Quantitative methods (Archaeology)

Machine Learning for the recognition and analysis of prehistoric rock art and pottery is a promising
area of research that could reveal new insights into cultural heritage and identity. Deep Learning (a
form of Artificial Intelligence) can now be used to train powerful models to automatically recognise
pottery and rock art images, overcoming resource constraints such as time, manpower, and lack of
funding. This article provides a preliminary overview and proof of concept by providing Machine
Learning approaches based on current advancements in Deep Learning to train a model to recognise
images of pottery and prehistoric rock art. These methods can process large amounts of data quickly
and accurately, revealing new patterns and relationships. Although ML can be a complex undertaking,
new tools make it accessible to the archaeological practitioner who is not an AI expert.
แมีชี่ชีี่นเลิ่ร์นนิงสีำาหรับัการจดจำาแล่ะวิเค้ราะห์ศิิล่ปัะหินยุค้ก่อนปัระวัติศิาสีตร์แล่ะเค้ร􀄙ืองปัั้นดินเผู้าเปั็นพื􀄚นท􀄙ีที􀄙มีีแนว
โน้มีขีองการวิจัยท􀄙สีี ามีารถ้ำเปัิดเผู้ยขี้อมี้ล่เชีิ่งล่่กใหมี่ๆ เก􀄙ยี วกบัั มีรดกทางวัฒนธรรมีแล่ะเอกลั่กษณ์ ตอนน􀄚สีี ามีารถ้ำใชี่้
การเรียนร้เชีิ่งล่่ก (ปััญญาปัระดิษฐ์ร้ปัแบับัหน􀄙่ง) เพ􀄙อื ฝัึ่กโมีเดล่ที􀄙ทรงพลั่งให้จดจาำ ภาพศิิล่ปัะเค้ร􀄙อื งปัั้นดินเผู้าแล่ะหิน
โดยอัตโนมีัติ เอาชี่นะขี้อจำากัดด้านทรัพยากร เชี่่น เวล่า กำาลั่งค้น แล่ะการขีาดเงินทุน บัทค้วามีนี􀄚แสีดงภาพรวมีเบัื􀄚อง
ต้นแล่ะการพิสี้จน์แนวคิ้ดโดยให้แนวทางการเรียนร้ขีองเค้ร􀄙ืองตามีค้วามีก้าวหน้าในปััจจุบัันขีองการเรียนร้เชีิ่งล่่กเพื􀄙อฝัึ่ก
โมีเดล่ให้จดจาำ ภาพขีองเค้ร􀄙อื งปัั้นดินเผู้าแล่ะศิิล่ปัะบันหินยุค้ก่อนปัระวัตศิิ าสีตร์ วิธีการเหล่่านี􀄚สีามีารถ้ำปัระมีวล่ผู้ล่ขี้อมี้ล่
จำานวนมีากได้อย่างรวดเร็วแล่ะแมี่นยำา เผู้ยให้เห็นร้ปัแบับัแล่ะค้วามีสีัมีพันธ์ใหมี่ๆ แมี้ว่า ML จะเปั็นงานที􀄙ซึั่บัซึ่้อน แต่
เค้ร􀄙อื งมีือใหมี่ๆ ทำาใหผู้้ ้ปัฏบัิ ัติงานทางโบัราณค้ดีท􀄙ีไมี่ใชี่่ผู้้เชีี่􀄙ยวชี่าญด้าน AI สีามีารถ้ำเขี้าถ้ำง่ ได้

This session concentrates on computational methods for analysing archaeological and natural scientific data on burial records, focusing on the Protohistoric and Early Medieval periods in Europe (though relevant contributions from other regions and periods are also encouraged). These transitional eras exhibit diverse mortuary practices and extensive burial grounds that greatly benefit from data-driven analysis. The session aims to demonstrate how modern computational archaeology can offer new insights into burial evidence, whether shedding light on social hierarchy, ritual variations, demographic trends, population health standards, or cultural connections across regions. Addressing longstanding questions (e.g., new frameworks to measure prehistoric grave wealth) deepens understanding of how the living world has influenced and extended into the perception of the ‘beyond’ within past societies. In addition to established tools and techniques, the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in archaeology can pioneer new frontiers in funerary archaeology, enabling researchers to recognise complex patterns and make predictions that were previously impossible.

