Access Type

Open Access Dissertation

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.

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