Computerized Civilization

Introduction

Computers have now become so entrenched in our present culture that they're even being used to study long-lost cultures of the past. Next, an experiment in virtual archaeology.

Podcast

Computerized Civilization

Transcript

A computer program explores a lost civilization. I'm Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

In the mid-fourteenth century, a Native American tribe called the Anasazi mysteriously vanished from their New Mexico homeland. Now at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, Rob Axtell and Josh Epstein are trying to find out why—using a computer program. As Dr. Epstein explains, the program presents a bird's-eye view of Anasazi settlements over a period of six centuries.

Epstein:
"You look down as though you were looking down from a high altitude as this entire history unfolds."

The researchers created a time-lapse overview of the Anasazi's rise and fall. Now they're inputting different theories about the Anasazi, and letting the program play each scenario out.

Epstein:
"And now the trick is to see what rules for starting a new family, picking new farmland, and so forth, will actually generate a movie, that looks like the real thing."

This way, competing theories about their disappearance can be pitted against one another. Hopefully, the best ones will make the virtual Anasazi thrive and then vanish—just like the real tribe did.

Of course, no computer simulation can tell the whole story. But systems like these are turning archaeology into a more testable science.

For the American Association for the Advancement of Science, I’m Bob Hirshon.

Making Sense of the Research

One of the most powerful questions that computers can answer is the question "What if?" The first "what if" questions put to computers were simple by today's standards: "What if this space ship had an aluminum frame instead of a steel frame?" Or "what if our factory had three short assembly lines instead of two longer ones?" Today, the questions are getting very complex, and include questions about the birth of the Universe and the complexities of the stock market. In this story, we learn of a "what if" computer program that looks at the growth of an ancient civilization. In addition to the Internet-based activities presented at the end of this story, you might also want to think about the factors that contribute to the rise and fall of a civilization. You could think of similar societies in modern day life, perhaps the rise and fall of a basketball team dynasty, like the Boston Celtics or the Chicago Bulls. What are the resources? What are the other factors? Are there things beyond the control of the people involved? How would you create a computer model of such a society?

Now try to answer the following questions:

1. During what century did the Anasazi mysteriously disappear from their New Mexico homeland?
2. In what way are Rob Axtell and Josh Epstein using a computer program to help them determine why the Anasazi disappeared?
3. What are the two researchers hoping to accomplish by using the computer simulation?
4. Would a computer simulation be capable of telling the whole story about what happened to the tribe?

Going Further

You can improve your understanding of how archaeologists perform their work by going to the Smithsonian Institution’s You Be the Historian Internet activity.

Another worthwhile site you can visit is NOVA Online’s Lost Tribes of Israel, which takes you into the mystery of what happened to the Ten Tribes of the Kingdom of Israel when they were exiled by the Assyrians in the eighth century B.C.

Finally, for another example of a computer simulation, you can try the Game of Life website, based on mathematician John Conway’s cellular automaton. The game consists of a collection of cells which, based on a few mathematical rules, can live, die or multiply. Depending on the initial conditions, the cells form various patterns throughout the course of the game.