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ON STATISTICAL APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF CERAMIC ARTEFACTS USING GEOCHEMICAL AND PETROGRAPHIC DATA *
Author(s) -
BAXTER M. J.,
BEARDAH C. C.,
PAPAGEORGIOU I.,
CAU M. A.,
DAY P. M.,
KILIKOGLOU V.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
archaeometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1475-4754
pISSN - 0003-813X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-4754.2007.00359.x
Subject(s) - petrography , statistical analysis , compositional data , geology , bronze age , archaeological science , computer science , archaeology , mineralogy , statistics , geography , mathematics , paleontology , machine learning
The scientific analysis of ceramics often has the aim of identifying groups of similar artefacts. Much published work focuses on analysis of data derived from geochemical or mineralogical techniques. The former is more likely to be subjected to quantitative statistical analysis. This paper examines some approaches to the statistical analysis of data arising from both kinds of techniques, including ‘mixed‐mode’ methods where both types of data are incorporated into analysis. The approaches are illustrated using data derived from 88 Late Bronze Age transport jars from Kommos, Crete. Results suggest that the mixed‐mode approach can provide additional insight into the data.