Slime mould imitates development of Roman roads in the Balkans

Sirakoulis, Georgios Ch; Tsompanas, Michail Antisthenis; Evangelidis, Vasilis; Adamatzky, Andrew

Abstract

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. Due to its unexpected computing abilities, Physarum polycephalum, a vegetative stage of acellular slime, has been repeatedly used during the last decade in order to reproduce transport networks. After conducting a series of biological experiments and with the help of a Cellular Automata (CA) model we try to explore the ability of the slime in order to imitate the Roman road network in the Balkans, an area which was of great strategic importance for the stability of the Roman Empire in the East. The application of Physarum machines hopes to offer a first step towards a new interdisciplinary, almost unconventional, approach to archaeology.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jun 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: Sep 25, 2015
• Journal: Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
• Print ISSN: 2352-409X
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2
• Pages: 264-281
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.02.005
• Keywords: Physarum polycephalum, Physarum machines, cellular automata, archaeology, Roman roads, network analysis, Balkans
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/839378
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.02.005
• Contract Date: Mar 2, 2016