Highland Tribes Alliance/Opposition Signed Network (NDS-VU)
A NDS-VU signed network repository dataset of 16 tribes and 58 signed alliance/opposition edges, collected by Read (1954), distributed by NDS-VU. Each record contains directed signed edges between nodes: sign (+1 or -1) representing positive/negative relationships; no edge weights beyond binary sign. Classic ethnographic signed network of New Guinea Highland tribes with alliance (+1) and opposition (-1) relationships, one of the earliest and most cited networks for structural balance theory validation. Suitable for balance theory, structural balance, signed network benchmarking.
Cite this dataset at
nds-vu-highland-tribes.echo.directory
Analytics
Node size is centrality, colour is community. Hover a node for details; click one to isolate its community.
Computed over the full corpus.
Record
- Catalog key
nds-vu-highland-tribes- Authors
- Read, Kenneth E.
- Year
- 1954
- Source paper
- Cultures of the Central Highlands, New Guinea
- DOI / arXiv
- 10.1086/soutjanth.10.1.3629074
- License
- MIT (NDS-VU repository) (MIT)
- Records
- 16
- Nodes
- 16
- Edges
- 58
- Nodes are
- tribe
- Edges are
- alliance / opposition
- Attributes
- nodes have no attributes; edges have attributes
- Languages
- en
- Collected
- 1950s (Before 1990)
- Tasks
- Edge sign prediction (binary;
sign) inferred
From the graph: link prediction, community detection
Provenance
- Originally published at
- https://github.com/NDS-VU/signed-network-datasets link checked
- Hosted copy
- Mirrored on echo.directory on 2026-10-02, 484 B across 1 files. Checksums in MANIFEST.json.
Citations
Cultures of the Central Highlands, New Guinea
K. Read
Review · Southwestern Journal of Anthropology · 1954
Cited by
- Spectral Analysis of Signed Graphs for Clustering, Prediction and Visualization
Jérôme Kunegis, Stephan Schmidt et al. · SDM · 2010 · cited 461× - Community Mining from Signed Social Networks
Bo Yang, W. Cheung et al. · IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering · 2007 · cited 401× - Complex Network Clustering by Multiobjective Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization Based on Decomposition
Mao-Guo Gong, Qing Cai et al. · IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation · 2014 · cited 380× - Can Group-Functional Behaviors Evolve by Cultural Group Selection?: An Empirical Test
J. Soltis, R. Boyd et al. · Current Anthropology · 1995 · cited 352× - Exponential-family random graph models for valued networks
P. Krivitsky · Electronic Journal of Statistics · 2011 · cited 291×
Show all 10
- Ethnic Identification in a Complex Civilization: Who Are the Lue?
Michael Moerman · 1965 · cited 259× - Multiresolution community detection for megascale networks by information-based replica correlations.
P. Ronhovde, Z. Nussinov · Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics · 2008 · cited 251× - A Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithm Based on Similarity for Community Detection From Signed Social Networks
Chenlong Liu, Jing Liu et al. · IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics · 2014 · cited 201× - A spatial model for social networks
Ling-Heng Wong, P. Pattison et al. · 2005 · cited 168× - The Magical Age of 10
G. Herdt, M. McClintock · Archives of Sexual Behavior · 2000 · cited 163×
Citation data from Semantic Scholar, retrieved 2026-10-19.
How to cite
BibTeX
@misc{echo2026,
title = {ECHO: Exploratory Compendium of Humanity Online},
author = {Switzer, Braden and Zafarani, Reza},
year = {2026},
url = {https://echo.directory},
note = {Syracuse University}
}
@article{read1954highland,
title = {Cultures of the Central Highlands, New Guinea},
author = {Read, Kenneth E.},
journal = {Southwestern Journal of Anthropology},
volume = {10},
number = {1},
pages = {1--43},
year = {1954}
} APA
Switzer, B., & Zafarani, R. (2026). ECHO: Exploratory Compendium of Humanity Online [Data repository]. Syracuse University. https://echo.directory
Read, K. E. (1954). Highland Tribes Alliance/Opposition Signed Network (NDS-VU) [Data set]. https://doi.org/10.1086/soutjanth.10.1.3629074
MLA
Switzer, Braden, and Reza Zafarani. ECHO: Exploratory Compendium of Humanity Online. Syracuse University, 2026, echo.directory.
Read, Kenneth E. Highland Tribes Alliance/Opposition Signed Network (NDS-VU). 1954, doi.org/10.1086/soutjanth.10.1.3629074.