Hypergraph Representations: A Study of Carib Attacks on Colonial Forces, 1509-1700

Termeh Shafie, David Schoch, Jimmy Mans, Corinne Hofman, Ulrik Brandes

2017-10-25

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Abstract

Network data consisting of recorded historical events can be represented as hyper-graphs where the ties or events can connect any number of nodes or event related attributes. In this paper, we perform a centrality analysis of a directed hypergraph representing attacks by indigenous peoples from the Lesser Antilles on European colonial settlements, 1509-1700. The results of central attacks with respect to at- tacked colonial force, member of attack alliances, and year and location of attack are discussed and compared to a non-relational exploratory analysis of the data. This comparison points to the importance of a mixed methods approach to enhance the analysis and to obtain a complementary understanding of a network study.

publication: ‘Journal of Historical Network Research 1(1), 52-70’