Introduction
The Abade Artificial Archaeological Site Project (AAASP) employed computer simulations to recreate a 19th-century Brazilian mining village that was destroyed in an environmental conflict. AnyLogic was chosen as a tool to support the creation of an interactive model that simulates the acute phase of confrontation between the settlement of Meia Ponte and Lavras do Abade.
Virtual archaeology is an evolving area that promises to complement traditional techniques since it facilitates collaboration among the community, as the project stages often involve remote participation. The modern technologies allow for such types of archaeological projects.
Data sourcing takes place by means of comprehensive databases that integrate global site data, historical reports, and environmental data. AI assistants can automate routine tasks as well as visualize written content or suggest literature sources. Computer simulations bring archaeology full circle to its roots — the joy of discovery. What adventurer has not dreamed of unveiling a lost city? Virtual reality and simulation enable anyone to unlock those wonders, whether a scholar or an aspiring Indiana Jones.
So, in summary, computer simulations enable archaeologists to conduct countless controlled experiments, gain insights difficult to achieve on-site, plan expeditions, and share created models globally.
Simulation model
The center of the project is a simulation model that reconstructs the historical event — the attack on the gold miners village in Lavras do Abade that happened in the 19th century in Brazil.
To build the precise layout for simulation, laser scanning data of the ruins, 3D modeling, and historical data like photographs, reports and documents were used. The logical part of the simulation model, which recreates a conflict phase between villages, was developed based on one of the standard AnyLogic example models, “Serial Killers.”
Read also: AnyLogic 3D animation in simulation modeling to learn more about improving simulation visualisation with advanced techniques.
The agent-based modeling approach is the technique that builds up a behavior of agent’s populations during their confrontation and is perfect to model different states for each individual person and understand complex system behavior.
The most valuable note about the project that it is committed to be available for the researcher’s community and hosted in an open-source repository. AnyLogic Cloud is ideal for publishing the simulation model to a wide audience of modelers and analysts that can have access to a model and experiment over it, gathering insights through dashboards and validating other scenarios by parameter tweaking.
Thanks to this platform, anyone can explore the AAASP simulation model and try to change inputs, so different stories may evolve throughout the experiment execution.
Results
The Abade Artificial Archaeological Site Project demonstrates the value of computer simulation for virtual archaeology. The simulations can recreate ancient sites and societies by integrating diverse data sources. The ability to test hypotheses, model dynamics such as human behavior and interactions, and experiment with different scenarios provides invaluable insights that complement traditional archaeological methods.