Vanda Vitali

New approaches to the characterization and classification of ceramics on the basis of their elemental composition

Abstract This study is a part of a larger investigation related to questions of the systemization of neutron activation analysis results. It considers the analysis of experimental data and focuses on the application of a multivariate statistical technique to the characterization and classification of ceramic artifacts in order to establish and assess their provenance. Central to the statistical methodology reported here is the determination of a specific characterization-classification function. This function provides a method of defining a group of archaeological ceramics on the basis of their elemental composition patterns. Conditional and expected probabilities calculated from the function are then used as a means of classifying unknown observations, indicating outliers, and detecting the existence of another group as yet unidentified. The utility of the function is demonstrated in a specific test case. The possibility of using the characterization-classification function to increase the portability of information and to reduce the need for centralized computer data banks is pointed out.

Palaeogeography of Carthage (Tunisia): Coastal change during the first millennium bc

Abstract New geological data were recovered from 16 sediment sections cored in and around the Cothon, the harbour of ancient Carthage. They show a relatively thin (less than 5 m) post-mid-Holocene sediment accumulation over a late Pleistocene calcarenite bedrock surface. Analyses of core sediment samples for granulometry and microfossil remains, combined with four radiocarbon dates, have suggested several palaeogeographic reconstructions of the coastline of Carthage and placed constraints on the nature and location of any Punic port installation pre-dating the visible remains of the 3rd century bc . We also propose a geologically and historically plausible reconstruction of Scipios siege and capture of the city in 146 bc .

A hierarchical taxonomic procedure for provenance determination: A case study of Chalcolithic ceramics from the central Zagros

Abstract This study develops a data analysis methodology for the exploration of the variance in chemical composition of ceramic artifacts due to their typological, location and temporal characteristics. This methodology then allows for the characterization of ceramics based on these characteristics and the sequential assignment of unclassified ceramics to a region, subregion or site, with further assignment to specific ware and chronological period. The procedure uses INNA data on the elemental composition of ceramics in order to derive a series of classification functions for each category within each level of the taxonomic hierarchy. The developed procedure is used to investigate a provenance problem involving Chalcolithic ceramics from the Zagros region of western Iran. The results show that the elemental composition of ceramics, when coupled with multivariate statistical techniques, represents a powerful means for distinguishing ceramic provenance.

Archaeometric provenance studies: An expert system approach

Abstract This article explores the structure of archaeological interpretations based on archaeometric data. The methodology chosen to expose and render the structure of an interpretive, archaeological study transparent, is that of constructing an expert system. VANDAL is a prototype expert system developed to produce archaeological interpretations dealing with the provenance of archaeological ceramics based on chemical and data analysis information. At this stage it treats only one aspect of provenance investigation, comparison of ceramic reference groups. Development of a comprehensive expert system will follow this investigative stage that is concerned only with the investigation of the suitability of expert systems as tools in archaeometry. The findings of this study demonstrate that: (a) expert systems offer a technique for constructing an interpretive, reasoning process in a systematic and verifiable way; (b) expert systems can be used to guide the interpretive stages of an archaeological study based on archaeometric information; (c) archaeological interpretations involve a knowledge and understanding of the premises in all disciplines involved in an archaeological study.