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Designing a Sample of Cores to Estimate the Number of Features at a Site

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2017

Paul Welch
Paul Welch*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, 1000 Faner Drive, Carbondale, IL 62901 (pwelch@siu.edu)
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Abstract

Previous literature dealing with designing samples of points on a grid focuses on finding all the targets in a sample area, as would be the case when shovel-testing to discover features or sites within an impact zone. That goal will be achieved most efficiently using offset-square or hexagonal grid patterns. However, if the goal is to estimate the number of features based on a probability sample, the optimum design is actually a square grid with a grid interval greater than the target diameter. This surprising but welcome result is due to the interaction of several nonlinear relationships between the grid interval, the target size, the number of sample points, and the probability of intersecting a feature, combined with the fact that square grids can avoid edge-effect biases more efficiently than the other designs. The square also requires the lowest total travel time. Substantial additional cost-efficiency can be gained by using a cluster design with at least five clusters.

La literatura anterior, relacionada con el diseño de muestras de puntos en una retícula, se centra en localizar todos los objetivos en un área muestreada, como es el caso de pozos de sondeo para descubrir elementos o sitios dentro de una zona de impacto. Esa meta se lograría de manera eficiente usando retículas en forma de triángulos isósceles y equiláteros. Sin embargo, si el objetivo es estimar el número de elementos basados en una muestra probabilística, el diseño óptimo es en realidad una retícula cuadrada con un intervalo mayor que el diámetro del objetivo. Este resultado sorprendente, pero esperado, se debe a la interacción de varias relaciones no lineales entre el intervalo de la cuadrícula, el tamaño del objetivo, el número de puntos muestreados, y la probabilidad de intersectar un elemento, combinado con el hecho de que las retículas cuadradas pueden evitar los efectos de los sesgos en los márgenes más eficientemente que otro tipo de diseños. El cuadrado también requiere el menor tiempo de recorrido. La eficiencia de los costos se puede añadir sustancialmente al utilizar un diseño agrupado con cinco grupos por lo menos.

Type
Research Article
Information
Advances in Archaeological Practice , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , August 2013 , pp. 47 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2013

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