Simulated Archaeological Levels and the Analysis of Le Flageolet II, the Dordogne, France

Abstract

Most intrasite spatial analyses have ignored vertical patterning within a single level or layer, a circumstance resulting in a serious bias towards single-component, even single-occupation, sites. Study has focused on an unduly restricted sample of spatial patterning from the past. Several methods of spatial analysis, developed here, can help to eliminate this bias. A variety of mathematical transformations can be applied to the three-dimensional provenience data of archaeological distributions. Appropriately chosen transformations allow complex, vertical palimpsest deposits to be “unpeeled” through the use of clustering methods. Some of these methods are outlined, and their effectiveness tested via examination of simulated artifact distributions. The resulting parameters are then used in the analysis of Le Flageolet II—a Magdalenian rockshelter site in the Dordogne, France.

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