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A Design for the Study of Archeological Characteristics 1
Author(s) -
BENFER ROBERT A.
Publication year - 1967
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1525/aa.1967.69.6.02a00070
Subject(s) - artifact (error) , projectile point , variance (accounting) , heritability , population , sample (material) , population variance , archaeology , principal component analysis , statistics , computer science , history , mathematics , artificial intelligence , evolutionary biology , sociology , demography , biology , chemistry , accounting , chromatography , business
With a sample of stemmed projectile points, the nonredundant description of archeological characteristics is demonstrated by principal‐axes factor analysis. The obtained dimensions of the artifacts are tested for cultural significance by variance techniques. The concept of “culturability,” or c 2 , is introduced as the total predictable variance of a measurement of an artifact from a knowledge of its location in time and space. Both the psychologically derived factor‐analytic model and c 2 , analagous to the concept of heritability in population genetics, are found to be useful in interpreting archeological data. The use of available programs and high‐speed digital computers allows a complete analysis with a small expenditure of time.