SamplinginArchaeology Thefirstoverviewofsamplingforarchaeologistsforovertwentyyears,thismanual offersa comprehensiveaccountof theapplicationsof statisticalsamplingtheory whichareessentialtomodernarchaeologicalpracticeatarangeofscales,fromthe regionaltothemicroscopic.Bringingarchaeologistsuptodatewithanaspectof theirworkwhichisoftenmisunderstood,itincludesadiscussionoftherelevanceof sampling theory to archaeological interpretation, and considers its fundamental place in fieldwork and post-excavation study. It demonstrates the vast range of techniquesthatareavailable,onlysomeofwhicharewidelyusedbyarchaeologists. Asectiononstatisticaltheoryalsoreviewsthelatestdevelopmentsinthefield,and theformalmathematicsisavailableinanappendix,cross-referencedwiththemain text. cliveortonisReaderinQuantitativeArchaeologyattheInstituteofArchaeol- ogy,UniversityCollegeLondon.Heistheco-authorofSpatialAnalysisinArchae- ology (1976) and Pottery in Archaeology (1993), and author of Mathematics in Archaeology(1982),allpublishedbyCambridgeUniversityPress.Hehaspublished widelyinscholarlyjournals. CAMBRIDGE MANUALS IN ARCHAEOLOGY Serieseditors DonBrothwell,UniversityofYork GraemeBarker,UniversityofLeicester DenaDincauze,UniversityofMassachusetts,Amherst PriscillaRenouf,MemorialUniversityofNewfoundland CambridgeManualsinArchaeologyisaseriesofreferencehandbooksdesignedfor aninternationalaudienceofupper-levelundergraduateandgraduatestudents,and professionalarchaeologistsandarchaeologicalscientistsinuniversities,museums, research laboratories, and field units. Each book includes a survey of current archaeological practice alongside essential reference material on contemporary techniquesandmethodology. Alreadypublished: J.D.RichardsandN.S.Ryan,data processing in archaeology SimonHillson,teeth AlwyneWheelerandAndrewK.G.Jones,fishes LesleyAdkinsandRoyAdkins,archaeological illustration Marie-AgnesCourty,PaulGoldbergandRichardMacPhail,soils and micromorphology in archaeology CliveOrton,PaulTyers,andAlanVince,pottery in archaeology R.LeeLyman,vertebrate taphonomy PeterG.Dorrell,photography in archaeology and conservation (2nd edn) A.G.Brown,alluvial geoarchaeology CherylClaassen,shells WilliamAndrefskyJr.lithics ElizabethJ.ReitzandElizabethS.Wingzooarchaeology SAMPLING IN ARCHAEOLOGY Clive Orton UniversityCollegeLondon CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521566667 © Cambridge University Press 2000 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2000 Reprinted 2002 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Clive Orton, 1944– Sampling in archaeology / Clive Orton; illustrations by Gillie Newman p. cm. – (Cambridge manuals in archaeology) ISBN 0 521 56226 0 (hb) 0 521 56666 5 (pbk) 1. Archaeology – Statistical methods handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Sampling (statistics) handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title. II. Series. CC80.6.078 2000 930 – dc21 99-28846 CIP ISBN 978-0-521-56226-3 hardback ISBN 978-0-521-56666-7 paperback Transferred to digital printing 2009 Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Information regarding prices, travel timetables and other factual information given in this work are correct at the time of first printing but Cambridge University Press does not guarantee the accuracy of such information thereafter. CONTENTS Listofillustrations pagevi Listoftables ix Acknowledgements x 1 Alltheworld’sasample 1 2 Alittleofwhatyoufancy? 