc

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Introducing the Human Factor in Predictive Modelling: a Work in Progress

subject

description

International audience; In this paper we present the results of a study into integrating socio-cultural factors into predictive modelling. So far, predictive modelling has largely neglected the social and cultural dimensions of past landscapes. To maintain its value for archaeological research, therefore, it needs new methodologies, concepts and theories. For this study, we have departed from the methodology developed in the 1990s during the Archaeomedes Project. In this project, cross-regional comparisons of settlement location factors were made by analyzing the environmental context of Roman settlements in the French Rhône Valley. For the current research, we expanded the set of variables with 'socio-cultural' factors, in particular accessibility, visibility, and the effect of previous occupation, and created predictive models from this. In this way, have developed a protocol for predictive modelling using both environmental and socio-cultural factors that can easily be implemented for different regions and time periods.