Archaeological pottery documentation and study represents a crucial but time-consuming aspect of archaeology. While recent years have seen advances in digital documentation methods, vast amounts of legacy data remain locked in traditional publications. This paper introduces PyPotteryLens, an open-source framework that leverages deep learning to automate the digitisation and processing of archaeological pottery drawings from published sources. The system combines state-of-the-art computer vision models (YOLO for instance segmentation and EfficientNetV2 for classification) with an intuitive user interface, making advanced digital methods accessible to archaeologists regardless of technical expertise. The framework achieves over 97 % precision and recall in pottery detection and classification tasks, while reducing processing time by up to 5 × to 20 × compared to manual methods. Also, the system's modular architecture facilitates extension to other archaeological materials, while its standardised output format ensures long-term preservation and reusability of digitised data as well as solid basis for training machine learning algorithms.

This report presents a detailed analysis of the technological organization of the lithic industries from the Rancho Santa María (RSM) archaeological site, located in northern Chihuahua, Mexico, during the Late Archaic period. Our focus is on projectile points and knives crafted from obsidian nodules, commonly referred to as marekanites. Contrary to previous studies (Gallaga, 2018; Dolan et al. 2019), which posited that the obsidian points at RSM were exclusively manufactured via bipolar fracture on cores, our findings indicate greater technological diversity. We observed that artisans employed both bipolar fracture and freehand knapping on multifaceted cores, selecting techniques based on the dimensions and properties of the nodules. This technological variability challenges prior interpretations and offers a more refined understanding of the technological strategies employed by Late Archaic hunter-gatherers in northwestern Mexico.

Archaeological pottery documentation traditionally requires a time-consuming manual process of converting pencil sketches into publication-ready inked drawings. This paper presents PyPotteryInk , an opensource automated pipeline that transforms archaeological pottery sketches into standardised publicationready drawings using a one-step diffusion model. Built on a modified img2img-turbo architecture, the system processes drawings in a single forward pass while preserving crucial morphological details and maintaining archaeologic documentation standards and analytical value. The model employs an efficient patch-based approach with dynamic overlap, enabling high-resolution output regardless of input drawing size. The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated on a dataset of Italian protohistoric pottery drawings, where it successfully captures both fine details like decorative patterns and structural elements like vessel profiles or handling elements. Expert evaluation confirms that the generated drawings meet publication standards while significantly reducing processing time from hours to seconds per drawing. The model can be fine-tuned to adapt to different archaeological contexts with minimal training data, making it versatile across various pottery documentation styles. The pre-trained models, the Python library and comprehensive documentation are provided to facilitate adoption within the archaeological research community.

Assessing real-time performance of Artificial Lift Pumps is a prevalent time-series problem to tackle for natural gas operators in Eastern Australia. Multiple physics, data-driven, and hybrid approaches have been investigated to analyse or predict pump performance. However, these methods present a challenge in running compute-heavy algorithms on streaming time-series data. As there is limited research on novel approaches to tackle multivariate time-series analytics for Artificial Lift systems, this paper introduces a human-in-the-loop approach, where petroleum engineers label clustered time-series data to aid in streaming analytics. We rely on our recently developed novel approach of converting streaming time-series data into heatmap images to assist with real-time pump performance analytics. During this study, we were able to automate the labelling of streaming time-series data, which helped petroleum and well surveillance engineers better manage Artificial Lift Pumps through machine learning supported exception-based surveillance. The streaming analytics system developed as part of this research used historical time-series data from three hundred and fifty-nine (359) coal seam gas wells. The developed method is currently used by two natural gas operators, where the operators can accurately detect ten (10) performance-related events and five (5) anomalous events. This paper serves a two-fold purpose; first, we describe a step-by-step methodology that readers can use to reproduce the clustering method for multivariate time-series data. Second, we demonstrate how a human-in-the-loop approach adds value to the proposed method and achieves real-world results.

