It has previously been argued (Binford 1964) that because of the differences in the formal properties of cultural items (as distinguished from cultural features) that there are different problems associated with obtaining an adequate and representative sample of both items and features. Excavation and recovery techniques which might be adequate to the recovery of a fair sample of cultural items might not be sufficient for supplying similar information regarding a population of cultural features.

The investigation of Hatchery West was conducted with an eye to this problem, and the methods employed were aimed toward insuring an adequate and representative sample of both cultural items and cultural features. These sampling procedures allowed us to investigate the relationship between these two classes of archaeological data and to assess the degree to which the formal-spatial structure of a population of items is correlated with the formal-spatial structure of a population of features.