Hypergraph Representations: A Study of Carib Attacks on Colonial Forces, 1509-1700

Abstract

Network data consisting of recorded historical events can be represented as hyper-graphs where the ties or events can connect any number of nodes or event related attributes. In this paper, we perform a centrality analysis of a directed hypergraph representing attacks by indigenous peoples from the Lesser Antilles on European colonial settlements, 1509–1700. The results of central attacks with respect to at- tacked colonial force, member of attack alliances, and year and location of attack are discussed and compared to a non-relational exploratory analysis of the data. This comparison points to the importance of a mixed methods approach to enhance the analysis and to obtain a complementary understanding of a network study.

Keywords

• network analysis
• directed hypergraph
• centrality
• colonization
• caribbean ethnohistory