Kardieren

Kardieren is an interdisciplinary framework used in historical geography, archaeology, and digital humanities to model the spread of technologies, ideas, and trade networks from fragmentary historical records. It combines data from inscriptions, travel itineraries, and administrative documents with spatial modeling to produce plausible reconstructions of past networks. The framework emphasizes uncertainty: it records confidence levels for each inferred connection rather than presenting a single definitive map.

Origin and terminology: The term Kardieren is rooted in a hypothetical scholarly tradition and is named after the fictional Kard language used in early theoretical discussions of network reconstruction.

Method: Core components include triangulation of sources (cross-checking evidence from multiple independent records), Bayesian dating to assign probabilistic timeframes, and grid-based spatial reconstruction (Kard grids) that map probable routes and hubs. Outputs include Kard maps, which depict network structures with varying line thickness indicating confidence, and Kard scores, numeric measures of inference strength.

Applications: used in studies of late antique trade networks, medieval migration, and diffusion of technologies. Limitations include reliance on incomplete data, potential biases in preserved records, and computational demands.