The list of cited references from the archaeological research outputs extracted from WoS shows that more than 268,000 individuals (as first author) were cited on at least one occasion by archaeological researchers between 2004 and 2013. Like sources, this number reduces sharply when restricted to references cited more than once; approximately 16,000 were cited more than 10 times, but this rate of decrease reduces markedly when looking at the first authors of references cited more than 20 times. There are approximately 800 individuals that were cited as first author more than 100 times (see Table 5).
| Number of (first) Authors | Times cited (2004-2013) |
|---|---|
| 268,942 | 1 |
| 16,668 | 11 |
| 7,591 | 21 |
| 4,539 | 31 |
| 3,008 | 41 | 2,231 | 50 |
| 2,175 | 51 |
| 1,676 | 61 |
| 1,361 | 71 |
| 1,101 | 81 |
| 933 | 91 |
| 796 | 101 |
In producing the network map of authors (Figure 4), the threshold for inclusion was set at 50 citations or more per (first) author, which generates a map with 2231 authors. The author nodes are then linked by 2300 edges that show the normalised citation links. Once again the specific citation threshold and the number of edges were chosen because these values produce a map that reveals a clear visual pattern defined by a sufficient number of nodes that can be graphically represented, and with a pattern of clusters that is repeated in form when the threshold for inclusion is set at higher and lower limits. At first inspection a series of well-known authors are prominent - Aitken, Bar-Yosef, Bender, Binford, Bronk-Ramsey, Buikstra, Dobres, Evershed, Finkelstein, Hodder, Joyce, Kirch, Klein, Lyman, Marcus, Meskell, Renfrew, Stiner and Stuiver. The map also includes authors that are not specifically archaeological or contributors to archaeological research projects (anthropology/sociology: Bourdieu, Butler, Foucault, Giddens, Ingold, Levi-Strauss, Sahlins; Genetics: Cavalli-Sforza, Krings, Pereira, Torroni) as well as a number of authors who were active in the 20th century or earlier still (Collingwood, Darwin, Garrod, Haddon, Kidder, Mauss, Schliemann).
After clustering (minimum cluster size: 10 authors; clustering resolution: 1.55), 19 separate clusters are differentiated where the largest contains 248 authors and the smallest 18. Examining the authors included within these clusters it is possible to suggest an archaeological theme that defines each cluster (see Table 6) and some broader aspects of archaeological research that determine the placing of different clusters. An overview network map with major thematic clusters identified is presented in Figure 3; a large scalable map is presented as Figure 4.
| Cluster no. | 'Research core theme' | No. | Major authors (in alphabetical order) included in this cluster. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Palaeoanthropology, The study of human evolution through the archaeological record | 248 | Bar-Yosef, Behrensmeyer, Blumenschine, Conard, Dibble, Dominguez-Rodrigo, d'Errico, Gamble, Gowlett, Henshilwood, Klein, McBrearty, Marean, Mellars, Mithen, Semaw, Zilhao, and (Bordes, Breuil, J.D. Clark, Garrod, Leroi-Gourhan) |
| 2 | Reconstructing ancient environments including radiocarbon dating | 219 | Butzer, Goldberg, Demenocal, Brown, Hilman, Magny, Wilkinson, and Bronk-Ramsey, Stuiver, Reimer |
| 3 | Theory and interpretation in archaeology | 215 | Bradley, Chapman, Conkey, Hodder, Johnson, Meskell, Renfrew, Shanks, Tilley, Trigger, and Bourdieu, Douglas, Foucault, Gell , Ingold, Latour, Wallerstein (Childe, D.L. Clarke, Collingwood, Mauss, Weber, Marx) |
| 4 | The archaeology of the Central and Eastern Mediterranean and the Classical World | 202 | Alcock, Baines, Beard, Bintliff, Boardman, Cunliffe, Finkelstein, Halstead, Knapp, Lambeck, Mattingly, Morris, and (Petrie, Evans, Mellart, Schliemann) |
| 5 | The archaeology of Australasia and the Pacific | 143 | Allen, Bailey, Barker, Bednarik, Bellwood, Bowdler, Cosgrove, Flood, Fullagar, Gould, Higham, Hiscock, Holdaway, Kirch, Lourandos, Morwod, Spriggs, and (Haddon, Tindale) | 6 | Materials analysis (esp. ceramics) | 141 | Arnold, Baxter, Freestone, Glascock, Henderson, Jones, Neff, Pollard, Shepard, Tite, Tylecote, Whitbread and (Daniel) |
| 7 | The archaeology of mobile societies in North America (esp. hunter-gatherer theory, lithic technology and evolutionary theory) | 138 | Adovasio, Ames, Andrevsky, Bamforth, Bettinger, Binford, Bleed, Bonnichsen, Crabtree, Fitzhugh, Grayson, Guthrie, Hawkes, Jochim, McGhee, O'Brien, Odell, Speth, Thomas, Winterhalder and (Darwin) |
