Articles by François Djindjian
Archaeology and computers: a long story in the making of modern archaeology
Abstract
The growing success, for more than fifty years, of the scientific contribution of computer applications and quantitative methods in archaeology may be now reviewed and analyzed from different technological and sociological points of view. This examination allows us to appreciate the material importance of such contributions and how the community of specialists in computational archaeology should play a major role in the future of 21st-century archaeology.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2019, 30, 13-20; doi: 10.19282/ac.30.2019.02
Avant-Propos
Laurent Costa, François Djindjian, François Giligny
Abstract
Preface to Supplement 5 - 2014.
Simuler une “artificial society”: organisation sociale, gouvernance et attitudes sociétales
Abstract
The attempts to model past societies by the latest techniques, such as multi-agent systems, are limited by the difficulties in modeling the processes of Human and Social Sciences: social organization, social rules, management, societal attitudes. While addressing this problem, the archaeologist is often led to select the climatic change and the economic processes, which are easier to quantify and model and therefore to find only “eco-systemic” explanations for changes in societies. We are here trying to initiate work on the modeling of such processes, the foundations of which are found in the work of earlier authors (history, anthropology, sociology).
L'approche par les processus en archéologie
Abstract
The introduction of the concept of the Archaeological Information System (AIS) made it possible to propose the existence of an integrated generic applicative architecture, computerizing the functions of archaeological practice (Djindjian 1993). It also allowed us to rationalize the software architecture of the AIS, by limiting the amount of useful software for the archaeologists and by simplifying the interfaces between products. The following step, proposed here, is urbanizing the AIS, by defining precisely all the business processes of archaeological research and management, defining an organization of an archaeological professionalization and a more rational and interchanging realization of the AIS applicative and software architecture. Business processes are not the only processes encountered in archaeology. There are also: the processes of the archaeological method, which allow us to control the links between the recorded archaeological data and the target data of the society to be reconstituted; the systemic processes which are running the operations of the societies which the archaeologist is trying to reconstitute: technical systems, economical systems, culture change, etc. The progressive development of the process approach, will constitute a significant evolution in archaeology, not only for the archaeologist business and archaeological methods, but also for the systemic reconstitution capabilities of past societies.
Quantifier les processus archéologiques
Abstract
Since 1950, in the history of Quantitative Archaeology, the data approach has been the essence of the mathematical and statistical applications in Archaeology. In the present paper, it is proposed to focus on the process approach and to point out new fields of mathematical applications in Archaeology. Several archaeological processes are shown, for example, archaeological business process, stratigraphy process, post-depositional process, taphonomic process, technological (manufacturing) process, building process, intersite spatial process (landscape archaeology), exchange process, cultural change process. The list is not exhaustive and has only the purpose of illustrating the interest of such an approach. Several examples of applications are given, which show the differences between the data approach and the process approach. The mathematical techniques, which are used, are mainly the description and the quantification of the processes, elementary statistics, data analysis, stochastic models and the simulation by multi-agent systems.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2010, 21, 233-247; doi: 10.19282/ac.21.2010.13
The golden years for mathematics and computers in archaeology (1965-1985)
Abstract
A major quantitative movement in all of the Social and Human Sciences known as Operational Research, started after the last world war with the application of mathematics developed for the optimization of war logistics. Since the 1960s, the fascinating progress of computer technology in the field of scientific research has amplified the movement which saw the first applications to Archaeology around 1966. At the time, the success of a Quantitative Archaeology was associated with the revolution in multidimensional data analysis, which occurred with computerisation and improvements in the algorithms, mainly Multidimensional scaling, Factor Analysis, Principal Component Analysis, Correspondence Analysis and various Cluster Analyses. The Conference of Mamaia (Romania) in 1970, which may be considered as the first and most spectacular scientific event of this period of foundation, found expression in the book Mathematics and Computers in Archaeology by Doran and Hodson (1975). From 1975 to 1985, the quantitative movement experienced its finest period with the transition from the research field to the application field, both for algorithms and software, and the diffusion of Correspondence Analysis, Principal Component Analysis associated with Cluster Analysis and their use by archaeologists. Numerous papers and books were published during that period. After 1985, the quantitative movement fell into disfavour, probably due to the "deconstruction" paradigm and the passing fashion of expert systems. Nevertheless, it is also possible to state that Quantitative Archaeology had now definitively entered into the standard methods of Archaeology.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2009, 20, 61-73; doi: 10.19282/ac.20.2009.07