In order to discuss the question raised in our title -wealthy and healthy?1 -, a number of disciplines is addressed. In accordance with our professional affiliation in ancient history (AB), archaeology (UK) and bioarchaeology (WRT), our common interest is to reflect social relations within ancient societies, and we aim at linking the capacities of material culture studies to social and natural sciences. The following chapters are spotlights on the interrelation of the archaeological record and wealth, health and social status in ancient societies. These introductory remarks are meant to outline the specific contribution that each of our fields is able to offer to funerary archaeology with respect to methodological approaches. At the same time, we want to emphasise the complementary character of these approaches in order to enhance the general objective of interdisciplinary studies. Before we go into detail, we should have a look at contemporary epidemiology regarding the topic 'wealthy and healthy'. In 2004, Michael Marmot published his pathbreaking book 'Status Syndrome',2 which is based on the famous 'Whitehall Studies I and II'. In these, health and mortality of British civil servants, first males, later males and females,3 was studied over longer periods.4 The rank of the single individual in the hierarchy5 of the British civil service was taken into consideration. While Whitehall I deals mostly with cardio-vascular diseases, Whitehall II has a wider focus and is called the "Stress and Health Study".6 The most important finding was bad health in the lower ranks and better health in the top ranks -although all groups had approximately the same access to medical aid. Age and risk factors e.g. in coronal heart disease are of lesser importance than the differences between the ranks.7 Health inequalities are not only the differences in health status between the rich and the poor. There is a consistent stepwise downgrading across the entire social spectrum: health is getting worse at each point as one descends down the social hierarchy.8 This is particularly interesting for our panel, which deals with non-élite, but also non-poor burials. Here, health should be better than the one of poorer individuals. In contrast, health is poorer than in the élite. Known as the social gradient of health,9 this consistent relationship between health and social status has profound implications for each individual and each society. The social gradient in health is a universal phenomenon found at all points in the life course and in different population groups around the globe.10 The social gradient is valid for

This book explores the subsistence methods, economic systems and environmental adaptations of Italian peasant communities in the 1st millennium CE, with a particular focus on the transitional period from the Roman Empire to the early medieval era. Existing work on agricultural production in this period has been based on literary sources and field surveys, or has focused on individual sites or regional collec-tions, while a multi-source archaeological study is absent from the discourse. This work addresses this gap by using environmental proxies to reconstruct the historical agricultural landscape through plant and animal occurrence patterns in legacy data. To this end, 190 botanical and 466 faunal assemblages from 309 sites are quantitatively analysed within a Bayesian framework, revealing a strong trend towards re-gionalisation in agricultural strategies during the early medieval period. In addition, these findings expose variations in agricultural techniques and dietary patterns across Roman settlements, shedding light on the extent to which Roman agricultural and economic frameworks persisted or changed during the early medieval transition, and the adaptive agricultural strategies adopted by farmers. The quantitative analyt-ical findings are also contextualised alongside wider historical sources, archaeological evidence, and cur-rent debate, allowing for a bottom-up understanding of the agricultural regimes in question. This work represents the first attempt to use temporally and geographically diverse bioarchaeological data to visu-alise the Italian agricultural landscape across the longue durée.

Archaeological pottery documentation traditionally requires a time-consuming manual process of converting pencil sketches into publication-ready inked drawings. I present PyPotteryInk, an open-source automated pipeline that transforms archaeological pottery sketches into standardised publicationready drawings using a one-step diffusion model. Built on a modified img2img-turbo architecture, the system processes drawings in a single forward pass while preserving crucial morphological details and maintaining archaeologic documentation standards and analytical value. The model employs an efficient patch-based approach with dynamic overlap, enabling high-resolution output regardless of input drawing size. I demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach on a dataset of Italian protohistoric pottery drawings, where it successfully captures both fine details like decorative patterns and structural elements like vessel profiles or handling elements. Expert evaluation confirms that the generated drawings meet publication standards while significantly reducing processing time from hours to seconds per drawing. The model can be fine-tuned to adapt to different archaeological contexts with minimal training data, making it versatile across various pottery documentation styles. The pre-trained models, the Python library and comprehensive documentation are provided to facilitate adoption within the archaeological research community.

Este artículo describe los resultados sobre el estudio de la experiencia del usuario de dos colegios dentro de un espacio virtual educativo flexible que conjuga escuela y museo. Este espacio educativo integral incluye no solo la exploración de áreas expositivas, sino que abarca desde charlas telepresenciales por parte del personal del museo, simulaciones, virtual quests a trabajos escolares dentro de un entorno virtual multiusuario basado en OpenSim, accesible simultáneamente desde las diferentes instituciones implicadas en el experimento.

