The Broken Past: Fractals in Archaeology

Authors: Brown, Clifford¹; Witschey, Walter²; Liebovitch, Larry³

Source: Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, Volume 12, Number 1, March 2005 , pp. 37-78(42)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

Many archaeological patterns are fractal. Fractal analysis, therefore, has much to contribute to archaeology. This article offers an introduction to fractal analysis for archaeologists. We explain what fractals are, describe the essential methods of fractal analysis, and present archaeological examples. Some examples have been published previously, while others are presented here for the first time. We also explain the connection between fractal geometry and nonlinear dynamical systems. Fractals are the geometry of complex nonlinear systems. Therefore, fractal analysis is an indispensable method in our efforts to understand nonlinearities in past cultural dynamics.

Keywords: fractals; nonlinear dynamics; chaos; self-organized criticality

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10816-005-2396-6

Affiliations: 1: Department of Anthropology, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, Florida, Email: ctbrown@fau.edu 2: Science Museum of Virginia, 2500 West Broad Street, Richmond, Virginia, 3: Center for Complex Systems and Brain Science, Center for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, and Department of Psychology, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, Florida,

Publication date: 2005-03-01