Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T19:33:17.776Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Measuring Archaeological Diversity by Comparison with Simulated Assemblages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Keith W. Kintigh
Keith W. Kintigh*
Affiliation:
Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A method for measuring diversity is proposed that uses an archaeologically derived underlying frequency distribution of classes of artifacts to generate theoretical expectations for the number of different classes of items that should be found in a collection of a given total size. Because sample size is controlled for, collections of different sizes can be directly compared in a simple graphical display. Because of its rigor and simplicity, this method serves to focus interpretive attention on issues of anthropological (rather than methodological) importance. Examples from the archaeological literature are used to illustrate the operation and potential applicability of this method to a wide range of archaeological problems.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 49 , Issue 1 , January 1984 , pp. 44 - 54
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Conkey, Margaret W. 1980 The Identification of Prehistoric Hunter-gatherer Aggregation Sites : The Case of Altamira. Current Anthropology 21 : 609–630.Google Scholar
DeBoer, Warren R., and Moore, James A. 1983 The Measurement and Meaning of Stylistic Diversity. Nawpa Pacha 20, in press.Google Scholar
Kintigh, Keith W., and Ammerman, Albert J. 1982 Heuristic Approaches to Spatial Analysis in Archaeology. American Antiquity 47 : 31–63.Google Scholar
Lee, R. B. 1979 The IKung San : Men, Women, and Work in a Foraging Society. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Pielou, E. C. 1969 An Introduction to Mathematical Ecology. Wiley-Interscience, New York.Google Scholar
Thomas, David Hurst 1976 Figuring Anthropology : First Principles of Probability and Statistics. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.Google Scholar
Wallace, Henry 1983 The Mortars, Petroglyphs, and Trincheras on Rillito Peak. The Kiva 48(3), in press.Google Scholar
Whallon, Robert Jr. 1981 Unconstrained Clustering in the Analysis of Spatial Distributions on Occupation Floors. In Intrasite Spatial Analysis, edited by Harold, Hietala. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, in press.Google Scholar
Yellen, John 1977 Archaeological Approaches to the Present. Academic Press, New York Google Scholar