Social Modeller: The Use of Expert Systems in Archaeology

Abstract

Computer applications and especially artificial intelligence (AI) in archaeology is a scientific field that emerged in the late 1970s. This fact came in response to several simultaneous needs, opportunities and interests that result from the systematic development of methodologies relative to excavating, recording and restoration of findings, and also the increasing amount of information gathered in excavation areas. One of the first uses of artificial intelligence on a practical level was the coupling of expert archaeological knowledge with computerbased applications such as expert systems (ES), in order to simulate archaeologist’s reasoning for a specific problem. Nowadays, the evolvement of the Internet provides a novel platform convenient for the development of new intelligent software and for offering valuable services in archaeology (Gardin, 1988; Huggett & Ross, 2004; Huggett & Ryan, 1994; & Wilcock, 1985, 1990).