14 3 Ifthisisthesample,whatwasthepopulation? 40 4 Coveringtheground 67 5 What’sinasite? 112 6 Theanswerliesinthesoil 148 7 ‘Butmanysanguinepeoplehope,toseethemthrougha microscope’ 177 8 ‘Initsdepths,whattreasures’ 191 9 Beyondrandomsampling 206 Appendix 210 Bibliography 224 Index 248 v ILLUSTRATIONS 1.1 Invasivesamplingorthemarchofthequadrats. 3 1.2 Theresearchcycle. 10 2.1 Aproblemofusingsystematicsamplinginarealsurveys. 22 2.2 Stepsintheundertakingofasamplesurvey. 27 2.3 Choosingacriterionfordividingapopulationintostrata. 31 2.4 Contrastbetweentheefficiencyoffour1kmsquaresandone 2kmsquare. 32 2.5 Exampleoftheselectionofappssampleofprimaryunits. 35 2.6 Examplesofneighbourhoodsinadaptiveclustersampling. 35 2.7 Exampleofanadaptivesample. 36 2.8 Exampleofadaptivesampling,usingtransectsasinitialunits. 37 3.1 Therelationshipbetweentargetpopulation,sampled populationandsample. 42 3.2 Seriationoffirst-centuryADpotteryfromSilchester. 44 3.3 QuantifiedsourcesofpotteryimportedintoRomanBritain. 45 3.4 Correspondenceanalysisplotoftypesofartefactandtypesof siteinmedievalWinchester. 46 3.5 ComparisonofthechronologicalprofilesofRomancoin assemblages. 49 3.6 Theeffectsofusingsherdcountandweightinthecomparison ofceramicassemblages. 52 3.7 Comparisonofassemblagessurvivinginandbelowthe plough-zone. 59 3.8 Effectofseriesofploughingeventsonspatialdistributionof surfaceartefacts. 64 3.9 Effectsofdifferentialsurvival/retrievalratesoncomparisons betweenproportionofdifferenttypesindifferentassemblages. 65 4.1 FieldwalkingatBullockDown,Sussex. 72 4.2 Comparisonofsampletransectsandfieldsactuallywalkedin theEastHampshireSurvey. 82 4.3 SampledesignforMelosSurvey. 86 4.4 SampledesignforAgroPontinoSurvey. 87 4.5 SampledesignfortheChevelonArchaeologicalResearch Project. 88 4.6 SampledesignfortheBifernoValleySurvey. 89 vi Listofillustrations vii 4.7 Threepossiblegridsforlocatingtest-pits. 91 4.8 Therelationshipbetweentheratioofsitediametertogrid intervalandtheprobabilityofdiscoveringasite. 92 4.9 Networksforfirstadaptivesamplingexperimenton Valdefloresdataandexampleofasampleofunits. 95 4.10 Networksforsecondandsubsequentadaptivesampling experimentsonValdefloresdataandexampleofasampleof units. 97 4.11 EastHampshireSurveylocationmap. 102 4.12 ShapwickParishSurveylocationmap. 104 4.13 Graphofrateofcollectionofartefactsbywalkersin five-minute‘stints’. 106 4.14 SampleofunitsselectedfortheMonumentsatRiskSurvey. 110 5.1 TrialtrenchingatHawkingeAerodrome,nearFolkestone, Kent,bytheuseofJCBs. 117 5.2 Test-pittingontherouteoftheBrightonbypass,Sussex. 118 5.3 NewburySewageWorks,Thatcham,Berkshire:schematic planofevaluation. 123 5.4 NewburySewageWorks,siteintersectionanddetection probabilitiesforarangeoftest-pitsizes. 124 5.5 CharnhamLane,Hungerford,Berkshire:schematicplanof evaluation. 125 5.6 CharnhamLane,Hungerford,Berkshire,siteintersectionand detectionprobabilitiesforarangeoftest-pitsizes. 125 5.7 CharnhamLane,Hungerford,Berkshire,theprobabilityof detectingvariousnumbersofsitesforarangeoftest-pitsizes. 126 5.8 Averagenumberofsamplingunitsrequiredfor‘discovery’of itemclassesin‘smallsites’samplingasderivedfromthe NegativeHypergeometricdistribution. 130 5.9 Probabilityofatleastoneunitcontainingtheitemclassof interestforvarioussamplesizes,wheretheitemclassoccursin 1,2,5,10and20%ofthesamplingunitsinthepopulation,for agridof625units. 