Comparative Archaeology Database, University of Pittsburgh
URL: http://www.cadb.pitt.edu
Email: cadb@pitt.edu

Chifeng Settlement Dataset
Chifeng International Collaborative Archaeological Research Project

Listing of Excavation Units

The data files EXCUNITS.TXT and EXCUNITS.XLS contain data on all excavation units from the stratigraphic testing. The stratigraphic positions of these excavation units are provided in the stratigraphic profiles section of the dataset. EXCUNITS.TXT is a comma delimited ASCII text file, which should be easy to import into spreadsheet, database, and statistical programs for manipulation and analysis. EXCUNITS.XLS contains the same data in the form of an Excel spreadsheet which is easier to browse, and can also be imported into many programs. Each line in the data files represents one excavation unit. There are 761 lines, each with 6 variables separated by commas. The variables are, in the following order:

1 Site--one of the two sites tested: either 342 or 674
2 Excavation unit number--a three-digit number designating the excavation unit itself (sequential beginning with 1 for each site)
3 Key--a combination of the site number, "X", and the excavation unit number for a unique text string that identifies each excavation unit (corresponds to the key that identifies the excavation unit in the tables detailing different classes of materials recovered in the stratigraphic tests)
4 Test--the letter assigned to the stratigraphic test where the excavation unit was located (see maps of sites 342 and 674 in the stratigraphic profiles section of the dataset for test locations)
5 Stratum--the number of the stratigraphic unit to which the excavation unit was finally assigned (numbered sequentially from top to bottom--strata combine multiple excavation units, see the stratigraphic profiles section of this dataset)
6 Period--chronological period to which the excavation unit and its entire stratum were finally assigned

The first line of the ASCII text file, for example, looks like this:

342,1,342X001,C,1,Mixed

This means that the unit belongs to site 342, and the excavation unit number is 1. Together, these two values produce the key designation 342X001. The stratigraphic test where the excavation unit was located is C, and the excavation unit was assigned to stratum 1 of this test. The chronological period is "mixed."

The last, or 761st line of the ASCII text file is:

674,197,674X197,C,,See C profile

This means that the unit belongs to site 674, and the excavation unit number is 197. Together, these two values produce the key designation 674X197. The stratigraphic test where the excavation unit was located is C, and the excavation unit was not directly assigned to a stratum since it is a pollen sample. For this same reason, the reader is refered to the C profile illustration in the stratigraphic profiles section of the datase.

Click here to download the file EXCUNITS.TXT (21 KB) or the file EXCUNITS.XLS (81 KB).


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