WEBMAPPING DANS LES SCIENCES HISTORIQUES ET ARCHÉOLOGIQUES, ACTES DU COLLOQUE INTERNATIONAL (Paris, 3-4 juin 2008)
François Djindjian, Hélène Noizet, Laurent Costa, Frédéric Pouget
Webmapping in the historical and archaeological sciences. An introduction
Abstract
The paper introduces the concept of webmapping in the archaeological and historical sciences. The interest in offering an online mapping service is developed in terms of collaborative working, technical support, e-learning, mapping functions, and hardware and software architecture. The integration of the webmapping functions in the more general case of a Geoportal is also considered. Examples of operational Geoportals and projects in progress are also briefly described, most of them being detailed by their authors in the present volume.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2008, 19, 9-16; doi: 10.19282/ac.19.2008.01
The virtual museum: an introduction
Abstract
For several years now the concept of virtual museum has had an important role among the approaches being used for the diffusion of cultural information, as it offers an important extension to the traditional museum. In this paper, the author briefly discusses the concepts of the applications of virtual museums, by studying the transformation of a real museum into a virtual museum. The two new concepts of “the museum of museums” and that of “the imaginary museum” are also introduced. We define the portal functions and the virtual functions of a real museum, and then the functions of the “museum of museums” and of the “imaginary museum”. We also briefly summarize the technical Internet context implied in the realization of a virtual museum and its main operating principles.
La publication scientifique en langue naturelle est-elle en archéologie un discours logique? Essai de conception dun langage cognitif daide à la pubblication
Abstract
The project of building a cognitive framework to formalise an archaeological language, proposed here, is oriented, not to computerise any archaeological language, but to offer a tool giving a framework mainly for the formalisation and the validation of an archaeological reasoning, as well as to deliver a readable procedure, which completes the conventional natural language of the archaeological publishing. The cognitive framework is based on a decomposition of the methodological iterative procedure into three levels: 1. Acquisition, 2. Structuring, 3. Modelling, in which a cognitive grammar is defined. A cognitive grammar normally defines statements and predicates. The statements have been classified, among the more frequent archaeological statement types, which are generally, for both real and virtual objects, the results of a correlation of intrinsic and extrinsic archaeological information. The predicates are also classified following the nature of decisions they imply, either general to Human sciences, or specific to Archaeology: identification/differentiations (generalisation of a statement at a n+1 rank), stabilisation/destabilisations (delimiting the validity value of a statement), exploration/renunciation (reduction of the potential ways), paradigmatisation (hypothetical introduction of a rule at an upper level), appropriations/disappropriations (explicit projection of the archaeologist point of view in the reasoning). The cognitive grammar is used at each of the three levels of the previously defined methodological framework. The formalisation of such a cognitive framework is materialised by a set of statement objects and predicate objects, at each three different levels. Each object may be defined as trivial (needing no more formalisation) or may be linked to another similar cognitive structure, at the origins of the decomposition of the construct into a general system of nested cognitive objects. The archaeological construct, for the scientific publishing, may be materialised by a conventional natural language, to which nested formal constructs are annexed, enabling the reader to more easily validate the logic of the reasoning. The paper is illustrated by examples of applications.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2004, 15, 51-61; doi: 10.19282/ac.15.2004.04
Pour une théorie générale de la connaissance en archéologie
Abstract
