The folks at CAA have recently announced a call for papers for the 2017 conference, to be held at Georgia State University in Atlanta. From the conference website:
The 45th CAA conference will bring together scholars from across the globe to share their cutting edge research from a diverse range of fields in a focused, but informal, setting. One thing that the CAA prides itself on is a strong sense of community, and we hope to continue to grow that community by welcoming new participants this year. This is only the 3rd time the conference has been held in the United States, and we are excited to have old and new members join us in Atlanta this coming spring.
There are a TON of sessions to choose from this year, showcasing the diversity of computational approaches in archaeology as well as interest in theory and ways of knowing. The full list of sessions is here.
The authors of this blog will be co-chairing a few different sessions at the conference, including:
Quantitative model-based approaches to archaeology have been rapidly gaining popularity. Their utility in providing an experimental test-bed for examining how individual actions and decisions could influence the emergence of complex social and socio-environmental systems has fueled a spectacular increase in adoption of computational modeling techniques to traditional archaeological studies. However, computational models are restricted by the limitations of the technique used, and are not a “silver bullet” solution for understanding the archaeological and anthropological record. Rather, simulation and other types of formal modeling methods provide a way to interdigitate between archaeology/anthropology and computational approaches and between the data and theory, with each providing a feedback to the other. In this session we seek well-developed models that use data and theory from the anthropological and archaeological records to demonstrate the utility of computational modeling for understanding various aspects of human behavior. Equally, we invite case studies showcasing innovative new approaches to archaeological models and new techniques expanding the use of computational modeling techniques.
This is a different kind of session. Instead of the normal celebration of our success this session will be looking at our challenges. But, not degrading into self-pity and negativity, as it will be about critical reflection and possible solutions. The goal of this session is to raise the issues we should be tackling. To break the mold of the typical conference session, in which we review what we have solved, and instead explore what needs to be solved. Each participant will give a short (max 10 minutes but preference will be for 5 mins.) presentation in which they take one topic and critically analysis the problems surrounding it, both new and old. Ideally, at the end each participant would have laid out a map of the challenges facing their topic. The floor will then be opened up to the audience to add more issues, refute the problems raised, or propose solutions. This is open to any topic- GIS, 3D modelling, public engagement, databases, linked data, simulations, networks, etc. It can be about a very narrow topic or broad ranging e.g. everything that is wrong with C14 dating, everything wrong with least cost path analysis in ArcGIS, everything wrong with post-prossussalism, etc. However, this is an evaluation of our methods and theories and not meant to be as high level as past CAA sessions that have looked at grand challenges e.g. the beginning of agriculture. Anyone interested in presenting are asked to submit a topic (1-2 sentences) and your estimated time to summarize it (5 or 10 minutes). Full abstracts are not necessary.
The ups and downs of archaeological simulation
The continuing rise of computational modelling applications, in particular simulation approaches, resembles the ‘hype’ cycles our discipline experienced in the past. The introduction of statistics, data management or GIS all started with inflated expectations and an explosion in applications, followed by a ‘correction’ phase seeing the early optimism dwindling and a heavy critique towards exaggerated claims and examples of misapplication. The next phase, ‘maturity’, is reached when the use of a particular technique is not questioned any more (although particular applications of it may still be) as it becomes part of the standard research toolkit. The verdict is still out whether the use of simulation techniques in archaeology is reaching the peak of the ‘optimism’ phase or is perhaps still in the midst of the ‘correction’ phase. However, lessons learned from other, now commonly used, computational methods or coming from other disciplines could accelerate the process of establishing simulation in the mainstream of archaeological practice. The Special Interest Group in Complex System Simulation would like to open the discussion to a wide audience of archaeologists and therefore invites all CAA2017 participants to take an active part in the roundtable. During the meeting we will consider the current place of simulation in archaeological practice, the main challenges facing modellers and the road map for the future.
The conference promoters are also looking for folks interested in putting together workshops for the day before the session. The deadline for abstract submissions is midnight on Friday, October 28th. For more information, visit the CAA conference website.
Featured image: Midtown HDR Atlanta by Mmann1988 (Wikimedia Commons CC BY 2.0)
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