Any dictionary definition suggests that learning involves the acquisition of knowledge or behaviour. Chris Thornton, in a thought provoking essay suggests that learning tasks must be presented in the form of example association pairs . Consequently, he defines all learning tasks in terms of mapping. A learner agent can always read this mapping in two ways: as saying what actions should be produced in a given situation or as predicting which actions should be produced in a given situation. The idea of prediction comes from the fact that a task will be considered to have been successfully learned if we are able to produce correct associations for test items in the majority of cases. Prediction tasks are usually named supervised learning tasks, on the grounds that the examples are like information given to the learner by a teacher or supervisor. The thing that is learned is generally termed the target function, and the inputs and associated outputs are treated as the arguments and values (respectively) of an unknown function. Concept learning problems have the same form, except that target outputs are either "yes" or "no"(or "true"=1 and "false"=0). The learning is then conceptualised along computational lines. Learning and classification are seen as procedures for knowledge acquisition. A classification problem is just like the concept learning problem except for the fact that we now have a number of output targets that are the labels of classes. The cases illustrate what sort of object belongs in which class.

Computational (or "artificial") intelligence is not just about robots. It is about understanding the nature of intelligent thought and action using computers as experimental devices. It also deals with the nature of inferential mechanisms and how computer programs allow us to discover how we produce inferences. In this paper I introduce some of the key points in Computational Intelligence in Archaeology, exploring the implications in our discipline, both theoretically and methodologically, of Machine Learning tools and techniques. Theoretical and practical aspects of computer programs able to reproduce the same tasks archaeologists do are reviewed in this paper. The question of whether it is possible to automate the archaeological knowledge production is of both great theoretical interest and increasing practical importance, because knowledge and information are being generated much faster than they can be effectively analyzed. Computable archaeology-if you do not like the expression "automatic archaeology"-is the proper way of exploring new ways of answering the questions we have not yet answered.

The work focuses on the morphological standardisation of ceramic production in continental Italy between the 2nd and the first half of the 1st millennium BC, employing a quantitative approach linked to the fields of machine learning and Big Data. This research is made possible through the creation of a substantial and structured dataset comprising over 20,000 complete profiles and archaeological information from more than 600 different contexts. The study of ceramics has enabled the utilisation of recent analysis methods, such as non-linear dimension reduction techniques or autoencoders, which are versatile artificial intelligence tools for the study of archaeological pottery. This includes feature extraction methods as well as a method for reconstructing ceramic shapes from fragments. The archaeological results support the link between standardisation and specialisation, and their relationship with the development of social complexity. The detailed methods have been compiled into a Python library for easy sharing and utilisation. The entire study adheres to the principles of open data, as the dataset, methods, and analyses will be made publicly available.

Post-Classical Archaeologies (PCA) is an independent, international, peer-reviewed journal devoted to the communication of post-classical research. PCA publishes a variety of manuscript types, including original research, discussions and review articles. Topics of interest include all subjects that relate to the science and practice of archaeology, particularly multidisciplinary research which use specialist methodologies, such as zooarchaeology, paleobotany, archaeometallurgy, archaeometry, spatial analysis, as well as other experimental methodologies applied to the archaeology of post-classical Europe. Submission of a manuscript implies that the work has not been published before, that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere and that it has been approved by all co-authors. Authors must clear reproduction rights for any photos or illustration, credited to a third party that they wishe to use (including content found on the Internet). For more information about ethics (including plagiarism), copyright practices and guidelines please visit the website www.postclassical.it.

Reconstructing archaeological vessels from their fragments is a complex task that requires a long investment of time as well as in-depth knowledge of specific archaeological material. This paper proposes a framework based on generative artificial intelligence to reconstruct the entire vessel from a fragment. The proposed framework is based on a fragment simulation mechanism and the combination of three different deep learning models that position, reconstruct, and post-process the fragment to obtain a readyto-use reconstruction. The method is applied as a case-study to a dataset of six Italian Bronze and Early Iron Age burial contexts, including about 40 0 0 complete vessels and over 400 actual fragments. The results are evaluated using statistical metrics and expert human evaluation, showing promising results. The proposed method is a positive application of generative artificial intelligence in archaeology and provides a solution to the use of fragments in the digital and computational analysis of ceramics. The dataset, as well as the code used and the analytical pipeline, are fully available in the supplementary materials.

