Network analyses of the diffusion of Hellenistic fired bricks

Network analyses have been carried out in order to investigate the spread of Hellenistic fired bricks, being an example of the diffusion of innovations. General similarity networks have been used in two ways: as an exploratory tool for revealing possible trends and patterns in the complex relationship between various archaeological finds; and as a proxy for the diffusion process, the structural properties of which can be determined by statistical methods. These approaches have provided insights into the material, which would have been difficult to gain with conventional methods. However, the results should primarily be seen as promising lines of further investigation. The interpretation of quantitative network analyses must always take the wider historical and archaeological background into account.

The combined information also forms a basis for modelling the diffusion process. Simulations can be tested against the temporal and geographical distribution of the material, as well as the structural properties of the similarity networks. In our case the simulations aimed at finding possible explanations for an apparent shift in the diffusion process, from a long period of limited use to sudden breakthrough. One model suggests that latent knowledge about the innovation may have diffused independently of the actual adoption decision-process. This would allow a ‘weak’ diffusion process to survive through an extended period of limited use without going extinct, and can be understood in terms of ‘re-invention’. Sudden transitions in the process behaviour can also be attributed to changes in the cultural patterns of decision-making.