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Measurement of Archaeological Diversity and the Sample-Size Effect

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

David Rhode*
Affiliation:
Zuni Archaeology Program, P.O. Box 339, Zuni, NM 87327

Abstract

Assemblage diversity is an important part of the structure of the archaeological record, but measuring this parameter often is difficult if samples of assemblages differ in size. Two methods, here called the sampling approach and regression approach, currently are used to assess the sample-size effect. The approaches differ in method and in results. The sampling approach is better suited to analysis of assemblage diversity among samples when the underlying population structure is well known, while the regression approach is more useful for examination of the sample-size effect when the underlying population structure is known poorly.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1988

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