The picture that has been developed in this book is a road map towards spatial health in cities: how to identify between levels of spatial health and the practical knowledge to produce it. The jury is still out on the exact causes of poor mental health in cities but the one thing we do know is that whatever we are repulsed by is alienating. In this step-by-step guide into analysing levels of urban health in cities it will become clear how the new visual sustainability model is solutions based. The solution this book offers lies in the documentation of interaction type as a metric, one which is both impactful and practical. It deals with both physical use (the use that we see) and visual use (how we feel about the use that we see). We are encouraged to look at the digital tapestry for information about levels of visual sustainability; and listen to it so that we understand these data in an unscientific way, i.e. with feeling. The new visual sustainability model: urban health—a practical approach is aimed at people from all walks of life with an interest in urban health, quality of life, and the welfare of others around them—especially in cities. Through us, layer upon layer of use creates every part of our city in an endless construction of who we are and what we are becoming. It is therefore our collective duty to reconnect with those layers and steer the interactions we have with our urban environment towards a healthier outcome.

Based on unparalleled archaeological information, with thousands of excavations carried out over a small area, this book constitutes a unique attempt to write a quantitative history of settlement in ancient Israel, from the fourth millennium BCE to the end of the Byzantine period (briefly addressing later periods).
The analysis is based on two datasets. The first is taken from salvage excavations, and is strongly biased toward small, rural sites, which are greatly underrepresented in traditional "histories" The second is of published large-scale excavations, and is biased toward large, urban sites. Taken together, the two datasets represent both the rural and urban sectors, and their analysis allows us to understand settlement processes, and to identify differences between regions, trends in urban and rural settlement across time, patterns of continuity and discontinuity, and much more.
Large parts of the book are devoted to methodological discussions, but most of it comprises an attempt to reconstruct the settlement history of ancient Israel and its various sub-regions.

Cosine Quantogram Analysis (CQA) is a statistical analysis employed in archaeology for the study of numerical datasets with hypothesized quantal distribution. To verify thesignificance of the results, the analysis is often combined with the execution of Monte Carlo simulations. In this article, we present a freely downloadable Python package (CQArchaeo) that integrates CQA and Monte Carlo simulations in the same environment, making the analysis customizable in the main parameters. We provide a guide that enables the use of this tool even for researchers with limited experience in Python programming and demonstrate the applicability, functioning, and main limitations of the analysis on some archaeological datasets.

In today's business world, getting logistics and supply chain management right is crucial for
success. That's why many companies are turning to technology, especially databases, to help
them navigate the complexities of global trade. This report tells the story of how we built a
custom database specifically for managing logistics and supply chains. It's like the brain behind
the scenes, keeping track of everything from inventory and orders to shipments and suppliers.
By putting all this important information in one place, we're able to make our logistics
operations smoother and keep our supply chain running efficiently. So, join us as we take you on
a journey through how we came up with the idea, designed, and put this database into action.

Open top chambers (OTCs) are a popular method for studying the biological effects of climate change through passive heating, but their effects on biotic interactions are poorly understood, especially for pollination. Here we use the subalpine plants Delphinium nuttallianum and Potentilla pulcherrima to examine the possibility that the effects of OTCs on plant reproduction are not the result of warming but rather OTCs acting as barriers to pollinator movement. Pollinator observations were conducted and stigmas collected from plants inside and outside of OTCs in a meadow in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, USA. Very few visitors were observed inside of OTCs, which led to severe reductions in visitation rates, by 92% in Delphinium and 85% in Potentilla. The number of conspecific pollen grains on stigmas was 73% lower in OTCs for Delphinium but not Potentilla, likely because it is capable of autogamous self-pollination. This study clearly shows that OTCs can reduce animal pollination, w...

