This document discusses using agent modeling to simulate and analyze networks derived from archaeological data on brick stamps from central Italy. It suggests running simulations with different parameters, such as increasing transaction costs or the "vision" of agents, to see how those changes impact the emergence of trends in the network and how long it takes for the simulation to reach its end point. The goal is to generate a "landscape of possible outcomes" and explore how real-world network characteristics may arise from the interactions of autonomous agents.

1. Reanimating Networks with
Agent Modeling
Shawn Graham with
Scott Weingart
Carleton University,
Indiana University
Some rights reserved by Pedro Vezini
@electricarchaeo
@scott_bot

2. Networks derived from central
Italian brick stamp data

3. ...a landscape of possible outcomes...
http://supermodelling.net/?p=148

4. A bazaar of possibilities
Photo cc Dmgultekin , http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grand-
Bazaar_Shop.jpg

7. We should expect some basic trends to
emerge:
•increasing the transaction costs should make
it much more difficult for agents to survive
(i.e., make the simulation reach its arbitrary
end-conditions).
•increasing ‘vision’ (we reduce information
uncertainty by increasing the amount of the
world it is possible to ‘know’) should make it
much easier for agents to survive; that the
simulation takes a relatively long time to reach
its arbitrary end point.

8. Characteristics of some real
world networks

10. All models are bad, but some
are useful.