The identification of shipwreck sites: a Bayesian approach

O’Shea, John

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2004.03.015

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 7 publications

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“…3. For a good introduction to Bayesian statistical inference see Iversen (1984), and for applications in physical anthropology and archaeology, see Boldsen et al 2002;Buck et al 1996;Robertson 1999Robertson , 2001Ortman 2000Ortman , 2003and O'Shea 2004. 4. We thank Ian Robertson for suggesting that we might more effectively utilize these posterior estimates of pottery type proportions by weighting each estimate according to the inverse of its posterior variance (Robertson 1999, equation 5b) when calculating the moving average.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Empirical Bayesian Methods for Archaeological Survey Data: An Application from the Mesa Verde Region

Ortman¹,

Varien²,

Gripp³

2007

Am. antiq.

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Cultural resource databases represent the single largest compilations of archaeological site data, but these databases are seldom used in research because they were designed for management purposes, evolved from paper-based inventories, contain significant interobserver variation, and record information inconsistently. In this paper we present methods designed to alleviate these problems in an analysis of more than 3,000 ancestral Pueblo habitation sites from southwestern Colorado. Our methods draw heavily upon Bayesian statistical concepts and utilize the rich excavation records of our study area to quantify the relationship between surface evidence and excavation results using probabilities. This approach offers a number of advantages over ad hoc, judgmental approaches, and produces a more empirically justified history of ancestral Pueblo settlement in our study area. We believe methods like these have great potential for reconstructing settlement patterns from survey data.

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