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Nobility-targeting raids among the Classic Maya: Cooperation in scale-free networks persists under tournament attack when population size fluctuates
[conference paper]
Abstract Cooperation in scale-free networks has proven to be very robust against removal of randomly selected nodes (error) but highly sensitive to removal of the most connected nodes (attack). In this paper we analyze two comparable types of node removal in which the removal selection is based on tournament... view more
Cooperation in scale-free networks has proven to be very robust against removal of randomly selected nodes (error) but highly sensitive to removal of the most connected nodes (attack). In this paper we analyze two comparable types of node removal in which the removal selection is based on tournaments where the fittest (raids) or the least fit (battles) nodes are chosen. We associate the two removals to two types of Maya warfare offences during the Classic period. During this period of at least 500 years, political leaders were able to sustain social order in spite of attack-like offences to their social networks. We present a computational model with a population fluctuation mechanism that operates under an evolutionary game theoretic approach using the Prisoner's Dilemma as a metaphor of cooperation. We find that paradoxically battles are able to uphold cooperation under moderate levels of raids, although raids do have a strong impact on the network structure. We infer that cooperation does not depend as much on the structure as it does on the underlying mechanism that allows the network to readjust. We relate the results to the Maya Classic period, concluding that Mayan warfare by itself cannot entirely explain the Maya political collapse without appealing to other factors that increased the pressures against cooperation.... view less
Keywords
elite; political elite; social structure; war; Central America; network; social network; cooperation; mathematical modeling; experiment
Classification
Social History, Historical Social Research
Methods and Techniques of Data Collection and Data Analysis, Statistical Methods, Computer Methods
Collection Title
Proceedings of the Artificial Life Conference 2016, the Fifteenth International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems
Editor
Gershenson, Carlos; Froese, Tom; Siqueiros, Jesus Mario; Aguilar, Wendy; Izquierdo, Eduardo; Sayama, Hiroki
Conference
15. International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems. Cancun, Mexico, July 2016
Document language
English
Publication Year
2016
Publisher
MIT Press
Page/Pages
p. 472-479
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1162/978-0-262-33936-0-ch077
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed