Joshua Watts | Archaeology Southwest (original) (raw)

Papers by Joshua Watts

Research paper thumbnail of Scale Dependency in Agent-Based Modeling: How Many Time Steps? How Many Simulations? How Many Agents?

Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of SAA 2015 Presentation -- Pots, Middlemen, and the "Shopkeeper" Hypothesis

Research paper thumbnail of Individual Variation in Flake Scar Patterns on Experimental Projectile Points

Research paper thumbnail of Traces of the Individual in Prehistory: Flintknappers and the Distribution of Projectile Points in the Eastern Tonto Basin, Arizona

Advances in Archaeological Practice: A Journal of the Society for American Archaeology, Aug 2013

There is considerable and largely untapped potential in individual-scale research in the discipli... more There is considerable and largely untapped potential in individual-scale research in the discipline of archaeology. Innovative methods described in this article were developed to identify the work of individual prehistoric flintknappers. Theoretically, the approach was informed by previous researchers' discussions of technological style and utilizes an individual-or nano-scale focus for that concept. New analytical methods were then used to investigate individual flintknappers' participation in the community organization of the prehistoric eastern Tonto Basin, Arizona. Specifically, small triangular stone projectile points (n = 149) collected from Roosevelt phase (A.D. 1275-1325) sites were analyzed to inform an assessment of the spatial distribution of individuals' handiwork in late prehistoric multi-site settlements. This research illustrates how improved individual-scale techniques may provide new insight on topics of considerable interest to archaeologists. For the Tonto Basin case, this project offers a new perspective on the integration of immigrants into local systems and the strength of community ties across natural barriers such as the Salt River during the Roosevelt phase.

Research paper thumbnail of The Organization and Evolution of the Hohokam Economy: Agent-Based Modeling of Exchange in the Phoenix Basin, Arizona, AD 200-1450

The Hohokam of central Arizona left behind evidence of a culture markedly different from and more... more The Hohokam of central Arizona left behind evidence of a culture markedly different from and more complex than the small communities of O'odham farmers first encountered by Europeans in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries A.D.

Research paper thumbnail of Identifying and Charting the Rise of Specialized Red-on-Buff Pottery Production Along Queen Creek, Phoenix Basin

Journal of Arizona Archaeology, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Identical rock types with different chemistry: sourcing phyllite-tempered Hohokam pottery from the Phoenix basin, Arizona

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2010

The organization of ceramic production and distribution among the ancient Hohokam of the Phoenix ... more The organization of ceramic production and distribution among the ancient Hohokam of the Phoenix basin, Arizona, has been documented in recent years with much detail. Based on diverse temper and clay compositions, the provenance of individual ceramics is routinely determined with considerable precision. One exception is phyllite-tempered pottery, which was made in one corner of the basin but also across

Research paper thumbnail of The Provenance and Concentrated Production of Hohokam Red-on-Buff Pottery: Implications for an Ancient Arizona Economy

Journal of Anthropological Research, 2007

Research paper thumbnail of Agent-based Model of a Simple Prehistoric Exchange System Computer Simulation in Social Sciences, Spring 2006

We describe an agent-based model inspired by the prehistoric Hohokam pottery exchange system from... more We describe an agent-based model inspired by the prehistoric Hohokam pottery exchange system from central Arizona, circa A.D. 500 -1400. A conceptual model informed by archaeological research in the region and influenced by a small body of theory specifically focused on the economics of small and middle-range societies is outlined. Details of our formalization and implementation of that conceptual model using the Netlogo platform are described. Finally, the results of our sensitivity and model dynamics experiments are presented. The results show that simulations of our agent-based model generated ceramic distribution patterns quite similar to those predicted by theorists, and may prove to be a useful starting point for future modeling efforts involving more concrete archaeological datasets.

Journal Articles by Joshua Watts

Research paper thumbnail of EXCHANGE NETWORK TOPOLOGIES AND AGENT-BASED MODELING: ECONOMIES OF THE SEDENTARY-PERIOD HOHOKAM

American Antiquity, 2016

The origins and evolution of market-based economies remain poorly understood in part because the ... more The origins and evolution of market-based economies remain poorly understood in part because the data from nascent
markets are scarce and methods available to archaeologists are underdeveloped. Studying how markets evolved is vital for
understanding the origins of a process that dominates modern economies around the world and has significant policy implications.
We show how refining abstract models of exchange networks with household-scale distributional analyses and
regional-scale computational agent-based models (ABMs) can lead to new understandings about the organization of a prehistoric
economy. The Sedentary-period Hohokam of central Arizona—particularly for the middle Sacaton phase (A.D.
1020–1100)—have been identified as a middle-range society that traded pottery in a market-based economy, but the structure
of their exchange networks is not well understood. We analyzed ceramic data from recent archaeological excavations at
two sites in the Phoenix Basin using new network-inspired distributional approaches to evaluate exchange systems. Initial
results were then assessed using simulated data generated by an ABM of Hohokam exchange networks. Final results
indicated that the best-fitting ABM model configurations were those consistent with openly accessed market-based exchange
and contributed new insights into the influence of natural landscape barriers such as the Salt River on exchange in the
Phoenix Basin.

