25 June 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Network analysis of prehistoric relationships using raw archaeological finds and AI

A project of the Cluster of Excellence ROOTS uses archaeological raw material finds for network analyses from the Middle Stone Age to antiquity.

Who knows whom? Who has which desires and needs? The answers to these questions are worth a lot of money for the advertising industry today. With the help of huge amounts of data and artificial intelligence, internet companies can answer them more and more precisely. Similar methods, but with the aim of better understanding the networks and relationships of prehistoric and early historical people, are used in the “Big Exchange” project, which a team of archaeologists from seven countries led by Kiel University presents in the journal Antiquity.

Archeology finds no direct imprints of relationships in the ground, but uncovers raw materials such as flint, obsidian, jade, ivory and various metals, which have often traveled long distances from their source to the site of discovery. These materials serve as traces of past relationships between people and allow us to study networks in the past. Dr Tim Kerig, project manager and archaeologist in the ROOTS Cluster of Excellence at the CAU Kiel, explains: “With the help of network analyzes and AI, we can better understand the relationships between people in the past.”

The analysis of early networks based on raw material finds and the associated raw material sources is nothing new. Archaeology has already been using this possibility for about 50 years. These studies have provided valuable insights into the past, but due to the high level of effort and specialization, they have often been limited to a specific raw material.

Dr. Johanna Hilpert, an archaeologist at the Institute for Prehistory and Protohistory and postdoc at the CAU Kiel data campus, explains: “Thanks to digitalization, we can now carry out more complex analyzes that include several raw materials at the same time.” The “Big Exchange” project aims to include all available raw materials and their find and place of origin in the evaluations for the period from the Mesolithic to antiquity. This is only possible with the help of network analysis and AI.

Obsidian artifacts found in 2022 in Gird-i Dasht (Soran district, Kurdistan Autonomous Region, Iraq). The raw material was once extracted several hundred kilometers from the site in eastern Anatolia. This connection is like a trace of human relations. The more such relationships can be studied using raw materials, the more precisely prehistoric networks can be analyzed. Photo: : Tim Kerig

More than 6000 sites with millions of finds recorded

Only recently has digitisation enabled more complex analyses with multiple raw materials at the same time. “The approach of our project ‘Big Exchange’ is now to include all recordable raw materials, their find locations and places of origin in the analyses for the period from the Middle Stone Age to antiquity. This can only be done by means of network analysis and with AI,” emphasises Dr. Hilpert.

So far, the project has already recorded more than 6000 sites with millions of individual finds from Western Europe to Central Asia. The network analyses made possible by this data allow statements to be made about how the simultaneous distribution of various goods is related to the more or less restricted access of the respective people to raw materials. This also concerns fundamental questions about social inequality and various power relations.

At the same time, the project is a social experiment. “It is not just about feeding datasets into appropriate databases and having them analysed automatically. We want to have archaeologists on board for every dataset,” Dr. Kerig emphasises. Archaeological datasets vary widely, he says, and some are only available in analogue form. “That is why it is important to involve colleagues who know the underlying excavations or surveys in the analysis. We do not just want to analyse prehistoric networks, but we also want to build scientific networks and link archaeology with data science.”

Call for Collaboration

The authors are already presenting a first result of the project in Antiquity. The Linear Pottery culture is the first farming culture in Central Europe. For a long time, its northwestern characteristics were considered typical for its epoch. However, when considering recent excavations, the network analysis of “Big Exchange” shows that the product mix of the northwestern Linear Pottery is rather a very special case. “We will probably experience even more surprises like this when we systematically analyse the available data,” says Dr. Kerig.

The authors also see their article as a call to colleagues to participate in “Big Exchange” and contribute their own data sets. “The more participation, the better we can understand past relationship and network dynamics,” concludes Tim Kerig.

CAU

Related Articles

Egyptian archaeologists discovered 16 meters long ancient papyrus with spells from the Book of the Dead

19 January 2023

19 January 2023

Archaeologists working in Egypt’s Saqqara region have unearthed a 16-meter-long ancient papyrus for the first time in a century. Saqqara...

For the first time, a Viking Age grave rich in artifacts has been found in Norway’s capital city, Oslo

23 December 2022

23 December 2022

A Viking Age grave rich in artifacts has been discovered for the first time in Norway’s capital city, Oslo. The...

Ancient Babylon Excavation Uncovers 478 Artifacts Including Cuneiform Tablets, and Cylindrical Seals

16 October 2024

16 October 2024

The Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH) announced that 478 artifacts were uncovered during an excavation expedition in...

Comb and gold hair-ring dating back more than 3,000 years unearthed in south Wales

14 July 2023

14 July 2023

Archeologists in south Wales, have unearthed a golden hair ring and the oldest wooden comb ever found in the U.K....

Ancient Library With Unparalleled Architecture Found in Stratonikeia, Marble City of Gladiators

24 June 2025

24 June 2025

An ancient marvel, unique in design and history, is being unearthed in the heart of southwest Türkiye. Archaeologists working in...

In the backstage of Smyrna Ancient Theater Latrina found

3 November 2021

3 November 2021

Interesting finds unearthed during the excavations of the 2400-year-old Ancient City of Smyrna in the Aegean region of Turkey continue...

2000-year-old glass treasure in Roman shipwreck discovered by an underwater robot in Mediterranean

24 July 2023

24 July 2023

The Italian-French mission recovered a selection of glassware and raw glass blocks from the Roman shipwreck located at a depth...

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Celebrates 151th Anniversary of Its Establishment

13 April 2021

13 April 2021

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the few museums in the world, celebrates the 151st anniversary of its establishment....

Birkleyn Caves is “the Place Where The World Ends”

18 January 2025

18 January 2025

The Birkleyn Caves were known as “the place where the world ends” and as “the place where the water of...

The first time in Anatolia, a legionnaires’ cemetery belonging to the Roman Empire unearthed

18 November 2022

18 November 2022

In the ancient city of Satala, in the Kelkit district of Gümüşhane in the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey,...

A Dancing Muses statue 2175 years old was found in the ancient city of Stratonikeia, known as the city of eternal loves

7 December 2023

7 December 2023

The latest discovery in the ongoing excavations in the Ancient City of Stratonikeia, known as the city of eternal loves...

A 1700-year-old Roman water tunnel dug into the mountain was discovered in Adıyaman province in southeastern Türkiye

13 September 2023

13 September 2023

It was revealed that in the Besni district of Adıyaman province, located in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey, the...

A Roman Sanctuary with Inscriptions Discovered in Cova de les Dones, One of the Largest Rock Art Sites in the Iberian Peninsula

31 January 2025

31 January 2025

A team of researchers from the universities of Alicante (UA) and Zaragoza (Unizar) have discovered a Roman temple at Cova...

A Monument complex and inscription belonging to Ilteris Kutlug Kagan, the founder of the Eastern Göktürk Khanate, were found

24 August 2022

24 August 2022

A Turkish inscription of İlteriş Kutlug Kağan was found during the joint scientific archaeological expedition of the International Turkic Academy...

A 3300-year-old seal and a dagger/sword reminiscent of Mycenaean swords were discovered in the Heart of western Anatolia

18 July 2022

18 July 2022

A unique 3300-year-old seal and a sword/dagger reminiscent of Mycenaean swords were unearthed during the excavations of Tavşanlı Höyük (Tavşanlı...