Big Historical Data

Theories, Methods, and Applications
Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-3-032-38151-4
Verlag: Springer

Buch, Englisch, 318 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm

This open access book comprehensively overviews the groundbreaking insights and methodologies presented at the inaugural Big Historical Data Conference held in November 2023. It is a synthesis of interdisciplinary research leveraging advanced computational techniques and digital data to unravel historical processes. The book is segmented into theoretical, methodological, and application sections, each essential for understanding the value and challenges of Big Historical Data.

The modelling section introduces various computational techniques applied to historical data to simulate and predict ancient human-environment interactions; application case studies present relevant examples of insights obtained through use of Big Historical Data; and the theory section explores the philosophical, ethical, and theoretical implications of digital data in historical research. The accumulation of digital data and advancements in computational techniques have revolutionized the study of past human-environmental interactions, presenting significant challenges in data management, integration, and interpretation. New tools and frameworks are needed to harmonize and analyze diverse data sources. By proposing a holistic overview, our book seeks to enable a more integrated and insightful examination of historical processes, offering a clearer lens through which we can understand the past and its lessons for the future.

This book is aimed at researchers, scholars, and students in the fields of history, archaeology, paleo-environmental sciences, and related disciplines interested in using Big Data and digital methodologies in historical research. Additionally, it serves as an invaluable resource for data scientists and computational modellers seeking to apply their technical expertise to historical contexts, for educators looking to incorporate cutting-edge research into their curricula and programs, and for policymakers who wish to explore the use of historical knowledge to address modern-day problems.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Fernandes, Ricardo

Harris, Alison

Hixon, Sean

Cocozza, Carlo

Fachgebiete

• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Daten / Datenbanken
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Angewandte Informatik Computeranwendungen in Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften
• Technische Wissenschaften Technik Allgemein Technikgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein Historiographie
• Geowissenschaften Geologie Paläontologie, Taphonomie
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik EDV & Informatik Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction (Fernandes, Hixon, Harris and Cocozza).- Part I. Data and Infrastructures.- Chapter 1. IsoIndia: A Bioarchaeological Isotopic Database for the Indian Subcontinent (Mahajan, Channarayapatna, Hixon, Fernandes and Cocozza).- Chapter 2. From Historical Sources to Wikibase: Datamining the Jewish Vital Records (Baránek).- Chapter 3. The RomAniDat Network: A Zooarchaeological Big Data Initiative for the Ancient Roman world (King, Schmidtová, Groot and Fernandes).- Chapter 4. Creating Big Data: Reflections on Working with Heterogeneous Archaeological Data from Two Diverse Heritage Regions in South Asia and Africa (Vafadari, Lander, Noc, Roberts, Merlo, Lane and Petrie).- Part II. Methods.- Chapter 5. Modelling the Evolution of Dynamic Alluvial Landscapes through Big Geoarchaeological Data: Diachronic PalaeoDEMs of the Hinterland of Ravenna (Italy) (Abballe).- Chapter 6. Understanding Variation in Zooarchaeological NISP Data: Bayesian Beta-Binomial Models for Italian contexts in the 1st millennium CE (Ragno).- Chapter 7. Trajectories of Change: Approaches for Tracking Knowledge Evolution (Schlattmann and Vogl).- Part III. Meta-Analyses.- Chapter 8. Corridors of Possibility: Using Least-cost path modeling to Rethink Wari Connectivity in Pre-Columbian Costal Peru (Chyla and Giersz).- Chapter 9. From Data to Demography: Big Data Insights into Population Dynamics in the Han River Basin, Korea (3500-1200 cal BP) (Park and Kim).- Chapter 10. Demic Diffusion and Cultural Transmission? Assessing the spread of Koriabo Tradition as a partial archaeological correlate of the Cariban language expansions (Souza Barreto, Gerardi, de Carvalho and Tresoldi).- Chapter 11. Long-Term Arsenic Exposure in the Coastal Desert Populations of Antofagasta (Chile): A Big Data Approach Through Multifactorial Analysis from the Archaic to the Late Intermediate Period (Ca. 5000 BC – 500 AD) (Huerta, Andrade, Baeza, Neira, Arriaza, Salazar, Romero, Espina and Aguilar).- Chapter 12. ‘Big Isotopic Data’ Link Millet Consumption under Lombard Rule in Early Medieval Northern Italy (Cocozza).- Part IV. The Future of Big Historical Data.- Chapter 13. How Can History Inform Climate Policy? Using Policy Citations and Bibliometric Analysis to Measure the Current and Potential Applications (Buarque, Higham and Baisden).- Chapter 14. A GREENER Digital Archaeology: Considering the Environmental Impacts of Big Archaeological Data (Fisher and Richards).

Über Autor(innen)

Ricardo Fernandes is a research group leader at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology (formerly Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History), adjunct professor at Warsaw University, and associate professor at Masaryk University. He led the Systems Archaeology research group and the Computational, Bioarchaeology, and Radiocarbon laboratories at Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology until the closure of the department of Archaeology in 2025. He employs complex systems theory and scientific methods to better understand past societal dynamics with relevance for policy-making.

Sean Hixon received PhD at University of California-Santa Barbara after completing his dissertation research on timing and paleo environmental context of Late Holocene large animal introductions and extinctions in SW Madagascar. He continued Madagascar-based research at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology with support from Humboldt and Marie Curie postdoctoral fellowships. His research uses the fossil record to compare the niche conservativism of terrestrial vertebrates over the scale of millennia on both Madagascar and in the NW Great Basin of North America. This research involves a heavy reliance on radiocarbon dating bone and integration of light stable isotope data from paleo and modern ecological studies. He recently completed a National Science Foundation Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow at Oregon State University and is continuing there with support from a Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. 

Alison J.T. Harris is an associate professor of human osteoarchaeology in the Department of Archaeology and Cultural History of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Her research applies stable isotope analysis of proteins and amino acids, as well as other biomolecular archaeology methods, to questions of human infant feeding practices, experiences of matrescence in the past, and human-environment interactions. She completed a double PhD at Stockholm University and the University of York, and conducted postdoctoral research at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology.

Carlo Cocozza is an assistant professor in data science and complex systems for the ERC Synergy Grant EUROpest project at the University of Torun. He holds an MSc in Bioarchaeology from the University of York and obtained his PhD in Vor- und Frühgeschichtliche Archäologie at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich. His postdoctoral research at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology involved stable isotope analysis to investigate long-term shifts in diet, agricultural economies, infant feeding practices, and mobility across ancient and medieval societies at multiple spatiotemporal scales. Carlo’s work contributes to the systematic global collection and integration of bioarchaeological stable isotope data through the IsoMemo initiative, where he serves as deputy director.