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A New Method Using Graph and Lattice Theory to Discover Spatially Cohesive Sets of Artifacts and Areas of Organized Activity in Archaeological Sites

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Michael Merrill  and
Dwight Read
Michael Merrill
Affiliation:
School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287 (Michael.L.Merrill @ asu.edu)
Dwight Read
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Department of Statistics, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095 ([email protected])
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Abstract

We propose a new method to analyze spatially cohesive sets of artifacts and relate them to intrasite activity areas using the spatial similarity and cohesion of artifact types. This method can handle heterogeneous data and is able to reveal and deconstruct overlapping areas into their constituent elements. Application to a Mousterian habitation site from the Levant as a case study enables us to distinguish three spatially cohesive yet overlapping sets ("tool kits") of artifact and ecofact types within the boundaries of an excavated 50 m² sub-area of the site.

Resumen

Resumen

Proponemos un método nuevo para el analizar de conjuntos cohesivos de artefactos, para relacionarlos a zonas de actividades por el medir de la similitud espacial y indice de coherencia de tipos de artefactos. Puede manejar tal método datos heterogéneos y puede separar zonas de actividades superpuesto hasta sus elementos particulares. Una prueba del método con un sitio doméstico Musteriense del Próximo Oriente nos permite distinguir tres conjuntos diferentes de herramientas y "ecofactos" dentro de una área excavada del sitio de 50 m².

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 75 , Issue 3 , July 2010 , pp. 419 - 451
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2010

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