Here in the Phoenix Basin, there exists a "sacred" map of the prehistoric Hohokam settlements made by Omar Turney in the 1920s. This map is almost always taken at face value, even though some of Turney's informants were known to be full of it.
I have decided to evaluate the plots of these sites by plotting the map over ALL of the CRM projects undertaken in the Valley. I will code each site for the presence/absence of buried features and tag all of the confirmed canal locations to see which plots are correct and which ones may be dubious. Most of this information is contained in the City of Phoenix archaeological database. I have a meeting with the City of Phoenix archaeologist next week to discuss the research.
KIVA here I come!
4 comments:
Dude, what a stinking good idea. If the "sacred" map is right, then hey, that's good cause we've been using it. If it turns out to be crap, you just stuck it to the man. Nice.
Hi Cady:
You asked me some questions on my blog about living in DC and accounting. Good luck with everything. I would be glad to answer any questions you might have. Email me at walkspencer@hotmail.com
Jim Allison had us read Ian's 1999 article about using Bayesian methods in Teotihuacan.
I thought that this paragraph was appropriate for your cause, Chris.
"Researchers who have carried out exploratory analyses in large, complez sets of spatial data are acutely aware of the value that different kinds of maps have in helping direct archaeological research. Thematic maps often serve a descriptive role, recording basic spatial relationships within and between different units of analysis. Maps also are important for inspirinf new, often quite subtle ideas and hypotheses, which may then be further evaluated through more formal kinds of quantitative procedures. The right map, coupled with innate pattern recognition skills, may open profitable lines of research that would otherwise have been left unexplored" (Robertson 1999:137).
Taken from:
1999 Robertson, Ian
Spatial and Multivariate Analysis, Random Sampling Error, and Analytical Noise: Empirical Bayesian Methods at Teotihuacan, Mexico. American Antiquity, Vol. 64, No.1, 1999.
sorry for the typos, I didn't proof it. Also, Blogger makes SAA format kind of difficult, but you get the idea. Chasing the reference shouldn't be too hard.
Post a Comment