Research paper thumbnail of Scale Dependency in Agent-Based Modeling: How Many Time Steps? How Many Simulations? How Many Agents?

Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of SAA 2015 Presentation -- Pots, Middlemen, and the "Shopkeeper" Hypothesis

Research paper thumbnail of Individual Variation in Flake Scar Patterns on Experimental Projectile Points

Research paper thumbnail of Traces of the Individual in Prehistory: Flintknappers and the Distribution of Projectile Points in the Eastern Tonto Basin, Arizona

Advances in Archaeological Practice: A Journal of the Society for American Archaeology, Aug 2013

There is considerable and largely untapped potential in individual-scale research in the discipli... more There is considerable and largely untapped potential in individual-scale research in the discipline of archaeology. Innovative methods described in this article were developed to identify the work of individual prehistoric flintknappers. Theoretically, the approach was informed by previous researchers' discussions of technological style and utilizes an individual-or nano-scale focus for that concept. New analytical methods were then used to investigate individual flintknappers' participation in the community organization of the prehistoric eastern Tonto Basin, Arizona. Specifically, small triangular stone projectile points (n = 149) collected from Roosevelt phase (A.D. 1275-1325) sites were analyzed to inform an assessment of the spatial distribution of individuals' handiwork in late prehistoric multi-site settlements. This research illustrates how improved individual-scale techniques may provide new insight on topics of considerable interest to archaeologists. For the Tonto Basin case, this project offers a new perspective on the integration of immigrants into local systems and the strength of community ties across natural barriers such as the Salt River during the Roosevelt phase.

Research paper thumbnail of The Organization and Evolution of the Hohokam Economy: Agent-Based Modeling of Exchange in the Phoenix Basin, Arizona, AD 200-1450

The Hohokam of central Arizona left behind evidence of a culture markedly different from and more... more The Hohokam of central Arizona left behind evidence of a culture markedly different from and more complex than the small communities of O'odham farmers first encountered by Europeans in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries A.D.

Research paper thumbnail of Identifying and Charting the Rise of Specialized Red-on-Buff Pottery Production Along Queen Creek, Phoenix Basin

Journal of Arizona Archaeology, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Identical rock types with different chemistry: sourcing phyllite-tempered Hohokam pottery from the Phoenix basin, Arizona

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2010

The organization of ceramic production and distribution among the ancient Hohokam of the Phoenix ... more The organization of ceramic production and distribution among the ancient Hohokam of the Phoenix basin, Arizona, has been documented in recent years with much detail. Based on diverse temper and clay compositions, the provenance of individual ceramics is routinely determined with considerable precision. One exception is phyllite-tempered pottery, which was made in one corner of the basin but also across

Research paper thumbnail of The Provenance and Concentrated Production of Hohokam Red-on-Buff Pottery: Implications for an Ancient Arizona Economy

Journal of Anthropological Research, 2007

Research paper thumbnail of Agent-based Model of a Simple Prehistoric Exchange System Computer Simulation in Social Sciences, Spring 2006

We describe an agent-based model inspired by the prehistoric Hohokam pottery exchange system from... more We describe an agent-based model inspired by the prehistoric Hohokam pottery exchange system from central Arizona, circa A.D. 500 -1400. A conceptual model informed by archaeological research in the region and influenced by a small body of theory specifically focused on the economics of small and middle-range societies is outlined. Details of our formalization and implementation of that conceptual model using the Netlogo platform are described. Finally, the results of our sensitivity and model dynamics experiments are presented. The results show that simulations of our agent-based model generated ceramic distribution patterns quite similar to those predicted by theorists, and may prove to be a useful starting point for future modeling efforts involving more concrete archaeological datasets.

Research paper thumbnail of EXCHANGE NETWORK TOPOLOGIES AND AGENT-BASED MODELING: ECONOMIES OF THE SEDENTARY-PERIOD HOHOKAM

American Antiquity, 2016

The origins and evolution of market-based economies remain poorly understood in part because the ... more The origins and evolution of market-based economies remain poorly understood in part because the data from nascent
markets are scarce and methods available to archaeologists are underdeveloped. Studying how markets evolved is vital for
understanding the origins of a process that dominates modern economies around the world and has significant policy implications.
We show how refining abstract models of exchange networks with household-scale distributional analyses and
regional-scale computational agent-based models (ABMs) can lead to new understandings about the organization of a prehistoric
economy. The Sedentary-period Hohokam of central Arizona—particularly for the middle Sacaton phase (A.D.
1020–1100)—have been identified as a middle-range society that traded pottery in a market-based economy, but the structure
of their exchange networks is not well understood. We analyzed ceramic data from recent archaeological excavations at
two sites in the Phoenix Basin using new network-inspired distributional approaches to evaluate exchange systems. Initial
results were then assessed using simulated data generated by an ABM of Hohokam exchange networks. Final results
indicated that the best-fitting ABM model configurations were those consistent with openly accessed market-based exchange
and contributed new insights into the influence of natural landscape barriers such as the Salt River on exchange in the
Phoenix Basin.