CAA: Using Statistical and Exploratory Data Analysis in Archaeology

在国家科学基金会的支持下，Winifred Creamer博士将分析通过美国西南部考古发掘收集的大量陶瓷材料。她还将学习一系列计算机、统计和数学课程，主要在北伊利诺伊大学（University of Northern Illinois）学习，以提高她的分析能力。这将使她能够使用最合适的技术来进行学习。人类学家普遍认为，在与欧洲人接触前后，美洲原住民的人口规模急剧减少。然而，这种下降的确切性质、时间和原因可能因地区而异。也有可能某些区域的人口没有受到影响。西南地区是一个特别有趣的地方，因为在与欧洲人接触之前，它的社会复杂性达到了很高的水平，而且在西班牙的影响到来之前，它的衰落似乎就已经开始了。阿纳萨齐地区最大的遗址在哥伦布到达新大陆之前就被遗弃了。克里默博士希望重建阿纳萨齐人接触前后的人口规模，并了解它是如何随时间变化的。在此基础上，她将试图理解其中的因果机制。然而，要做到这一点，精细的时间控制是必要的，目前还不可能以足够的准确性确定地点的日期。Creamer博士将研究在安全的地层环境中发现的陶瓷遗迹，研究这些物质文化如何随着时间的推移而变化，然后使用陶瓷序列来确定各个遗址的年代。在本次职业发展奖中，Creamer博士也将拓展自己的技能。这类研究需要计算机、统计和数学方面的专业知识，而克里默博士并不具备这些知识。通过一系列的大学课程和实践学习，她将获得必要的专业知识。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将提供许多考古学家感兴趣的信息。它将增加我们对文化变化和接触过程的理解，最后它将有助于培养一位有成就的科学家。

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Winifred Creamer will analyze a large series of ceramic materials collected through archaeological excavation in the U.S. Southwest. She will also take a series of computer, statistical and mathematics courses, mostly at the University of Northern Illinois, to improve her analytic skill. This will permit her to approach her study using the most appropriate techniques. Anthropologists generally believe that Native American population size decreased dramatically around the time of European contact. However the exact nature, timing and cause of this decline probably varied from area to area. It is also possible that in some regions population was not affected. The Southwest is a particularly interesting both because of the high level of social complexity achieved before European contact and because decline seems to date well before Spanish influence was felt. The largest ruins in the Anasazi region were abandoned before Columbus arrived in the New World. Dr. Creamer wishes to reconstruct Anasazi population size both pre and post contact and learn how it changed over time. On this basis she will try to understand the causal mechanisms involved. To do this however a fine-scale chronological control is necessary and at the present time it is not possible to date sites with sufficient accuracy. Dr. Creamer will study ceramic remains which have been recovered in secure stratigraphic contexts, examine how this body of material culture changes over time and then use the ceramic sequence to date individual sites. In this Career Advancement Award, Dr. Creamer will also expand her own skills. Research of this kind requires computer, statistical and mathematic expertise which Dr. Creamer does not possess. Through a series of university courses and hands on learning she will acquire the necessary expertise. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide information of interest to many archaeologists. It will increase our understanding of the processes of culture change and contact and finally it will assist in the training of an accomplished scientist.