Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wg55d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-21T16:35:05.678Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Unpacking the Discard Equation: Simulating the Accumulation of Artifacts in the Archaeological Record

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Mark D. Varien  and
James M. Potter
Mark D. Varien
Affiliation:
Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Cortez, CO 81321
James M. Potter
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287–2402
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Quantifying discard to accurately estimate the duration of site occupation is critical middle-range research necessary for understanding assemblage diversity, the nature of settlement systems and mobility strategies, and population size, and for testing any anthropological theory that depends on the accurate measurement of these variables. We address this middle-range research by employing a computer simulation to explore assumptions inherent in the discard equation and to determine the accuracy with which cooking pot refuse measures the length of site occupation. The accumulation of discarded cooking pot sherds is simulated using a strong archaeological case: the Duckfoot site, a Pueblo I residential site located in the Mesa Verde region of southwestern Colorado. We argue that estimating the length of site occupation using data from a strong archaeological case is superior to using the discard equation and ethnographic data, but that the discard equation and ethnographic data-used judiciously-can provide reasonable estimates if a strong archaeological case is not available. Results indicate that the most variable and least accurate results are generated by short-term occupations of sites by small numbers of households. We further conclude that quantifying the accumulation of discarded cooking pot sherds has considerable promise as a means of estimating the length of site occupation.

La cuantificación del desecho es una investigación de rango medio crucial para estimar correctamente la duración de осupación de un sitio, comprender la diversidad del conjunto arqueológico, la naturaleza del sistema de asentamiento y estrate gias de mobilidad, y el tamaño de la población, así como también para poner a prueba cualquier teoría antropológica que resta en la correcta medida de estas variables. Conducimos esta investigación de rango medio con una simulación computarizada para explorar presupuestos inherentes en la ecuación de desecho y para determinar si el desecho de allas de cocina provee una medida correcta de la duratión de ocupación de un sitio. Se simula la acumulación de tiestos de allas de cocina descartados usando un caso arqueológico sólido: el sitio Duckfoot, un sitio habitacional del periodo Pueblo I localizado en la región de Mesa Verde en el suroeste de Colorado. Argóimos que el cálcule de la duration de ocupación de un sitio usando un caso arqueológico sólido es superior a aquél obtenido usando una ecuación de desecho о datos etnográficos. Sin embargo, estos Ultimos, si se usan juiciosamente, pueden proveer estimados razonables en ausencia de un case arqueológico sólido. Los resultados indican que los sitios ocupados por pocas familias y por poco tiempo rinden los resul tados menas correctes y más variables. Concluimos además que la cuantificación del desecho de ollas de cocina es consid erablemente prometedora como un medio para estimar la duration de ocupación de un sito arqueológico.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 62 , Issue 2 , April 1997 , pp. 194 - 213
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1997

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Abbott, D. R. 1994 Hohokam Social Structure and Irrigation Management, The Ceramic Evidence from the Central Phoenix Basin. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Aldenderfer, M. S. 1981a Computer Simulation for Archaeology: An Introductory Essay. In Simulations in Archaeology edited by Sabloff, J. A., pp. 11—49. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Aldenderfer, M. S. 1981b Creating Assemblages by Computer Simulation: The Development and Use of ABSIM. In Simulations in Archaeology edited by Sabloff, J. A., pp. 67–117. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Ammerman, A. J., and Feldman, M. W. 1974 On the “Making” of an Assemblage of Stone Tools. American Antiquity 39: 610–616.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ammerman, A. J., and Feldman, M. W. 1991 Domestic Ceramic Production and Spatial Organization, A Mexican Case Study in Ethnoarchaeology. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Baumhoff, M. A., and Heizer, R. F. 1959 Some Unexploited Possibilities in Ceramic Analysis. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 15: 308–316.Google Scholar