The Mardia MVN test, Henze Zikler's MVN test, and Royston's MVN test are the most widely used tests to analyze multivariate normal (MVN) data, but there have not been many studies explaining the advantages and disadvantages of these tests. The research objective was to analyze the difference in test strength and type II (β) error in the Mardia MVN test, Henze Zikler's MVN test, and Royston's MVN test. The research data were analyzed using three MVN tests, namely the Mardia MVN test, Henze Zikler's MVN test, and Royston's MVN test. The results of the analysis in the form of test strength and type II error (β) would be compared at alpha (α) 1%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%. The comparison results explained that the Mardia test had the greatest test strength and the smallest type II (β) error. The study concluded that the Mardia MVN test was a multivariate normal test better than Henze Zikler's MVN test and Royston's MVN test.

We describe a series of preliminary experiments undertaken to investigate the relationship between complicated tool-making and the presence or absence of language in its communicative role. The experiments involved teaching two groups of university students how to make Levallois flakes by either verbal or non-verbal demonstration. The rates and mean times of acquisition of the Levallois technique and of successful flake production were compared. They did not differ significantly between the two groups. From these results, we infer that spoken language was not indispensable for Levallois flake production in the Middle Palaeolithic.

In this study we aim to examine the latent profiles of Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University teacher candidates' 21 st century learner skills. In other words, we intend to discover the profiles of participant groups who hang together in terms of 21 st century learner skill scores. The data were gathered from students who enrolled in either undergraduate programs in the school of education or pedagogical formation certificate programs. For data collection purposes, we used the 21 st century learner skills usage inventory. In order to achieve our goal, profile analysis via multidimensional scaling approach was employed. Data analysis resulted in two-dimensional solution indicating two major profile patterns. Students whose observed patterns are similar to the first major profile tend to have lower ability in cognitive processing and coding of information and realization of the products. They tend to have higher abilities in self-management, self-control, designing more flexible learning environment, and adaptation of new technology. These students are expected to be better at collaboration-based activities. Students whose observed patterns are similar to the second major profile are expected to be good at selfmanagement, self-control and they are expected to have higher self-and collaborative-learning abilities.

LISROP (Land of Israel Study and Research Online Platform) is an online, bilingual, English-Hebrew, integrative platform (under construction) aiming to allow scholars and interested non-academics to review a vast amount of archaeological and historical data from the land of Israel, explore it and dissect in various ways, and then analyze it using sophisticated GIS tools, some of which were specifically developed for the platform. The platform can be used for various types of studies and can be expanded thematically and spatially beyond its current limits by incorporating additional databases and applications and providing information on nature, culture, and heritage, furthering study and research into these areas. The paper briefly presents the project's background, history, development, and current aims. It then describes the platform and its components, including the geographical foundations on which the data is studied, the archaeological and historical data it incorporates, and the various GIS components it includes. The paper then outlines the platform's potential, capacity to advance research on several levels, and expected relevance for non-academics. Toward the end, the paper briefly describes some of the major challenges we encountered in our work and potential avenues for expanding the platform.

The study of material culture, particularly ceramics, is an important aspect of archaeology. The classification and typology of ceramics is often a key focus, with traditional methods based on the observation of specific morphological characteristics and the creation of taxonomies based on these types. However, recent advances in digital technologies and the use of Machine Learning have led to the development of new, digital approaches to ceramic classification. These approaches rely on statistical methods and computer science techniques to quantify vessel morphology and create multivariate datasets. The aim of this study is to compare a traditional approach elaborated by Renato Peroni and applied by many of his students, especially in the field of Italian protohistory, with a proposed digital method of ceramic classification. The comparison will be conducted using a database of approximately 1400 records from several Italian Bronze and Iron Age funerary contexts, including Casinalbo and other contexts in the Po Valley and northern Italy, as well as Pianello di Genga and Torre Galli. The proposed digital approach involves a combination of a non-linear dimensionality reduction algorithm and density-based clustering for the automated classification of ceramics. The study will consider the similarities and differences between the two methods and the potential for combining them in a complementary manner. The results of the study will provide a deeper understanding of traditional typologies and explore the potential for digital methods to enhance, improve, and complement them.

