Computing in

Archaeology
Basic Statistics
Week 8 (25/04/07)
© Richard Haddlesey www.medievalarchitecture.net
 Aims
 To familiarise ourselves with KEY
statistical terms and their meanings

 To understand the use of stats in

archaeology

 To assign variables, appropriate

levels of measurement, at the
recording level
Key texts
 Basic Stats
Batch Post holes

Vari abl es Var iab les

Length, area,
diameter

Case Case Case

Post hole ID
 Variables
 Variables are measured according
to one of FOUR levels

 Nominal = arbitrary name

 Ordinal = sequence with no distance
 Interval = sequence with fixed distance
 Ratio = sequence with a fixed datum
 Vince NOIR

 Nominal
 Ordinal
 Interval
 Ratio
 Nominal examples
 Condition
 Age
 Diameter
 Length
 Context
 Period
 Ordinal examples
 Condition
1. Excellent
2. Good
3. Fair
4. Poor

 Here “2” may be between “1” and

“3” but is unlikely to be of equal
distance
 Interval examples
 Period
1. Late Bronze (1200-650)
2. Early Iron (649-100)
3. Late Iron (100+)

 Here, if we have 3 artefacts dated

150BC, 300BC and 450BC, although
b may be equal distance between a
and c, c is not twice as old as a.
 This is because there is no datum.
 Ratio examples
 Age instead of period
• 1000 ya is twice 500 ya
• 20kg is twice 10kg

 Ratio is the highest level of

measurement because it has a
datum
 Mortlake Fengate Grooved
style bowl style bowl ware jar

Nominal, Ordinal and Interval

 Note!
 Avoid using 0 or 1 to indicate such
variables as yes or no, as we may
need to know if it is “no” or “no data”

 Also when using presence or absence

you may wish to add “missing” to
avoid confusion
 Further distinction
 Nominal and Ordinal
• = categorical
• = qualitative

 Interval and Ratio

•= continuous
•= quantitative
 Coding
 Nominal and Ordinal often need coding, to
minimise errors, via a keyword index
 con = context
• str = stray find
• set = settlement
• bur = burial

 Avoid 1,2,3,etc, as you will have to keep

looking up their meanings which is time
consuming
 Coding

NOTE!

EVERY DATA VALUE MUST HAVE A

CODE AND ONLY ONE CODE!
 Grouping
 Good for periods, as in
• Late Bronze (1200-650)
• Early Iron (649-100)
• Late Iron (100+)

 NOTE: it is better to record as a

continuous variable (i.e. 780BC),
then group as an output (i.e. Late
Bronze)
 Good Practice

 Always keep a “CLEAN” version of

the original data set
Exploring the data
 example data set
Context FNO Taxon Bone z1 z2 z3 z4 z5 z6 F/U L/R art. sex NISP chop cut m1 m2 m3 m4
269 58 bs mn 0 0 0 0 0 0 - r - - 1 35.9 14.6
722 191 eq sc 1 1 1 1 1 1 f r 2 - 1 78.2 40.7 55.6
722 191 eq sc 1 1 1 1 1 1 f l 2 - 1 78.7 41.4 48.5
371 102 eq sc 1 1 1 1 1 1 f r - - 1 45.0 58.0 52.9
722 191 eq cal 1 1 1 1 1 0 f r 2 - 1 90.6 45.0
722 191 eq mp 1 1 1 0 0 0 f l 2 - 1 41 45.6 40.3 28.7
722 191 eq mp 1 1 1 0 0 0 f r 2 - 1 42 46.0 39.5 29.4
722 191 eq mp 1 1 1 0 0 0 f r 2 - 1 46.0 39.7 28.5
285 72 bs cal 1 1 1 1 1 0 f r - - 1 1 1 137.5 46.3
722 191 eq mp 1 1 1 0 0 0 f l 2 - 1 42 46.3 40.0 29.2
722 191 eq pp 1 1 1 0 0 0 f l 2 - 1 71 48.7 45.0 32.5
722 191 eq pp 1 1 1 0 0 0 f r 2 - 1 71 48.8 45.2 32.5
722 191 eq pp 1 1 1 0 0 0 f r 2 - 1 68 49.0 45.0 34.1
722 191 eq pel 1 1 1 1 1 1 f l 2 - 1 60.1 52.2
722 191 eq ast 1 1 1 1 0 0 - r 2 - 1 51 53 44.9
722 191 eq ast 1 1 1 1 0 0 - l 2 - 1 51 54 44.4 52.7
722 191 eq mciii 1 1 1 1 1 1 f r 2 - 1 187 179 43.7 28.6
722 191 eq mciii 1 1 1 1 1 1 f l 2 - 1 187 180 42.8
722 191 eq mtiii 1 1 1 1 1 1 f l 2 - 1 229 223 41.4 39.1
722 191 eq mtiii 1 1 1 1 1 1 f r 2 - 1 229 223 42.8 39.5
722 191 eq hum 1 1 1 1 1 1 f/f r 2 - 1 232 30.8
722 191 eq rad 1 1 1 1 1 1 f/f l 2 - 1 274 71.7 64.2
univariate frequency table