Bedaux, R. 1987 Aspects of Life Span of Dogon Pottery. In “A Knapsack Full of Pottery, Archaeo-Ceramological Miscellanea Dedicated to H. J. Franken,” pp. 137–153. Newsletter of the Department of Pottery Technology, vol. 5, Leiden, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Blinman, E. 1988 The Interpretation of Ceramic Variability: A Case Study from the Dolores Anasazi. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Washington State University, Pullman.Google Scholar
Blinman, E. 1993 Anasazi Pottery: Evolution of a Technology. Expedition 35(l): 14–22.Google Scholar
Blinman, E., and Swink, C. 1997 Technology and Organization of Anasazi Trench Kilns. In History and Prehistory of Ceramic Kilns, edited by Rice, P. R.. American Ceramics Society, Westerville, Ohio, in press.Google Scholar
Bronitsky, G. 1986 The Use of Materials Science Techniques in the Study of Pottery Construction and Use. In Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, edited by Schiffer, M. B., vol. 9, pp. 209–276. Academic Press, Orlando, Florida.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronitsky, G., and Hamer, R. 1986 Experiments in Ceramic Technology: The Effects of Various Tempering Materials on Impact and Thermal Shock Resistance. American Antiquity 51: 89–101.Google Scholar
Cameron, C. M., and Tomka, S. A. 1993 The Abandonment of Settlements and Regions: Ethnoarchaeological and Archaeological Approaches. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, S. F. 1946 A Reconsideration of Shell Mounds with Respect to Population and Nutrition. American Antiquity 12: 51–53.Google Scholar
Cook, S. F. 1972a Prehistoric Demography. Modular Publications in Anthropology 16. Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Cook, S. F. 1972b Can Pottery Residues Be Used as an Index to Population? In Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Research Facility, pp. 17–39. Miscellaneous Papers on Archaeology No. 14. Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Cook, S. F., and Treganza, A. E. 1950 The Quantitative Investigation of Indian Mounds: With Special Reference to the Relation of the Physical Components to the Probable Material Culture. In Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 40, No. 5, pp. 223–262. University of California, Berkeley Google Scholar
David, N. 1972 On the Life Span of Pottery, Type Frequencies, and Archaeological Inference. American Antiquity 37: 141–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
David, N., and Hennig, H. 1972 The Ethnography of Pottery: A Fulani Case Seen in Archaeological Perspective. Current Topics in Anthropology: Theory, Methods, and Content. Modular Publications, Module 21. Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Deal, M. 1983 Pottery Ethnoarchaeology among the Tzeltal Maya. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia.Google Scholar
de Barros, P. L. F. 1982 The Effects of Variable Site Occupation Span on the Results of Frequency Seriation. American Antiquity 47: 291–315.Google Scholar
DeBoer, W. R. 1974 Ceramic Longevity and Archaeological Interpretation. American Antiquity 39: 335–343.Google Scholar
DeBoer, W. R. 1985 Pots and Pans Do Not Speak, Nor Do They Lie: The Case for Occasional Reductionism. In Decoding Prehistoric Ceramics, edited by Nelson, B. A., pp. 347–357. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.Google Scholar
DeBoer, W. R., and Lathrap, D. W. 1979 The Making and Breaking of Shipibo-Conibo Ceramics. In Ethnoarchaeology, edited by Cramer, C., pp. 102–138. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Duff, A. I. 1993 An Exploration of Post-Chacoan Community Organization through Ceramic Sourcing. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Duff, A. I. 1994 The Scope of Post-Chacoan Region. In Exploring Social, Political and Economic Organization in the Zuni Region, edited by Howell, T. L. and Stone, T., pp. 25-5. Anthropological Research Papers No. 46. Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Foster, G. M. 1960 Life Expectancy of Utilitarian Pottery in Tzintzuntzan, Mexico. American Antiquity 25: 606–609.Google Scholar
