BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:A Data Intensive Approach to Modelling the Evolution of Technology
  - Erik Gjesfeld - McDonald Centre for Archaeological Research
DTSTART:20180301T130000Z
DTEND:20180301T143000Z
UID:TALK101014@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:James Fergusson
DESCRIPTION:Evolutionary theory has proven to be an influential model for 
 examining change in technological systems. However\, the application of an
  evolutionary framework often requires macro-scale data that is informativ
 e of technological change at the population level over time. Archaeologica
 l and cultural data repositories present an emerging source of valuable in
 formation to study the evolution of technology but are commonly viewed wit
 h skepticism due to uncertainty about data aggregation\, lack of data stru
 cture\, and sampling biases. Here\, a case study that uses mined data on A
 merican automobiles is used to highlight a novel Bayesian approach for est
 imating rates of technological origination and extinction from occurrence 
 data. Results from this analysis are compared with preliminary findings on
  the rate of diversification in both modern and ancient technologies to ex
 plore commonalities in patterns of technological change. This research con
 cludes that data science has much to offer social sciences for future quan
 titative analysis of technology and culture.   
LOCATION:Kavli Large Meeting Room\, Kavli Building
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR