Quantitative and Spatial Analysis (Other Keyword)
1-25 (234 Records)
This is an abstract from the "Novel Statistical Techniques in Archaeology I (QUANTARCH I)" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Currently, an alarming number of plants and animals are on the brink of extinction due to habitat loss caused by human activities and climate change. Though numerically unprecedented, this may not be the first instance of a human-driven mass extinction. For decades, scholars have hypothesized that human predation led to the...
Abu Shusha: Integrating and Correlating Surface Features with Magnetic Susceptibility (2018)
This research looks at Tel Abu Shusha in the Jezreel Valley of Israel, an understudied site in a strategically important Levantine area with potential evidence of Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman settlements. Surface survey was completed in nine square kilometers around the Tel, resulting in ceramic density data as well as over 2,500 mapped surface features in GIS, such as quarries, wine presses, and architecture. Additionally, four magnetic susceptibility grids were taken in this area, each one...
Adzes in Focus: A 2D vs. 3D Geometric Morphometric Analysis of Dalton Artifacts. (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Geometric morphometrics (GM) is a method of digitizing objects in a way that controls for variables, such as size and scale so that the shape of objects can be compared to determine differences and similarities. This method has become increasingly abundant in archaeological investigations of lithic tool assemblages. In studies regarding prehistoric...
Aerial Imaging Using UAVs (Drones) in Chihuahua and Nayarit, Mexico, to Map and Archive Archaeological Sites (2018)
In 2017, we used UAVs (drones) to record eight archaeological sites from the air. As this type of technology becomes more refined, we have found that it is especially useful in carrying out three specific tasks: contour mapping, archiving site conditions, and identifying architecture. This paper reports our findings resulting from aerial images captured while flying archaeological sites in Nayarit and Chihuahua, Mexico.
Analysis of Radiocarbon Dates on Terminal Pleistocene Horses from North America Shows Synchronous Local Extirpation and Overlap with Paleoindian Technocomplexes (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Interdisciplinary Approaches in Zooarchaeology: Addressing Big Questions with Ancient Animals" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Absolute dating in archaeology is dominated by radiocarbon dating, a method that is frequently conducted on zooarchaeological material, creating a large and diverse global dataset that is readily accessible. Though radiocarbon dates are certainly valuable on their own, their value extends...
Analyzing Similarity of Animal Style Art in Iron Age North Central Eurasia: A New Way to Study Continental Expression of Religious Symbolism (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Novel Statistical Techniques in Archaeology I (QUANTARCH I)" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Animal Style Art (ASA), an iconographic style expressed on monuments and material culture, is a geographically widespread phenomenon in north central Eurasia during the Iron Age (ca. 1,000 BCE – 100 CE). ASA analyses usually focus on stylistic difference or similarity. This poster reports an artifact-focused macro-scale...
Apotguan Revisited: A Bioarchaeological Analysis of Latte Period Burials from Guam (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Research and CRM Are Not Mutually Exclusive: J. Stephen Athens—Forty Years and Counting" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Cultural Resources Management studies in the Mariana Islands have consistently expanded opportunities for in-depth bioarchaeological research. Burial assemblages originating from historic preservation compliance obligations generally derive from one of three contexts: displaced fragmentary remains;...
Applicability of Maxent Predictive Modeling in Locating Pre-Hispanic Quarries in the Callejón de Huaylas, Peru (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Stone in the Andes is an integral component of both the natural landscape and of the material expressions of cultural beliefs and practices. Growing evidence from multiple cultures indicates preferences for stone materials from certain sources, which held political, symbolic, and ideological importance. Determining quarry locations is a vital step in analyses...
Application of the Geospatial Method to On-Floor Assemblages: A Case Study from the Classic Maya City of El Palmar, Mexico (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. On-floor assemblages provide clues as to how complex administrative and domestic activities interplayed within a structure. By combining photogrammetry, total station and GIS, we developed a geospatial method that plotted each on-floor remain accurately on a GIS map. This poster presents its application to horizontal excavations that took place at the Guzmán...
Applying Glass Bead Chemistry to Examine Wendat Village Intrasite Organization (2024)
This is an abstract from the "The Elemental Analysis Facility at the Field Museum: Celebrating 20 Years Serving the Archaeological Community " session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Glass bead compositions and typologies from late sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Wendat villages in Ontario have been used to examine chronological differences and regional exchange networks; these artifacts may also be useful for investigating patterns of interaction and...
An Approximation Towards the Function of Candeleros in the Plaza of the Columns Complex, Teotihuacan (2018)
Candeleros are ceramic artifacts that are almost exclusively found at Teotihuacan and appear in the archaeological record during the Late Tlamimilolpa, Xolalpan and Metepec phases. Their unconventional shape led scholars to propose different hypotheses regarding their specific function (i.e. "candle holders", incense burners, lighting devices, domestic ritual paraphernalia). This paper studies 368 candeleros (fragments and complete pieces) recovered from the 2015 and 2016 excavations carried out...
Archaeo-rover: A Low-Cost Robotic System for the Collection of Geophysical Data (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Conventional methods for collection of ground penetrating radar (GPR), magnetic gradiometry, and other archaeo-geophysical data generally require precise grid layout ahead of surveys and significant labor to set up and move survey ropes, slowing data collection and creating a hurdle to larger, landscape-scale investigations. Although some commercial systems...
Archaeological Prospection Using Aerial Thermography and Quantitative Image Processing Methods (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper explores new methods and developments in thermal remote sensing, aerial thermography, for archaeological research. These methods are applied in a pilot study at Picuris Pueblo, NM. Principles of thermal remote sensing that enable subsurface prospection are considered, along with previous investigations in this arena. Expanding upon existing...
Archaeology in 3D: Exploring Differences in Photogrammetric Models Created with Popular Structure-from-Motion (SfM) Archaeological Software from both Drone and Terrestrial Photography (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In this study, Structure-from-Motion(SfM) photogrammetric 3D models were created of mid- 19th century historic house ruins. Tyler house (Mound, TX) and Eyrie house (Holyoke, MA) have similar stone construction but dramatically different environmental contexts. The aim of this study was to compare point-cloud differences in, and the benefits and drawbacks of,...
The ArchaMap Data Integration Tool: A Case Study from the Roosevelt Dam Archaeological Projects, Arizona (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Archaeological data are complicated and rarely highly standardized between projects. Using data from multiple sources often requires a time-consuming and difficult process of mapping data ontologies, categories, recording schema, and contextual information among projects manually. This work is error prone and it is difficult to document substantive...
Architectural Visibility Analysis: Understanding Domestic Space in Roman Pompeii, Italy (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Water and Sanitation Management in the Mediterranean " session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper will discuss the methods involved in utilizing visibility analysis to understand how space was used in domestic contexts. Although visibility studies are frequently used in archaeology, and wider applications of GIS, this paper presents a unique application of visibility analysis for studies of architecture, space, and...
Are Changes in Rates of Technological Change Robust to Error? A Paired Bayesian and Simulation Approach to Assessing the Pleistocene Record (2023)
This is an abstract from the "The Expanding Bayesian Revolution in Archaeology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Observed changes in rates of technological change play important roles in many models seeking to explain or identify the greater adaptability of some hominins over others, adaptation to changing environments, and many other processes. We quantify how robust detection of a shift in the rate of technological change is to error in measuring...
Are Inka Khipu Knots Anything More than Numbers?: A Computational Investigation (2018)
Inka khipus--the knot and cord recording devices of the Andes--have been said to have recorded everything from accounting, to histories and songs. Leland Locke demonstrated in the 1920s that Inka khipu knots often have standard numerical values. However, non-numerical Inka khipu signs remain elusive and undeciphered. Recent work by Gary Urton, however, has identified Inka khipus and individual khipu cords with knots that do not obey the standard numerical rules Locke identified. May Inka khipu...
Articulating the Big Bend of Florida (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Liquid Landscapes: Recent Developments in Submerged Landscape Archaeology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Working from the known to the unknown is a core concept in archaeological prospection and is particularly important in submerged landscapes studies. These landscapes are harder to access and have experienced, potentially, more dramatic changes since they were last occupied. We share here the results of a study in...
Assessing Classic Maya Intermediate Elite Political Strategies through Multivariate Statistical Manipulation of Settlement Pattern Data (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Intermediate elites played pivotal roles in the politics of ancient complex societies across the world. In the Classic period (AD 250-900/1000) Maya lowlands, intermediate elites acted as intercessors between apical rulers and commoners. These intermediate elites and the political strategies they employed, however, have rarely taken center stage in...
Assessment of Late Quaternary Bison Diminution Using Linear Discriminant Analysis (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The proximate cause of reduction in the overall size of late Quaternary bison is the focus of continued debate. Some researchers contend that size reduction did not occur despite well-documented changes in climate and vegetation, while others link directional change in body size to changes in forage quality and availability or human predation. Historically,...
Aurignacian Projectile Points Do Not Represent a Proxy for the Initial Dispersal of Homo sapiens into Europe: Insights from Geometric Morphometrics (2018)
It has been argued that Aurignacian projectile points made of antler, bone, or ivory represent a proxy for the initial dispersal of Homo sapiens into Europe. Our research reassesses this claim by using geometric morphometric analysis to study 547 Aurignacian osseous implements recovered from 49 European sites. This approach allowed the identification of eight volumetric templates reproduced by Aurignacian artisans during the manufacture of split-based points. Two templates were identified for...
Automatic Classification of Mimbres Pottery Styles through Convolutional Neural Networks (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Research Hot Off the Trowel in the Upper Gila and Mimbres Areas" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This poster describes our attempt to address some long-standing questions about Mimbres pottery through convolutional neural network-based classifiers. Over the past few years the field of computer vision has made major strides in classification and segmentation tasks particularly due to the availability of rich training...
Automatic Identification of Shipwrecks Using Digital Elevation Data and Deep Learning (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The objective of this project was to create a deep learning model that uses digital elevation data to automatically identify shipwrecks. The model uses a convolutional neural network architecture and has a F1 score of 0.92. Deep learning modeling based on remotely sensed imagery is a rapidly expanding area of research within the field of computer science, but...
Beneath the Surface: A Ground-Penetrating Radar Study at the Mary Rinn Site (36IN29) (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Little is known about the Mary Rinn Site’s cultural affiliation. The site is surrounded by better defined cultural groups such as the Monongahela and the Fishbasket complex. Limited excavations and research revealed evidence of possible housing structures and the trace of a stockade line. Surface collected materials from the Boyer Collection, and field school...