The Reliability of Surface Assemblages: Recent Results from the Gillett Grove Site, Clay County, Iowa

Shott, Michael; Tiffany, Joseph A.; Doershuk, John F.; Titcomb, Jason M.

doi:10.1080/2052546.2002.11949238

Cited by 11 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…Assurance of the quality of an archaeological survey and its reports requires analysis of how these factors may have impeded artifact detection and their potential impacts on the apparent distributions of archaeological materials. A number of archaeological studies have emphasized the effects of rainfall (Shott 1995 ; Shott et al 2002 ) and plowing (e.g., Ammerman 1985 ; Clark and Schofield 1997 ). As noted above, some jurisdictions’ standards and guidelines for archaeological survey do require reporting of fieldwork conditions, rainfall, vegetation cover, and other factors that affect visibility, yet subsequent research and predictive models that employ the data from surveys do not always take these factors into account.…”

Section: Some Factors Affecting Survey Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In an attempt to check on the reliability of surface collections from sites, Shott et al ( 2002 ) re-collected an Oneota site in Iowa that had already been surveyed the previous year and compared the results. They concluded that the materials collected during resurvey differed significantly from those from the original survey and attributed a good deal of the difference to rainfall.…”

Section: Testing Of Survey Quality By Resurveymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They concluded that the materials collected during resurvey differed significantly from those from the original survey and attributed a good deal of the difference to rainfall. As they note in the paper, “archaeologists rarely allow for the effects of rainfall amount when interpreting survey results” (Shott et al 2002 : 180).…”

Section: Testing Of Survey Quality By Resurveymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Quality Assurance in Archaeological Survey

Banning

Hawkins

Stewart

et al. 2016

J Archaeol Method Theory

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To have confidence in the results of an archaeological survey, whether for heritage management or research objectives, we must have some assurance that the survey was carried out to a reasonably high standard. This paper discusses the use of Quality Assurance (QA) approaches and empirical methods for estimating surveys’ effectiveness at discovering archaeological artifacts as a means for ensuring quality standards. We illustrate with the example of two surveys in Cyprus and Jordan in which resurvey, measurement of surveyor “sweep widths,” and realistic estimates of survey coverage allow us to evaluate explicitly the probability that the survey missed pottery or lithics, as well as to decide when survey has been thorough enough to warrant moving to another survey unit.

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Section: Some Factors Affecting Survey Qualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Testing Of Survey Quality By Resurveymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Testing Of Survey Quality By Resurveymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Quality Assurance in Archaeological Survey

Banning

Hawkins

Stewart

et al. 2016

J Archaeol Method Theory

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“…Outmigration could also account for the decrease in settlement if the ultimate movement of regional populations to northwest Iowa occurred gradually during the seventeenth century. Protohistoric components known from northwest Iowa contain post-1700 diagnostic objects, yet this does not preclude earlier occupation (Henning 1998;Henning and Thiessen 2004a;Shott et al 2002;Tiffany and Anderson 1993). The Blood Run site in northwest Iowa has an Oneota component that is contemporaneous with the Orr phase (Henning and Thiessen 2004a:392).…”

Section: Non-demographic Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pots and Pox: The Identification of Protohistoric Epidemics in the Upper Mississippi Valley

Betts

2006

Am. antiq.

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Exogenous diseases represent one of the principal agents of culture change associated with the historic period, yet the timing of their initial influence remains undocumented in many regions of North America. Settlement variables, cooking pot volume, and mortality profiles from Oneota tradition occupations are used to investigate the possible occurrence of epidemics in the Upper Mississippi River valley. Synchronous fluctuations in settlement and ceramic variables indicate that following at least two centuries of population growth a significant population decline occurred in the early seventeenth century. Several factors provide support for the role of disease in this decline, including its timing, magnitude, and the documented presence of epidemics in adjacent regions combined with substantial evidence for extensive contact with those areas. This event, prior to direct, sustained contact, is associated with the increased intensity of intergroup exchange occurring with the fur trade. The ability to identify the occurrence of such epidemics is essential for understanding protohistoric cultural dynamics as well as the transmission of disease on a continental level.

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“…Most of the past research on the accuracy or reliability of fieldwalking has involved assessment of results of real surveys by repeat surveys (e.g., Ammerman and Feldman, 1978;Ammerman, 1985;Hirth, 1978;Shott, 1995;Shott et al, 2002). However, since the number and distribution of artifacts in the population being surveyed are unknown, resurvey only allows us to assess the replicability of results (consistency or reliability), and not their accuracy or efficiency.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%