Surface Artifact Scatters, Data Collection, and Significance

Abstract

The three authors research surface archaeological records dominated by low-density scatters and isolated artifacts, archaeological phenomena frequently encountered during cultural resource management (CRM) projects in areas of the United States and Australia. We each began researching surface artifact scatters for different reasons but converged on approaches that emphasize the formation of these forms of archaeological deposits. Through a variety of projects, we asked a common set of questions about the processes that both buried and exposed these materials, the methods needed to obtain a chronology in different regions, and the ways we might interpret artifacts found together in different densities. Answering these questions led to the collection and analyses of datasets in innovative ways and the questioning of a number of archaeological categories often thought of as fundamental for archaeological research. Here, we review examples of our respective research and consider the implications for CRM projects dealing with surface lithics.

Thematic Analysis of Indigenous Perspectives on Archaeology and Cultural Resource Management Industries

“…In many contexts, archaeologists define the extent, or boundaries, of an excavation by artifact counts (e.g., 10 artifacts per 1 × 1 m excavation unit). Archaeologists identify the size of sites by artifact types and densities, but some of the respondents criticized the methods of archaeologists as being arbitrary or—as other authors have argued—biased by social and environmental factors (see Douglass et al 2023:30; Leckman and Heilen 2023:12–13). Lisa: OK, so we found this site.…”

What North American Archaeology Needs to Take Advantage of the Digital Data Revolution

“…To continue with the lithic scatter example, each additional excavation will not add much to our understanding of the lithic scatter as a resource type, but it can continue to contribute information regarding resource procurement, cultural landscapes, human-environment relationships, and technological change if the new data can be integrated with the results of previous lithic scatter documentations. As CRM proceeds, the significance of a lithic scatter, or any other type of resource, becomes less inherent in the property itself and more embedded in the relationships among many such properties across broader spatial contexts (Altschul 2005;Douglass et al 2023). To us, this is the primary reason data integration is crucial for the continued development of CRM.…”

Refining Archaeological Data Collection and Management

“…For this reason, repeat observation of geomorphic landscape elements at different points in time can be essential to accurately and reliably interpreting a surface assemblage (Holdaway and Fanning 2008;Shott 1995;Shott et al 2002). In this issue, Douglass, Holdaway, and Wandsnider (2023) consider what archaeologists can learn when they incorporate repeat observation and a geomorphological landscape perspective into field surveys. With revised field methods that account for the dynamic nature of archaeological landscapes, archaeologists can arrive at entirely new interpretations of culture history and land use.…”