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The Effects of Time-Averaging on Archaeological Networks

The Effects of Time-Averaging on Archaeological Networks It is well recognized that time-averaging of archaeological deposits results in significant biases in interpretations of the archaeological record. In this study, we investigate the biases introduced by time-averaging in the study of social and economic networks from the archaeological record. Using three different archaeological network datasets, we combine network slices from multiple periods to mimic the effects of time-averaging to understand how the palimpsest nature of the archaeological record affects our interpretations of the network. The results of our analysis indicate that time-averaging reduces the fidelity of network interpretations compared to the non-time-averaged networks when analyzing network or node properties. Our results also showed that the effects of time-averaging are highly dependent on initial network structures. This makes it difficult to establish general rules for how to interpret time-averaged networks in archaeology. However, our study shows that it is of paramount importance that archaeologists are aware of these biases and evaluate the reliability of their data accordingly. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory Springer Journals

The Effects of Time-Averaging on Archaeological Networks

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References (22)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
ISSN
1072-5369
eISSN
1573-7764
DOI
10.1007/s10816-023-09608-7
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

It is well recognized that time-averaging of archaeological deposits results in significant biases in interpretations of the archaeological record. In this study, we investigate the biases introduced by time-averaging in the study of social and economic networks from the archaeological record. Using three different archaeological network datasets, we combine network slices from multiple periods to mimic the effects of time-averaging to understand how the palimpsest nature of the archaeological record affects our interpretations of the network. The results of our analysis indicate that time-averaging reduces the fidelity of network interpretations compared to the non-time-averaged networks when analyzing network or node properties. Our results also showed that the effects of time-averaging are highly dependent on initial network structures. This makes it difficult to establish general rules for how to interpret time-averaged networks in archaeology. However, our study shows that it is of paramount importance that archaeologists are aware of these biases and evaluate the reliability of their data accordingly.

Journal

Journal of Archaeological Method and TheorySpringer Journals

Published: May 6, 2023

Keywords: Archaeology; Network science; Analytical biases; Archaeological networks

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