Archaeology uses various analytical concepts and hierarchical units to find or
impose patterns of the material record. While artifacts from the same site or
stratigraphic unit comprise an assemblage, an archaeological complex indicates
patterns of the material record in a specific time and space. Many Korean
archaeologists rely on one or a few certain stereotypic attributes and artifacts to
identify analytical units, such as assemblage, complex and archaeological culture.
However, the material remains that are the subject matter of archaeological
studies are best viewed as a polythetic, rather than monothetic, set. Placing too
much emphasis on certain selected types and attributes, therefore, may distort
dynamic variation of material remains through space and time. The concept
of complex (and assemblage and/or culture) has been widely used among
Korean Bronze Age archaeologists in order to establish time/space charts. Many
concepts have been undergone the trial and error process, while their definition
or implications have been expanded as new finds were accumulated through
time. Researchers also presented new complexes based on newly excavated
varieties that are not compatible with the essential characteristics of the
established complexes, which in turn exacerbates the misunderstanding of the
polythetic set of the archaeological record. Furthermore, many complexes have
been unduly regarded as chronological phases or periods without appropriate
consideration of the difference of the analytical units and chronological blocks.
Material remains represent dynamic variations of past human behavior of artifact
manufacture, use and discard, and for this reason, they contain a certain degree
of variation.

Este trabajo describe una línea de investigación y desarrollo (I/D) y los resultados esperados de la misma. El objetivo principal es analizar, generar y evaluar modelos matemáticos y métodos computacionales asociados en ingeniería. Se estudian problemas que por su nivel de complejidad requieren soluciones específicas. Los modelos abordados son dependientes del tipo de sistema estudiado, del fenómeno analizado y del área particular de ingeniería que originó el requerimiento. Determinar el tipo de sistema, el método para evaluar su rendimiento y las soluciones numéricas óptimas o subóptimas forma parte de los objetivos en esta línea de I/D.

This text examines the artistic performance “Dei-te o Mundo de Bandeja” ("I Served You the World on a Tray") through the prism of proto-excavation as a method of archaeological speculation. Executed by performer Ana Rocha, in collaboration with ceramist Sofia Beça in Porto, this performance and artistic installation is perceived as a form of Archaeology in motion, guiding the audience on a journey from the Earth's inception to the "plastification" of socio-economic frameworks. As an archaeologist and observer, the author leverages this performance as a vantage point to conjecture on the narratives and materialities at the archaeological site of Mount Ovil, in Espinho.

The informative potential of numismatic finds from stratigraphic excavations and archaeological survey is indeed crucial: their study provide useful data for establishing the chronology of archaeological contexts and for reconstructing the phenomenon of the monetary circulation, shedding light on the ancient economy. The contextual approach remains fundamental: to enhance the stratigraphic (in case of excavations) and topographical (in case of surveys) contexts also means underlying the fundamental importance of combined analysis of numismatic and pottery finds, which aims to lead to comparability the finds relating to different classes of materials.

La potenzialità informativa delle monete restituite da scavi stratigrafici e da ricognizioni archeologiche è assai rilevante: oltre a fornire elementi di cronologia ai contesti archeologici, il loro studio può contribuire a ricostruire per linee generali il fenomeno della circolazione monetaria e, in ultima analisi, a gettare luce sull’economia antica. Fondamentale rimane sempre l’approccio contestuale: valorizzare i contesti, stratigrafici (nel caso degli scavi) e topografici (nel caso delle ricognizioni), significa anche ribadire la cruciale importanza di analisi combinate di reperti numismatici e ceramici, che si propongano di riportare a comparabilità i reperti afferenti alle diverse classi di materiali.

This paper concerns an assemblage of fragmentary ceramics coming from excavations in Uthina, a Roman city in the North of Tunisia. The study has a quantitative and functional perspective and its aim is twofold: to assess the origin of the ceramics supposed to belong to an Islamic house and to detect by exploratory techniques the best parameters for future quantification analyses of this kind of pottery, largely existing on the site.

La fuente etnohistórica es una potente ciencia capaz de revelar los secretos del mundo andino. La religión andina, denominada Wak´anismo, es un campo de investigación fértil. Este articulo realiza un recuento y análisis de las principales citas de cronistas hispanos del siglo XVI concerniente al término guaca o huaca, y plantea los objetivos de: consolidar la memoria social prístina, fortalecer la identidad cultural, cristalizar la educación de los pueblos rurales, fomentar la espiritualidad por nuestra tierra y el desarrollo socioeconómico de los pueblos andinos. Metodología: revisión minuciosa del término wak´as en los textos de los cronistas del siglo XVI. Resultados: Se ha observado y comprobado la profusa diseminación del Wak´anismo en el amplio territorio del Tawantinsuyu.

