Sampling in Archaeology

A comprehensive account of the techniques of sampling which are essential to modern archaeological practice.

Clive Orton (Author)

9780521562263, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 11 May 2000

274 pages, 43 b/w illus. 10 maps 12 tables
25.4 x 17.8 x 1.6 cm, 0.7 kg

"This book provides good advice on designing and planning archaelogical studies and contains an extensive up-to-date bibliography." Journal of Anthropological Research

The first overview of sampling for archaeologists for over twenty years, this manual offers a comprehensive account of the applications of statistical sampling theory which are essential to modern archaeological practice at a range of scales, from the regional to the microscopic. Bringing archaeologists up to date with an aspect of their work which is often misunderstood, it includes a discussion of the relevance of sampling theory to archaeological interpretation, and considers its fundamental place in fieldwork and post-excavation study. It demonstrates the vast range of techniques that are available, only some of which are widely used by archaeologists. A section on statistical theory also reviews latest developments in the field, and the formal mathematics is available in an appendix, cross-referenced with the main text.

1. 'All the world's a sample'
2. 'A little of what you fancy?'
3. 'If this is the sample, what was the population?'
4. 'Covering the ground'
5. 'What's in a site?'
6. 'The answer lies in the soil'
7. 'But many sanguine people hope, to see them through a microscope'
8. 'In its depth, what treasures?'
9. 'Beyond random sampling'
Appendix.

Subject Areas: Archaeological science, methodology & techniques [HDW]