Imagine… you control a whole community of Romans. You urge them through their daily business, you kill them off here and there, and when their society collapses into chaos or authoritarianism, you wipe it out and start again with a brand new community. You’re not a monster raising ancient zombies or causing human suffering; you’re a digital archaeologist, using agent models to study the patterns and networks that emerge from archaeological research.
This month we’re joined by Dr. Shawn Graham. Dr. Graham is a professor at Carleton University, where he teaches digital archaeology and digital humanities. Recent work includes studying the online trade in human remains; developing graph-theoretic representations of historic events; and publishing two books, Failing Gloriously and an Enchantment of Digital Archaeology. He is the founder and editor of the open access journal, Epoiesen: A Journal for Creative Engagement in History and Archaeology.