An attempt to build a global cognitive theory in Archaeology is proposed. The archaeological method is based on a three level concept : knowledge acquiring, structuring and modelling, inspired by the XIX century work of Peirce, renewed by recent developments of cognitive Sciences and used today in many fields of Social and Human Sciences, System Engineering, and recently proposed in Archaeology (DJINDJIAN 1993). The knowledge acquiring level A is the result of simultaneous and retroactive use of two mechanisms: several specific analogical processes in archaeology (contemporary analogy, ethnographical analogy, experimental analogy) and a cognitive process, general to Human Sciences. Logical objects used by archaeological reasoning are artefacts, set of artefacts (archaeological layer, dwelling structure, burial, etc.) and methodological objects (unit, sample, core, etc.). Such objects may deliver three categories of data: intrinsic data, extrinsic data and administrative data. Intrinsic data (named I) are a view of an object, resulting in the interaction between the archaeological artefact and the archaeologist who is perceiving and describing it. Intrinsic data is a knowledge of the artefact. Extrinsic data (named E) are data recording the various artefact contexts: spatial and stratigraphic localisation, links with neighbouring artefacts, environment, etc. Extrinsic data depends on the quality of archaeological excavation and recording. In all the cognitive processes, knowledge A must be associated with the archaeologist, ARCH, who is at the origin of the interaction artefact/archaeologist, the process of producing the knowledge, Pc, and the validation process Pv, controlling the reasoning: (A, ARCH, Pc, Pv). The structuring level, S, is discussed in relation with the question of enrichment of structures towards the emergence of a system, through a dedicated method called the systemic triple method (DJINDJIAN 1980): 1. Definition of the system S; 2. Perception and description of intrinsic data I; 3. Recording of extrinsic data E; 4. Formalisation of the structuring process: intrinsic structuring (matrix artefact x intrinsic data, O x I), extrinsic structuring (occurrence or Burt matrix intrinsic data x extrinsic data, I x E); 5. Exploratory data analysis on O x I or I x E; 6. Retroactions on I and E; 7. Iterative enrichment by integration of new I and new E; 8. Validation (using another artefact system, a new E, etc.). The modelling level is then examined with a discussion of the limits of the formal logic in Archaeology: empirical-inductive, where 'every structure is Culture', or hypothetical-deductive methods, where 'all the models are fitting well' falling in the weakness of so-called paradigmatic models. A new more restricting method is proposed, called the cognitive model method, CMM. The main features of CMM are: explicit, formalised, repetitive, stable, systemic, refutable, predictive, discursive and auditable. A general method to build a cognitive model is then given, in ten steps; some of them are already known and referenced, others are new and detailed: 1. Improving the knowledge A; 2. Discovering the structures S inside data; 3. Enrichment of structures S; 4. Systemic organisation in hierarchical subsystems; 5. Building models R; 6. Validating models R; 7. Retroactions for enrichment and stabilisation of the models R; 8. Model simulation for predictions; 9. Writing the archaeological discourse; 10. Auditing the discourse. The systemic organisation in hierarchical sub-systems is based on a five level system: 1. Technological know-how; 2. Economic activities: craft production, raw material supplying, subsistence resources, energy resources, buildings (dwellings, infrastructure), territory management, manufacturing, exchange and trading, etc.; 3. Social organisation: workflow, specialisation of professions, social groups, social hierarchies, family structures, community administration, defence, taxes, authority systems, etc.; 4. Symbolic sub-system: ideas and beliefs; 5. Global system. In conclusion, such approaches of methodological development are the most reliable but also the most difficult way to reach a real scientific status for Archaeology.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2002, 13, 101-117; doi: 10.19282/ac.13.2002.06
Un essai de reconstitution du climat entre 40.000 BP et 10.000 BP à partir de séquences polliniques de tourbières et decarottes océaniques et glaciaires à haute résolution
Bruno Bosselin, François Djindjian
Abstract
The results of several sea- and ice-cores and pollen sequences of peat bogs, for the last 40,000 years, permits today to give evidence of palaeoclimatic oscillations of this period. A method of palaeoenvironment reconstitution, based on transfert functions computation, issued from pollen diagrams, is proposed. The method is building a palaeotemperature curve and a palaeohumidity curve, allowing to separate and correlate the two climatic components. A complete example of the method is developed with the data of the peat bog of Tenaghi-Philippon (Macedonia, Greece). All the analysed sequences (Tenaghi-Philippon, la Grande Pile, Banyoles, etc.), compared to sea-cores (KET 8004) and ice-cores (GRIPSummit, Greenland) confirm the evidence of mild and humid oscillations, and cold and humid oscillations, in a three parts structured sequence: the interpleniglacial (up to 28,000 BP), the late pleniglacial (between 28,000 BP and 13,500 BP), and the tardiglacial (between 13,500 BP and 10,000 BP). A numbering system, avoiding usage of ancient interstadials still to valid in their eponym sites, is proposed.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 2002, 13, 275-300; doi: 10.19282/ac.13.2002.20
L'analyse spatiale de l'habitat: un état de l'art
Abstract
