Cultural Resource Management studies have identified a variety of site types and locations and generated data suited to statistical and predictive analysis. Unfortunately, predictive models often include unwarranted assumptions about the structure of the environment and the mathematical distribution of the data. Statistical and graphic approaches drawn from Exploratory Data Analysis, combined with sampling of the environment, promote evaluation of the potential of environmental variables for predicting site locations. Analysis of data from the Richmond County Archaeological Assessment illustrates these points.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AllenK. M. S.GreenS. W., and ZubrowE. B. W.1990Interpreting Space, in Interpreting Space: GIS and Archaeology, AllenK. M. S.GreenS. W., and ZubrowE. B. W. (eds.), Taylor & Francis, New York, pp. 383–386.
2.
AltschulJ. H.1990Red Flag Models: The Use of Modelling in Management Contexts, in Interpreting Space: GIS and Archaeology, AllenK. M. S.GreenS. W., and ZubrowE. B. W. (eds.), Taylor & Francis, New York, pp. 226–238.
3.
BarberM. B.WittkofskiJ. M., and BarberM. F.1992An Archaeological Overview of Stafford County, Virginia, report submitted to Traceries, 1606 Twentieth Street NW, Washington, D.C.
4.
BlalockH. M.Jr.1979Social Statistics, McGraw Hill, New York.
5.
BrooksM. J.StoneP. A.ColquhounD. J.BrownJ. G., and SteelK. B.1986Geoarchaeological Research in the Coastal Plain Portion of the Savannah River Valley, Geoarchaeology, I, pp. 293–307.
6.
CusterJ. F.1988Coastal Adaptations in the Middle Atlantic Region, Archaeology of Eastern North America, 16, pp. 121–136.
7.
GardnerW. M.1978Comparison of Ridge and Valley, Blue Ridge, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain Archaic Period Site Distributions: An Idealized Transect, paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, D.C.
8.
GardnerW. M.1982Early and Middle Woodland in the Middle Atlantic: An Overview, in Practicing Environmental Archaeology : Methods and Interpretations, MoellerR. W. (ed.), American Indian Archaeological Institute, Washington, Connecticut, pp. 53–86.
9.
HantmanJ. L.1985The Archaeology of Albemarle County, University of Virginia, Department of Anthropology, Archaeological Survey Monograph No. 2.
10.
HartwigF. and DearingB. E.1979Exploratory Data Analysis, SAGE Publications, London.
11.
HollandC. G.1978Albemarle County Settlement: A Piedmont Model?Quarterly Bulletin, Archaeological Society of Virginia, 33, pp. 29–44.
12.
HorwitzE. L.1978Our Nation's Wetlands: An Interagency Task Force Report, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
13.
KelloggD. C.1982Environmental Factors in Archaeological Site Location for the Boothbay, Maine Region, with an Assessment of the Impact of Coastal Erosion on the Archaeological Record, M.A. thesis, Institute for Quaternary Studies, University of Maine, Orono.
14.
KelloggD. C.1987Statistical Relevance and Site Locational Data, American Antiquity, 52:1, pp. 143–150.
15.
KlatkaT.1988Archaeological Survey in Fluvanna County, Virginia, University of Virginia, Department of Anthropology, Archaeological Survey Monograph No. 5.
16.
KlatkaT.KleinM. J.DunhamG., and HantmanJ. L.1986Archaeological Survey in Buckingham County, Virginia, University of Virginia, Department of Anthropology, Archaeological Survey Monograph No. 3.
17.
MostellerF. and TukeyJ. W.1977Data Analysis and Regression, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, Massachusetts.
18.
NicholasG. P.1987Rethinking the Early Archaic, Archaeology of Eastern North America, 15, pp. 99–124.
19.
NorusisM. J.1990SPSS/PC+ 4.0 Base Manual, SPSS, Inc., Chicago, Illinois.
20.
ParkerS. K. and KleinM. J.1989Archaeological Survey and the Prehistory of Orange County: The View from Montpelier, Quarterly Bulletin of the Archaeological Society of Virginia, 44:3, pp. 116–146.
21.
PlogF. T. and HillJ. N.1971Explaining Variability in the Distribution of Sites, in The Distribution of Prehistoric Population Aggregates, GumermanG. J. (ed.), Prescott College Anthropological Reports No. 1, Prescott, Arizona, pp. 7–36.
22.
PotterStephen R.1982An Analysis of Chicacoan Settlement Patterns, Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
23.
PotterStephen R.1993Commoners, Tribute, and Chiefs: The Development of Algonquian Culture in the Potomac Valley, University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville.
24.
ReadD. W.1975Regional Sampling, in Sampling in Archaeology, MuellerJ. W. (ed.), The University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Arizona, pp. 45–61.
25.
RobinetteCarl E. and HoppeDiane As.1982Soil Survey of Richmond County, Virginia, United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service.
26.
RountreeH. C.1989The Powhatan Indians of Virginia: Their Traditional Culture, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
27.
SanfordD. W. and KleinM. J.1994An Archaeological Assessment of Richmond County, Virginia, Center for Historic Preservation, Mary Washington College, Fredricksburg, Virginia.
28.
ThomasD. H.1975Sampling in Archaeology: Up the Creek Without a Site? in Sampling in Archaeology, MuellerJ. W. (ed.). The University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp. 61–81.
29.
TukeyJ. W.1977Exploratory Data Analysis, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts.
30.
WarrenR. E.1990Predictive Modeling in Archaeology: A Primer, in Interpreting Space: GIS and Archaeology, AllenK. M. S.GreenS. W., and ZubrowE. B. W. (eds.), Taylor & Francis, New York, pp. 90–111.
31.
WilliamsI.LimpW. F., and BriuerF.1990Using Geographic Information Systems and Exploratory Data Analysis for Archaeological Site Classification and Analysis, in Interpreting Space: GIS and Archaeology, AllenK. M. S.GreenS. W., and ZubrowE. B. W. (eds.), Taylor & Francis, New York, pp. 239–273.
32.
WittkofskiJ. M.1988An Archaeological Study of the Eastern Shore of Virginia, M.A. thesis, Department of Anthropology, The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.
33.
WoodwardS. L. and HoffmanR. L.1991The Nature of Virginia, in Virginia's Endangered Species: The Proceedings of a Symposium, TerwilligerK. (ed.), McDonald and Woodward Publishing Company, pp. 23–48.
34.
ZubrowE. B. W.1990Contemplating Space: A Commentary on Theory, in Interpreting Space: GIS and Archaeology, AllenK. M. S.GreenS. W., and ZubrowE. B. W. (eds.), Taylor & Francis, New York, pp. 67–72.
