Statistical Methods In Studying Of Cultural Layers Of The Late Bronze Age Settlements (Including The Author’s Corrections)

Abstract

The paper provides an alternative approach to study of the cultural layers of archaeological sites from the perspective of exploratory data analysis – one of the branches of mathematical statistics. It is often impossible or irrational to perform a complete study of the cultural layer of an archeological site, i. e. to subject it to complete excavations. Therefore, the main types of samples are described: random sampling, systematized random sampling and stratified random sampling, which are required to obtain an undistorted view of the general population – the cultural layer. The basic principles of the formation of random samples are also outlined in the paper. Statistical methods for calculating the confidence intervals of the averages and proportions are described on the example of the cultural layers of the Late Bronze Age settlements of the Southern Trans-Urals. They are used to study the saturation of the cultural layer with material remains and their diversity in order to characterize the entire general population inaccessible for studying. In conclusion, a method is provided for calculating the area required to be excavated in order to characterize the previously unexplored sites. It is concluded that, in combination with a statistical approach, the excavation of small areas can guarantee studying of the cultural layer while preserving the cultural heritage site.

Keywords

• archaeology
• xploratory data analysis in archaeology
• cultural layer
• bronze age
• settlement archaeology