species frequency

cattle 187

sheep 109

pig 78

horse 21

Total 395
 bivariate frequency table

species pits ditches Total

cattle 67 120 187

sheep 63 46 109

pig 41 37 78

horse 3 18 21

Total 174 221 395

 bivariate frequency table

species pits ditches Total

cattle 67 39% 120 54% 187

sheep 63 36% 46 21% 109

pig 41 24% 37 17% 78

horse 3 2% 18 8% 21

Total 174 100% 221 100% 395

 Multivariate

 These tend to operate on a table, or

matrix of items, described in terms
of a set of variables
Pictorial displays for
categorical data
 bar chart
50

45

40

35

30

25
%

20

15

10

0
cattle sheep pig horse
 multiple bar chart
60

50

40

pits
%

30
ditches

20

10

0
cattle sheep pig horse
pie chart
Pictorial displays for
continuous data
 histogram

Hunt's House
6

4
Count

Monkton
6

4
Count

0
4 9.0 5 0.0 5 1.0 5 2.0 5 3.0 5 4.0 5 5.0 5 6.0 5 7.0 5 8.0 5 9.0 6 0.0 6 1.0 6 2.0 6 3.0 6 4.0 6 5.0 6 6.0 6 7.0 6 8.0 6 9.0 7 0.0 7 1.0 7 2.0

Bd (mm)
Basic descriptive statistics:

• mode
• median
• mean
• range
• variance
• standard deviation
pottery fragments (weights in grams):
2, 2, 3, 5, 8
pottery fragments (weights in grams):
2, 2, 3, 5, 8
Mode = 2
 Mode
 Mode is the only way to measure
average/typical in the Nominal class

 If there are two averages then they

are bimodal (1,2,3,3,6,6,7,8,9)

 Three = trimodal, etc.

pottery fragments (weights in grams):
2, 2, 3, 5, 8
Mode = 2

Median = 3
 Median

 Best for ordinal and above

 If the number of variables is even,

you make a number between the two
middle numbers

 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 = 4+5/2=4.5)
pottery fragments (weights in grams):
2, 2, 3, 5, 8
Mode = 2

Median = 3

Mean = (2+2+3+5+8)/5 = 4
 Mean

 The most commonly used average

and, it will only work for interval
and ratio

 It is the most important measure of

position because a lot of further
statistical analyses are based on it
 Conclusion
 It is important to understand that the
mode, median and mean are three quite
different measures of position which can
give three different values when applied to
the same data-set

 2, 2, 3, 5, 8 2, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8

 Mode = 2 2
 Median = 3 4
 Mean = 4 4.333
 The skew

symmetrical

Positive skew Negative skew

Measures of variability – the spread
 pottery fragments (weights in grams):
2, 2, 3, 5, 8

Range =
max – min
8-2=6

• Very simple and of limited use

 variance

key:
 pottery fragments (weights in grams):
2, 2, 3, 5, 8
variance (s2)

s2 =
(Mean = 2=2=3=5=8/5=4)

s =
2 (2-4)2 + (2-4)2 + (3-4)2 +(5-4)2 + (8-4)2
5

s2 = 5.2
 variance

standard deviation
 pottery fragments (weights in grams):
2, 2, 3, 5, 8

variance (s2) = = 5.2

standard deviation =

= (√variance) = √5.2
= 2.28
 Summary
 Variables are measured according to
one of FOUR levels

 Nominal = arbitrary name

 Ordinal = sequence with no distance
 Interval = sequence with fixed distance
 Ratio = sequence with a fixed datum
 Summary
 Measures of position
(average/typical)
• Mode
• Median
• Mean
• Range
• Variance
• Standard Deviation