Fuller, S. L. 1984 Late Anasazi Pottery Kilns in the Yellowjacket District, Southwestern Colorado. CASA Papers No. 4. Complete Archaeological Service Associates, Cortez, Colorado.Google Scholar
Gifford, E. W. 1916 Composition of California Shellmounds. Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, vol. 12, pp. 1–29. University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Gill, G. M. 1981 The Potter's Mark: Contemporary and Archaeological Pottery of the Kenyan Southeastern Highlands. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Boston University, Boston.Google Scholar
Grove, D. C, and D. E., Buge 1978 Prehistoric Demography, Behavior, and Ancient Pottery. Journal of Irreproducible Results 24(4): 21–23.Google Scholar
Hagstrum, M. B. 1987 Supply and Demand of Ceramic Products: An Ethnoarchaeological Study of Community Specialization in the Central Andes, Peru. Paper presented at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Toronto, Canada.Google Scholar
Hatch, J. W., Whittington, S. L., and Dyke, B. 1982 A Simulation Approach to the Measurement of Change in Ceramic Frequency Seriation. North American Archaeologist 3: 333–350.Google Scholar
Hildebrand, J. A. 1978 Pathways Revisited: A Quantitative Model of Discard. American Antiquity 43: 274–279.Google Scholar
Kintigh, K. W. 1984 Measuring Archaeological Diversity by Comparison with Simulated Assemblages. American Antiquity 49: 44–54.Google Scholar
Kintigh, K. W. 1978 Ceramic Breakage Rate Simulation: Population Size and the Southeastern Chiefdom. Newsletter of Computer Archaeology 14: 1–18.Google Scholar
Kohler, T. A., and Blinman, E. 1987 Solving Mixture Problems in Archaeology: Analysis of Ceramic Materials for Dating and Demographic Reconstruction. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 6: 1–28.Google Scholar
Lightfoot, R. R. 1992a Archaeology of the House and Household: A Case Study of Assemblage Formation and Household Organization in the American Southwest. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Washington State University, Pullman.Google Scholar
Lightfoot, R. R. 1992b Architecture and Tree-Ring Dating at the Duckfoot Site in Southwestern Colorado. Kiva 57: 213–236.Google Scholar
Lightfoot, R. R. 1993 Abandonment Processes in Prehistoric Pueblos. In The Abandonment of Settlements and Regions: Ethnoarchaeological and Archaeological Approaches, edited by Cameron, C. M. and Tomka, S.A. pp. 165–177. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Google Scholar
Lightfoot, R. R. 1994 The Duckfoot Site, Volume II: Archaeology of the House and Household. Occasional Papers No. 4. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Cortez, Colorado.Google Scholar
Lightfoot, R. R., and Etzkorn, M. C. 1993 The Duckfoot Site, Volume I: Descriptive Archaeology. Occasional Papers No. 3. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Cortez, Colorado.Google Scholar
Longacre, W. A. 1985 Pottery Use-Life among the Kalinga, Northern Luzon, the Philippines. In Decoding Prehistoric Ceramics, edited by Nelson, B. A., pp. 334–346. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Mills, B. J. 1989 Integrating Functional Analysis of Vessels and Sherds through Models of Ceramic Assemblage Formation. World Archaeology 21: 133–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, B. A. 1981 Ethnoarchaeology and Paleodemography: A Test of Turner and Lofgren's Hypothesis. Journal of Anthropological Research 37: 107–129.Google Scholar
Nelson, B. A. 1991 Ceramic Frequency and Use Life: A Highland Mayan Case in Cross-Cultural Perspective. In Ceramic Ethnoarchaeology, edited by Longacre, W. A., pp. 162–181. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Nelson, B. A., Kohler, T. A., and Kintigh, K. W. 1994 Demographic Alternatives: Consequences for Current Models of Southwestern Prehistory. In Understanding Complexity in the Prehistoric Southwest, edited by Gummerman, G. J. and Gell-Mann, M., pp. 113–146. Proceedings Volume XVI, Sante Fe Institute Studies in the Sciences of Complexity. Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Nelson, N. C. 1909 Shellmounds of San Francisco Bay Region. Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, vol. 7, pp. 309–356. University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Orton, C. 1982 Computer Simulation Experiments to Assess the Performance of Measures of Quantity of Pottery. World Archaeology 14: 1–20.Google Scholar
