A Network View on the Big Exchange Project: Integrating and Analysing Heterogeneous Datasets

This study presents a proof-of-concept for integrating 14 datasets on 11 archaeologically relevant raw materials from the Big Exchange project into a heterogeneous information network (HIN), an informational structure explicitly modelling multiple object and relationship types. HIN-based approaches provide archaeologists with a powerful means of identifying structural and semantic patterns in material distributions. In this study, a spatial extension of the PathSim similarity measure is applied to the integrated HIN to quantify higher-order relationships (meta paths) between raw materials at different spatial scales. The results highlight overlapping material spheres as proxies for potential contact zones and social proximity in the Early Neolithic. They also reveal instances of spatial separation and limited interaction. The method additionally helps distinguish circulation patterns from potential taphonomic biases, such as artefact absence due to preservation conditions. The analysis reveals a particularly strong similarity between Rijckholt Flint and Actinolite-Hornblende Schist at all spatial scales. This suggests that there was sustained contact and low social distance between the communities associated with them. These findings show how spatially extended PathSim can reveal both expected and previously obscured interaction patterns, while also highlighting methodological limitations that result in localised variations in similarity scores being flattened by highly dispersed materials.