About Tom

Tom Brughmans is an associate professor at Aarhus University’s the Centre for Urban Network Evolutions (UrbNet) and Classical Archaeology. His research interests include the study of Roman economic and urban phenomena, past social networks, and visual signalling systems. He performs much of his work by applying computational methods such as network science, agent-based simulation and geographical information systems. Tom is a founding committee member of The Connected Past alongside Anna Collar and Fiona Coward. Together with Matt Peeples he has authored the first textbook for Network Science in Archaeology (forthcoming in 2023). He directs The Past Social Networks Project, which aims to develop research tools and documentation standards to make the deposition and reuse of past social networks data more common. His research projects MERCURY and SIMREC developed educational resources and case studies to make simulation studies of the Roman economy more common (Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship and Marie-Curie Individual Fellowship). His ongoing project MINERVA aims to develop a highly detailed network model of the Roman road system, and perform simulation experiments to explore the centuries-long distribution patterns revealed by Roman tableware and amphora data.

More info on Tom’s Aarhus University profile page.