Systems of Interaction between the First Sedentary Villages in the Near East Exposed Using Agent-Based Modelling of Obsidian Exchange
David Ortega,
Juan José Ibáñez,
Daniel Campos,
Lamya Khalidi,
Vicenç Méndez,
Luís Teira
Affiliations
David Ortega
Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat de Girona, pl. Ferrater Mora 1, Girona 17071, Spain
Juan José Ibáñez
Institución Milá y Fontanals, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Egipcíaques, 15, Barcelona 08001, Spain
Daniel Campos
Grup de Física Estadística, Departament de Física, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra 08193, Cerdanyola, Spain
Lamya Khalidi
UMR 7264—Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique—Culture et Environnements Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen Âge, 24 avenue des Diables Bleus, Nice 06357, France
Vicenç Méndez
Grup de Física Estadística, Departament de Física, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra 08193, Cerdanyola, Spain
Luís Teira
Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria, Universidad de Cantabria, Edificio Interfacultativo, Avda. de los Castros, s/n, Santander 39005, Spain
In the Near East, nomadic hunter-gatherer societies became sedentary farmers for the first time during the transition into the Neolithic. Sedentary life presented a risk of isolation for Neolithic groups. As fluid intergroup interactions are crucial for the sharing of information, resources and genes, Neolithic villages developed a network of contacts. In this paper we study obsidian exchange between Neolithic villages in order to characterize this network of interaction. Using agent-based modelling and elements taken from complex network theory, we model obsidian exchange and compare results with archaeological data. We demonstrate that complex networks of interaction were established at the outset of the Neolithic and hypothesize that the existence of these complex networks was a necessary condition for the success and spread of a new way of living.
