Understanding Frequency Seriation in Archaeology Lab Activities

ANT 103, Introduction to Archaeology Lab Activity: Frequency Seriation ( Digging into Archaeology , Ilana Johnson) Styles come and go over time. A new style is invented and, if it catches on, rises in popularity. At some point, its popularity peaks and then fades away. As old styles recede, new styles emerge to replace them and begin the cycle again. This is true for cars, clothing, music, and memes as well as ancient pottery, house designs, jewelry, and artistic design. American archaeologists working in the early 20th century combined this observation with data collected from excavations of stratified sites to create the relative dating technique called seriation. Relative dating determines a chronological order without reference to calendrical dates. It is used to reconstruct the order of events and cannot directly determine the amount of time that has passed between individual events. Seriation was frequently used by archaeologists working in the classificatory-historical period during the first half of the 20th century since they were interested in reconstructing cultural histories in relation to time and space. And reconstructing cultural histories continues to be an important part of current analyses of the past. It lays the foundation for further research questions regarding function, process, change, and explanation. Seriation is an effective tool for constructing cultural chronologies and defining culture areas. In this exercise, you will develop a frequency seriation to reconstruct a culture’s history. Frequency seriations are important tools archaeologists use to understand how artifacts shapes and styles change over time. Once a frequency seriation is established for a region, new sites can be classified and cross-dated based on where the new artifacts fit into the master sequence. Frequency seriations record the number of artifacts of a particular style or type found, allowing archaeologists to observe a sequence of stylistic changes and infer cultural changes that would have gone along with them. Task In this exercise, you will analyze data from the Cambridge Cemetery in Massachusetts, develop a frequency seriation, and respond to the review questions at the end of the lab.

1. Using the gravestone data set for Cambridge Cemetery in Massachusetts provided, record the number of headstones of each type found in each time period. The first row has been completed for you as an example. Time period Death head Cherub Urn and willow 1820-1829 5 1810-1819 5 1800-1809 1 4 1790-1799 4 2 1780-1789 3 5 1770-1779 3 3 1 1760-1769 4 2 1750-1759 5 1740-1749 5 1730-1739 4 1720-1729 6

2. Next, draw a horizontal bar representing the frequency of each style in the boxes in the following diagram starting with the center box to represent the number of gravestones from each time period. The first row has been completed for you.

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Questions 1. What assumptions are necessary for seriation to work? Assumptions necessary for seriation to work: The assemblages being compared must come from the same cultural tradition or period. The artifacts being seriated must be of the same type or category. The frequency of artifact types should vary across different assemblages. The rate of change in the frequency of artifact types is relatively constant over time. 2. What does the “battleship” curve represent? The "battleship" curve represents the seriation result graphically. It is a plot of the frequency of artifact types over time or space, showing the rise and fall in popularity of different artifact types. The curve resembles a battleship due to its characteristic shape, where artifact types with high frequencies form the "body" of the battleship, and those with lower frequencies form the "bow" and "stern." 3. What are some potential problems with seriation? Potential problems with seriation: Seriation may not be applicable if the assemblages being compared come from different cultural traditions or periods. It assumes that artifact types have a consistent and linear evolutionary development, which might not be the case for all artifacts. Incomplete or biased data collection can lead to inaccurate seriation results. The method does not provide precise chronological dates but rather relative orders. 4. What are some of the benefits of seriation over other dating techniques? Benefits of seriation over other dating techniques: Seriation provides a relative dating method, which helps to determine the temporal order of artifacts without requiring absolute dates. It is useful for organizing large sets of data, such as pottery types or other artifact categories. Seriation can be used to detect cultural changes, interactions, and migrations over time. 5. What other methods or techniques can be used to confirm or verify a seriation? Methods or techniques to confirm or verify seriation: Cross-dating with other dating methods: Comparing seriation results with dates obtained from radiocarbon dating or other absolute dating techniques can help establish a more accurate chronological framework. Stratigraphic analysis: Correlating seriation results with stratigraphic layers can provide additional support for the relative chronological order. Stylistic analysis: Detailed stylistic analysis of artifacts can help in confirming their temporal associations, reinforcing the seriation results.

Contextual information: Considering the archaeological context of the assemblages, including associated structures and artifacts, can aid in verifying the seriation results.

Data Set from the Cambridge Cemetery, MA Date on Tombstone Name Death Head Cherub Urn and Willow 1729 Mallet, Thomas X 1762 Hunter, Margaret X 1744 Gidley, John X 1773 Gidley, Sarah X 1763 Fitch, Sarah X 1730 Ayrault, Mary X 1792 Foster, Deborah X 1801 Whiting, Frances X 1783 Barlett, William X 1722 Walker, Cornelia X 1802 Henry, Charlotte X 1754 Dickerson, Elba X 1727 Dickerson, Josephine X 1736 Dickerson, Margaret X 1774 Nash, George X 1811 Norton, Anna X 1805 Glashan, Charlotte X 1748 Glashan, Robert X 1781 Adams, Catherine X 1765 Edwards, Abby X 1775 Greenwood, Hannah X 1825 Herman, Ellen X 1741 Jackson, Edward X 1786 Wood, Helen X 1797 Bucknam, Warren X

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1725 Bucknam, Elizabeth X 1758 Newmarch, Caroline X 1733 Downs, Harriet X 1788 Norton, Charles X 1779 Lane, Ruth X 1792 Norton, Stillborn X 1766 Goddard, Josiah X 1790 Goddard, Lucy X 1751 Woodman, Elizabeth X 1814 Woodman, Albert X 1772 Bixby, Eunice X 1752 Fuller, Capt. Joseph X 1738 Allen, Kinsley X 1800 Langan, Emma X 1777 Drue, Ebenezer X 1762 Barton, James X 1824 Newhall, Richard X 1745 Mallen, Henri X 1827 Kingsbury, George X 1737 O’Dowd, Charles X 1784 Anthony, Elizabeth X 1808 Longly, Nathaniel X 1786 Smith, Albion X 1726 Barlett, Michael X 1816 Sampson, Rebeckah X 1794 Fewster, Martha X 1745 Archer, Hanna X

1818 Wheat, John X 1778 Murdock, Joanna X 1782 Spear, Susan X 1828 Lovell, Capt. Charles X 1759 Oliver, Samuel X 1767 Kendrick, William X 1819 Parker, Hope X 1822 Parker, Abraham X 1795 Cahoone, Abigail X

Frequency Seriation

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