131 5.10 Augeringtoestablishtheextentofpeatdepositsat Shinewater,nearEastbourne,Sussex. 132 5.11 Polarsampleofthirty-twounits. 133 5.12 NetworksforadaptivesamplingexperimentonLasleyVore dataandexampleofasampleofunits. 134 5.13 Specimen20%randomsamplingofChaltonsiteusing8mby 8mquadrats. 137 5.14 Plotoftheestimatesoftherelativeproportionofsheep/goat inthefaunalassemblageatsite2001,obtainedbysimulated excavations. 139 viii Listofillustrations 5.15 Gainhistogramfortwentysimulatedrunsbasedonrandom samplesof5mby5msquares. 140 5.16 Three-stageexcavationprogrammeatShooflyVillage, Arizona. 144 5.17 ResultsofwallclearingandlocationofexcavationsatPueblo delosMuertos,NewMexico. 145 5.18 Locationofexcavationsselectedbyaprobabilitysampleand byjudgementatQsares-Seghir,Morocco. 146 6.1 Graphshowingthelogarithmofthefrequencyofbonesof differentlengthsplottedagainstthelength. 151 6.2 Wet-sievingatBignorRomanvilla,Sussex. 155 6.3 FlotationtankinuseatPevensey,Sussex. 156 6.4 ColumnsamplingforpollenanalysisatShinewater,near Eastbourne,Sussex. 157 6.5 Proportionsofdifferentspeciesobtainedbycumulative sampling. 158 6.6 Graphshowingproportionsofdifferentclassesofbones retrievedonmeshesofvarioussizes. 164 6.7 Illustrationofthecreationofbiasbysamplingatdifferent ratesfromdifferentpartsofanirregularfeature. 168 6.8 ComparisonofcorrespondenceanalysisplotofWinchester smallfindsbycenturieswithmultiplepiechartsofthesame data. 170 6.9 Graphshowingnumberofspeciesidentifiedassamplesizes increase. 173 6.10 Computersimulationofnumberoftypesofobjectidentified insamplesofincreasingsize,comparedtositedata. 174 6.11 Exampleofrarefactionanalysis. 175 7.1 Comparisonofarea-,line-,point-andribbon-counting. 186 7.2 Meandiametersandrangesofmeansforsubsetsforvarious grainselectiontechniques. 187 7.3 Comparisonofempiricalfrequencydistributionwitha correspondingsmoothedfrequencydistribution. 188 7.4 Reproducibilityofrepeatedmeasurementsofgrainsusing D andD . 189 (cid:1)(cid:2)(cid:3) (cid:4)(cid:5)(cid:6)(cid:4)(cid:7)(cid:8) 8.1 SchematicrepresentationofaMarkovchainanditstransition probabilities. 196 8.2 Exampleofarecordingformforacollectionconditionsurvey. 198 8.3 Organisationofastoreintoprimaryunitsandobjects,orinto primaryunits,secondaryunitsandobjects. 199 8.4 Systematicsamplingbydefininga‘route’tobetakenthrough acollection. 201 8.5 DesignandprecisionoftheMuseumofLondonSocial Historycollectionsurvey. 205 TABLES 3.1 NumbersoffindsfromexcavationsinmedievalWinchester, byfindtypeandcontextdate 50 4.1 Relativecostsoffieldwalkingandvariousformsofsub-surface survey 81 4.2 Structureofnetworksforfirstadaptivesamplingexperiment 94 4.3 Outcomeoffirstadaptivesamplingexperiment 94 4.4 Structureofnetworksforsecondandthirdadaptivesampling experiments 96 4.5 Outcomeofsecondadaptivesamplingexperiment 96 4.6 Outcomeofthirdadaptivesamplingexperiment 96 5.1 Summaryofpossibleoutcomesofanassessmentexercise 119 5.2 Structureofnetworksforadaptivesamplingexperiment 134 5.3 Outcomeofadaptivesamplingexperiment,comparedwith simplerandomsampling 135 6.1 Thedifferentsortsofinformationthatcanbeobtainedfrom theanalysisofdifferentsortsofmaterialobtainedfrom soil-sampling 162 6.2 Percentagesbyweightofdifferenttypesoffaunalremains retrievedonmeshesofvarioussizesatearlymedieval Dorestad 165 ix