| 8 | The archaeology of early state societies in the (North and Central) Americas | 127 | Adams, Ashmore, Brumfiel, Coe, Cowgill, Crumley, Feinman, Flannery, Hammond, Joyce, Marcus, Rapoport, Redman, Sabloff, Sanders, Tainter, Willey, Yoffee |
| 9 | The archaeology of early settled societies in the (North) Americas | 117 | Brown, Dincauze, Dunnell, Hegmon, Kehoe, Kintigh, Pauketat, Peebles, Sassaman, Whitley and (Boas, Ford, Haury, Kidder, Kroeber, Taylor) |
| 10 | The archaeology of diet (including the appearance of domestication and the spread of the first farmers) | 111 | Ammerman, Bogucki, Cavalli-Sforza, Clutton-Brock, Grigson, Paabo, Sherratt, Zeder, Zvelebil and (Higgs) |
| 11 | Palaeoanthropology: the study of human evolution through fossil hominin remains | 106 | Cox, Grine, Holliday, Lahr, Mays, Owsley, Ruff, Tobias, Trinkaus, Wolpoff, and (Hrdlicka) |
| 12 | Isotope analysis | 91 | Ambrose, Bentley, Bocherens, Cerling, Deniro, Hedges, Lee-Thorp, Pike, Price, Richards, Sealey, Sponheimer, Vogel, Weiner |
| 13 | The archaeology of Africa | 89 | Brandt, Connah, Deacon, Hassan, Huffman, Jerardino, Lewis-Williams, McIntosh, Mitchell, Parkington, Phillipson, Robertshaw, Schmidt, Wendorf and (Caton-Thompson, Goodwin) |
| 14 | Early occupation of the Americas (esp. South America) | 85 | Denevan, Dillehay, Erickson, Fernandez-Jalvo, Guidon, Martin, Meggers, Orquera, Pearsall, Politis, Roosevelt |
| 15 | Archaeological survey (esp. remote sensing) | 59 | Challis, Conyers, Gaffney, Kvamme, Lasaponara, Loke, Parcak, Wheatley and (O.G.S. Crawford) |
| 16 | South American civilizations | 58 | Aldenderfer, Hastorf, Lemonnier, Nunez, Shimada, Sillar, Silverman, Stanish |
| 17 | Dating (esp. thermoluminesence and magnetics) | 36 | Aitken, Herries, Jacobs, Kovacheva, Murray, Prescott, Shaw, Wintle |
| 18 | Archaeological chemistry (esp. lipids analysis) | 26 | Colombini, Connan, Craig, Evershed, Heron, Pancost |
| 19 | The Bronze Age in the Near East | 18 | Banning, Belfer-Cohen, Cauvin, Goring-Morris, Henry, Kuijt, Rollefson, Watkins and (J.G.D. Clark) |
Some of the author clusters replicate clusters in the network map of sources, indicating a close alignment between researchers and their journal of publication choice. Examples include clusters of authors publishing research outputs in Palaeoanthropology, or Theory and Interpretation in Europe and the Old World, or the Archaeology of the Central and Eastern Mediterranean; of Australia and the Pacific; of Africa; Remote Sensing; Archaeological Chemistry. Other clusters of authors are different. There are also a number of interesting factors highlighted by this clustering process related to the degree of overlap between authors in different clusters and to the clustering/placing of specific authors in a manner different from the clustering of journals. Looking at the map, it is immediately clear that authors who have been assigned to one cluster are mapped more closely to those assigned to other clusters, while some authors are clustered and mapped relatively separately. For instance, the cluster of authors working on the scientific analysis of materials is placed separately to the cluster of those working in remote sensing. By contrast there is a close intermingling of authors in cluster 3 (Theory and Interpretation) and cluster 8 (The archaeology of Early State Societies in the Americas). At the level of the individual, for example, Binford is placed and clustered with authors whose research is predominantly about the early hunter-gather societies of North America (Ames, Bamforth, Bettinger, Fitzhugh) or the analysis of faunal assemblages (Lyman) rather than with the other major authors of the New Archaeology such as Renfrew, Clarke and Flannery. This suggests that it is Binford's work on the interpretation of faunal assemblages (e.g. Bones: Ancient Men and Modern Myths; Nunamiut Ethnoarchaeology) that has become most deeply embedded in the intellectual base of archaeology between 2004 and 2013 rather than his earlier papers that defined the New Archaeology.
Readers wishing to examine this map online can do so by following this link to the network map of authors (the online viewer works best with Internet Explorer).
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