Information extraction and machine learning for archaeological texts

Abstract

Archaeologists are creating ever-increasing amounts of textual data. So much in fact, that manual reading and inspection has become practically impossible. By leveraging computational approaches, it is possible to extract relevant information from this big data, allowing for more efficient research and new analyses. In this chapter, methods and techniques to extract information from archaeological texts through Machine Learning are introduced and discussed, with a focus on practical examples. After reading the chapter, you should have a clear grasp on the possibilities of text mining in archaeology, the current state of research, and enough information to start your own text analyses.