The state of the art concerning intrasite spatial analysis is given here, with the potentialities and the limits of the methods. In the first part, the interpretability of the spatial structures is questioned, focusing on the influence of cleaning and deserting of sites, and also the existence of post-depositional process, which can more or less cancel the expected spatial structures. Subsequently, the different methods of intrasite spatial analysis are described, following a brief history of their introduction into archaeology: the research of clusters in a spatial distribution, the association between two spatial distributions, and finally, the multidimensional spatial analysis actually used. Two important complementary methods are also described: the reassembling of spatial analysis and the chronological spatial analysis.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1999, 10, 17-32; doi: 10.19282/ac.10.1999.02
GIS usage in worldwide archaeology
Abstract
This paper is an introduction to the IX issue of «Archeologia e Calcolatori», dedicated to GIS in Archaeology. GIS technologies are first put in the context of Computer Science since the sixties. It is shown that the development of GIS results from a general evolution of computer manufacturing towards both multimedia and workstation solutions. The needs of the archaeologist for graphics and GIS are mainly within Rescue Archaeology, large site excavations, regional settlements studies and Cultural Resources Management (CRM). The progress of the use of GIS in Archaeology over the last 10 years has been analysed through 150 projects described in the present volume. It shows the advance of GIS applications in Anglo-Saxon countries (US, UK, Australia), even though in other countries the success of GIS is growing. The survey indicates a global rate of worldwide development of 25% per year. Pilot studies of GIS applications are mainly conducted by research Institutes (70%) and then culture heritage administrations (30%). About 40% of the GIS projects are CRM projects, 25% excavation management projects and 35% regional settlement studies. The computers used are Unix workstations (33%) and PCs (66%). About 40% of GIS users have chosen Arclnfo from Esri, while 50% have chosen low cost software like Maplnfo, Idrisi or Grass. The market for GIS applications in Archaeology seems to be shared between vector packages dedicated to CRM, raster packages dedicated to regional settlement studies, and CAD/CAM packages dedicated to survey and excavation. But progressively, the different packages will be adapted to have all the required functions, including image processing and interfacing with DBMS and statistical packages. Finally, GIS applications in Archaeology are not intrinsically theory oriented, even if environmental determinationism has found within GIS a perfect tool for its needs.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1998, 9, 19-30; doi: 10.19282/ac.9.1998.03
Résultats préliminaires d'un projet de reconstitution 2D et 3D de structures d'habitats préhistoriques par le logiciel de gestion d'objets graphiques ArcInfo
François Djindjian, Lioudmila Iakovleva, François Pirot
Abstract
Preliminary results of a project for the reconstruction of a mammoth bone paleolithic dwelling are discussed. The graphical object management software package ArcInfo was used to create two different databases: the first one, for the bone icone database, the second one for the identification and localisation of bone architectural artifacts, extracted from the excavation books and graphical plan drawings. The potential of the system for understanding the dwelling architecture through 2D visualization and 3D reconstruction is discussed.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 215-222; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.16
Méthode archéologique assistée par ordinateur
Abstract
It is discussed if the technological evolution of computer science in the nineties has resolved the methodological problems of the Archaeology, known since the sixties. It is concluded that the two first levels of cognitive methodology (recording and structuring) are resolved but the third and last level (reconstitution) is always the subject of sophisticated but rare experience.
«Archeologia e Calcolatori» 1996, 7, 1259-1266; doi: 10.19282/ac.7.1996.109
Les systèmes d'informations en archéologie
Abstract
The development of computer applications in archaeology involves a complex trend in order to define, before undertaking any implementation, a conceptual framework of computable functions, archaeological objects and data models. This conceptual framework allows the definition of a global information system, well adapted to the various archaeological problems. After that definition, it is easier to develop a long-term and evolving software architecture, integrating the best packages of the market.
Nouvelles tendances méthodologiques dans le traitement de l'information en archéologie
Abstract
The author analyses new methodological trends in the nineties, concerning the evolution of quantitative techniques, and the development of computerised tools. The main role in archaeology of institutional changes and the influence of theorical approaches in Human Sciences are analysed, in order to discover a third way in archaeology.
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