Off-campus WSU users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your WSU access ID and password, then click the "Off-campus Download" button below.
Non-WSU users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.
Access Type
WSU Access
Date of Award
January 2020
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Department
Computer Science
First Advisor
Robert G. Reynolds
Abstract
In this thesis the Land Bridge system (DEEPDIVE) is described. The goal of the project is to use Artificial Intelligence technology to aid Archaeologists in the discovery of ancient prehistoric sites, now underwater. The example used here is the Alpena-Amberley Land Bridge that stretched across Lake Huron from Alpena in Michigan to Amberley in Ontario. During the Ice Age (around 10,000 years ago) it was above water for several thousand years. It was postulated that during that time it was used as a migration pathway for caribou, a major food source then. AI techniques were used to create a virtual landscape using over 3 trillion data points. This virtual landscape was populated with intelligent agents, caribou. Machine learning techniques (Cultural Algorithms) were used to direct pathfinding algorithms (A*, Ambush-A*, and Dendriform-A*) in order to predict optimal seasonal migration pathways. These pathways were visualized using a Virtual Reality system. Finally, a rule based system was then used to predict hunter site locations relative to the caribou pathways. The predicted site locations were then given to Archaeologists from the University of Michigan to direct their underwater explorations. As a result the project discovered what is currently the largest Paleo-Indian site in the United States.
Recommended Citation
Palazzolo, Thomas Joseph, "Exploring Virtual Worlds With Cultural Algorithms: Ancient Alpena-Amberley Land Bridge" (2020). Wayne State University Dissertations. 3429.
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/3429