Techniques for Assessing Standardization in Artifact Assemblages: Can We Scale Material Variability?

Abstract

The study of artifact standardization is an important line of archaeological inquiry that continues to be plagued by the lack of an independent scale that would indicate what a highly variable or highly standardized assemblage should look like. Related to this problem is the absence of a robust statistical technique for comparing variation between different kinds of assemblages. This paper addresses these issues. The Weber fraction for line-length estimation describes the minimum difference that humans can perceive through unaided visual inspection. This value is used to derive a constant for the coefficient of variation (CV = 1.7 percent) that represents the highest degree of standardization attainable through manual human production of artifacts. Random data are used to define a second constant for the coefficient of variation that represents variation expected when production is random (CV = 57.7 percent). These two constants can be used to assess the degree of standardization in artifact assemblages regardless of kind. Our analysis further demonstrates that CV is an excellent measure of standardization and provides a robust statistical technique for comparing standardization in samples of artifacts.

Evidencias de estandarización en la manufactura de cuencos de La Aguada Orilla Norte (Argentina)

“…Uno de los índices más utilizados para establecer la estandarización consiste en la búsqueda de homogeneidad en las medidas de un conjunto de piezas (Blackman et al 1993;Eerkens y Bettinger 2001;Roux 2003).…”

“…Para establecer comparaciones se considera que el coeficiente de variación (CV) es estable y se puede medir en forma confiable y por lo tanto se utiliza como la medida más adecuada para estudios estadísticos sobre colecciones (Eerkens y Bettinger 2001;Roux 2003).…”

Towards a Chronology of Brownware Pottery in the Western Great Basin: A Case Study from Owens Valley

“…Meats seem to have been only rarely processed in pots, likely as part of stews containing seeds and other plant products (Eerkens, 2001). There seems to be a fairly strong correlation between the introduction of intensive seed procurement, increased milling activity, and pottery use.…”

“…Very few pots seem to have been traded within the region and the craft appears to represent an individual or family-level operation. Pots are clearly utilitarian objects and did not enter into the realm of sociallyor ritually-valued (i.e., prestige) objects as indicated by their lack of trade, their association with domestic contexts, and their lack of decoration or other embellishments (Eerkens, 2001).…”

“…Earlier work (see Eerkens, 2001;Eerkens et al, 2002aEerkens et al, , 2002b attempted to test of the single-type hypothesis with regards to space with some success. Pots are not made in the same way across space, and there are distinct differences in how they were manufactured in different regions in the western Great Basin.…”