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A formalized approach to analysis of geoarchaeological sediment samples: The location of the early punic Harbor at Carthage, Tunisia
Author(s) -
Vitali V.,
Gifford J. A.,
Djindjian F.,
Rapp G.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
geoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1520-6548
pISSN - 0883-6353
DOI - 10.1002/gea.3340070604
Subject(s) - geoarchaeology , transect , sequence (biology) , geology , sediment , sampling (signal processing) , archaeology , port (circuit theory) , principal (computer security) , principal component analysis , paleontology , computer science , geography , oceanography , artificial intelligence , engineering , genetics , filter (signal processing) , electrical engineering , computer vision , biology , operating system
This article concerns, first, the development of an approach to data analysis of sedimentological, micro‐ and macrofaunal, and artifactual data obtained from analysis of geoarchaeological sediment core samples and, second, an algorithmic ordering of resulting sediment groups to arrive at a definitive stratigraphic sequence. Correspondence analysis (CA) was the principal data analysis technique applied, and the algorithmic ordering is one developed for discrete sampling sequences such as core transects. From a methodological standpoint, this approach allows an assessment of the usefulness of different types of analytical information pertaining to a paleoenvironmental reconstruction of a coastal archaeological site. In terms of the geoarchaeological problem that initiated the study, the results permit a possible reconstruction of the location and nature of the first Punic port at Carthage, Tunisia.