Data Science, Human Science, and Ancient Gods

Conversations in Theory and Method

Edited by Sandra Blakely Edited by Megan Daniels Contributions by Sandra Blakely Contributions by Megan Daniels Contributions by R. Benjamin Gorham Contributions by Sebastian Heath Contributions by Kathryn A. Langenfeld Contributions by Jennifer Larson Contributions by Jacob Latham Contributions by Lindsey A. Mazurek Contributions by M. Willis Monroe Contributions by Sarah Murray Contributions by Dan-el Padilla Peralta Contributions by Maggie L. Popkin Contributions by Ian Rutherford

Book cover: Data Science, Human Science, and Ancient Gods

Extent: 342, 342 pages

Publisher: Lockwood Press

Subjects: Mediterranean Archaeology, Religious Studies

Series: Studies in Ancient Mediterranean Religions

Series volume number: 3

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(May 2023)

ISBN: 9781948488518

5.98 x 8.98 inches

Price: $79.95

In stock

PDF (Published)

(May 2023)

ISBN: 9781948488525

Price: $64.00

The studies in this volume share a focus on religion in the ancient Mediterranean world: How ritual, myth, spectatorship, and travel reflect the continual interaction of human beings with the richly fictive beings who defined the boundaries of groups, access to the past, and mobility across land and seascapes. They share as well the methodological exploration of the intersection between human sciencesthe integration of numerous disciplines around the study of all aspects of human life from the biological to the culturaland the study of the past. In so doing, they continue a long dialogue that engages with critical models derived from specializations within history, philology, archaeology, sociology, and anthropology, and addresses, increasingly, the potentialities and pitfalls of quantitative and digital analyses. Many of the threads in this long conversation inform these chapters: the comparative project, human social evolution, disciplinary reflexivity, religion as an embedded, functional, and structural system, and the role for agency, networks, and materiality.

  • Edited by Sandra Blakely
  • Edited by Megan Daniels
  • Contributions by Sandra Blakely
  • Contributions by Megan Daniels
  • Contributions by R. Benjamin Gorham
  • Contributions by Sebastian Heath
  • Contributions by Kathryn A. Langenfeld
  • Contributions by Jennifer Larson
  • Contributions by Jacob Latham
  • Contributions by Lindsey A. Mazurek
  • Contributions by M. Willis Monroe
  • Contributions by Sarah Murray
  • Contributions by Dan-el Padilla Peralta
  • Contributions by Maggie L. Popkin
  • Contributions by Ian Rutherford

"The volume is the first step in combining theory and method, data and human sciences. It shows that research projects on ancient religion often, indeed all the papers in this volume, deal with data and the agency of individuals integrated into a social-construct environment and physical space. The volume also urges the creation of a standard system of categories (ontologies) and more comprehensive cross-disciplinary digital big-data projects and discussions specifically addressing ancient religions."

— Francesca Mazzilli, University of Bari Aldo Moro