Pastron, A. G. 1974 Preliminary Ethnoarchaeological Investigations among the Tarahumara. In Ethnoarchaeology, Archaeological Survey Monograph IV, edited by Donnan, C. and Clewlow, C., pp. 93–116. Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Pauketat, T. R. 1989 Monitoring Mississippian Homestead Occupation Span and Economy Using Ceramic Refuse. American Antiquity 54: 288–310.Google Scholar
Pierce, C. 1996 Why Corrugated? A Functional and Historical Analysis of the Change from Smooth to Corrugated Cooking Pots in the American Southwest. Paper presented at the 61st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, New Orleans. Manuscript on file, Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Cortez, Colorado.Google Scholar
Pierce, C, Varien, M. D., Driver, J., Gross, T., and Keleher, J. 1997 Artifacts. In The Sand Canyon Project Archaeological Project: The Site Testing Program. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Cortez, Colorado, in press.Google Scholar
Rice, P. M. 1987 Pottery Analysis: A Sourcebook. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.and London.Google Scholar
Rye, O. S. 1976 Keeping Your Temper under Control: Materials and the Manufacture ‘ of Papuan Pottery. Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania 11(2): 106–137.Google Scholar
Rye, O. S. 1981 Pottery Technology: Principles and Reconstruction. Australian National University, Manuals on Archaeology No. 4. Taraxacum, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Schiffer, M. B. 1975 Archaeological as Behavioral Science. American Anthropologist 77: 836–848.Google Scholar
Schiffer, M. B. 1976 Behavioral Archaeology. Academic Press. New York.Google Scholar
Schiffer, M. B. 1987 Formation Processes of the Archaeological Record. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Schlanger, S. H. 1990 Artifact Assemblage Composition and Site Occupation Duration. In Perspectives on Southwestern Prehistory, edited by Minis, P. E. and Redman, C.L. pp. 103–121. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado.Google Scholar
Schlanger, S. H. 1991 On Manos, Metates, and the History of Site Occupations, American Antiquity 56: 460–474.Google Scholar
Schlanger, S. H., and Wilshusen, R. H. 1993 Local Abandonments and Regional Conditions in the North American Southwest. In The Abandonment of Settlements and Regions: Ethnoarchaeological and Archaeological Approaches, edited by Cameron, C. M. and Tomka, S.A. pp. 85-98, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Shott, M. J. 1989 On Tool-Class Use Lives and the Formation of Archaeological Assemblages. American Antiquity 54: 9–30.Google Scholar
Shott, M. J. 1996 Mortal Pots: On Use Life and Vessel Size in the Formation of Ceramic Assemblages. American Antiquity 61: 463–482.Google Scholar
Steponaitis, V P. 1983 Ceramics, Chronology, and Community Patterns: An Archaeological Study at Moundville. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Stevenson, M. G. 1982 Toward an Understanding of Site Abandonment Behavior: Evidence from Historic Mining Camps in the Southwest Yukon. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 1: 237–265.Google Scholar
Tani, M. 1994 Why Should More Pots Break in Larger Households? Mechanisms Underlying Population Estimates from Ceramics. In Kalinga Ethnoarchaeology: Expanding Archaeological Method and Theory, edited by Longacre, W. A. and Skibo, J.M. pp. 51-70, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington and London.Google Scholar
Varien, M. D., and Lightfoot, R. R. 1989 Ritual and Nonritual Activities in Mesa Verde Region Pit Structures. In The Architecture of Social Integration in Prehistoric Pueblos, edited by Lipe, W. D. and Hegmon, M., pp. 73–87. Occasional Papers No. 1. Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, Cortez, Colorado.Google Scholar
Varien, M. D., and Mills, B. J. 1997 Accumulations Research: Problems and Prospects. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, in press.Google Scholar
West, S. M. 1992 Temper, Thermal Shock and Cooking Pots; A Study of Tempering Materials and Their Ethnographic, Archaeological and Physical Significance in Traditional Cooking Pottery. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson.Google Scholar