The Centrality of Aleppo and its Environs Communicated by Stephan G. Schmid This study analyses the relationship between Aleppo and settlements in the city's hinterland based on spatial statistics. A theoretical extension of the term central place is used in reconstructing Aleppo's central character. Locally the city served as a centre for trade, exchange, and cult activity. In a regional and supra-regional context, advantages deriving from the topographic location led trade, exchange, and craft to take on different functions. This study demonstrates that, in constrast to other important cities in the ancient Middle East, Aleppo could maintain its long-lasting significance as a central place due to the combination of different functions. Central Place; Central Functions; Spatial Scales; Environmental Determinism; Middle East. Die Studie analysiert anhand räumlicher Statistik das Verhältnis zwischen Aleppo und den die Stadt umgebenden Siedlungen. Auf Basis einer theoretischen Erweiterung des Begriffs 'Zentraler Ort' ist es möglich, Aleppos zentralen Charakter darzustellen. Die Stadt diente als lokales Zentrum für Austausch und Kult. Im regionalen und überregionalen Kontext profitierte die Stadt von ihrer topographischen Lage, die Funktionen des Handels und Handwerks konzentrierte. Die Kombination der zentralen Funktionen Aleppos auf verschiedenen Skalen kann als Grund für die diachrone Bedeutung des Ortes, im Vergleich zu anderen Städten des mittleren Ostens, verstanden werden. Die Studie zeigt, dass diese Kombination aus Funktionen der Grund dafür war, dass Aleppo, anders als vergleichbar wichtige Städte im Mittleren Orient, seine zentrale Bedeutung langfristig sichern konnte.

Four brief archaeological digging campaigns, taking place from 2017 to 2020, lead to the identification of the old Quelba/Khor Kalba (Sharjah Emirate) fortress remains, on the Oman Gulf coast, where the Portuguese, under the Gaspar Leite command, took in 1624 and they stayed about two decades. The fortress was built with mud walls, only partially laying on stone foundations, with quadrangular shape plan, measuring 50 m each side, and was protected, at least, on the two corners turned to the see, by circular plan towers. Inside the fortification walls we have found living floors made with gypsum and sand, house postholes, ovens, fire places, dirt pits and a well, as diversified artefacts remains, namely ceramics, that we can date between the late 16th and 18th centuries

Breast cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer in women. In order to reduce the death rate , early detection of cancerous regions in mammogram images is needed. The existing system is not so accurate and it is time consuming. The Proposed system is mainly used for automatic segmentation of the mammogram images and classify them as benign,malignant or normal based on the decision tree J48 algorithm. A hybrid method of data mining technique is used to predict the texture features which play a vital role in classification. The sensitivity, the specificity, positive prediction value and negative prediction value of the proposed algorithm accounts to 93.45% , 99.95%,94% and 98.5% which rates very high when compared to the existing algorithms. The size and the stages of the tumor is detected using the ellipsoid volume formula which is calculated over the segmented region.

The production of pottery in East Asia can be traced back to approximately 20,000 years ago. Hunter-gatherer communities utilised pottery for many years before transitioning to agriculture in regions such as China, Japan, and the Russian Far East. While there has been much debate surrounding pottery production in hunter-gatherer societies, little attention has been given to the role of ceramic vessels in the shift to sedentism and agriculture. This research explores the technological aspects of pottery production in both hunter-gatherer societies and societies in the midst of transitioning to agriculture. The study focuses on ceramic assemblages from two sites in the Fuxin Area of Liaoning province, China. The earlier site represents a small semi-sedentary society that relied solely on hunting and gathering, while the later site, around 400 years later, is a village that also incorporates the use of millet. Using petrography, X-ray diffractometry, X-ray florescence, and thermo-gravimetric analyses, the study identifies differences in ceramic production between the two sites, including the use of selective clay and temper types and improved firing techniques at the later site. These technological changes are believed to be due to specific changes in the preferences of sedentary groups, possibly related to food processing during the onset of agriculture. The findings shed light on the relationship between social, economic, and technological variation in prehistoric societies.