PEDREGAL DATASET: CERAMIC COUNTS

Ceramic Counts and Weights by Contexts

The data files CERAMICCOUNTS.TXT and CERAMICCOUNTS.XLS provide ceramic counts and weights by context and type. CERAMICCOUNTS.TXT is an ASCII text file, and CERAMICCOUNTS.XLS contains the same data in the form of an Excel spreadsheet. Each line represents one context. There are 797 lines in the text file, each with 30 variables separated by commas. The variables are, in the following order:

1	Context
2	Number. Bag number. In a few cases, two bags from the same context were combined; both bags are listed (e.g. 237-247).
3	Sector. Designates the sector of the site (A-E).
4	Area. Designates specific areas within each sector.
5	Unit. Designates excavation unit (1-6) or test pit (PP1-33).
6	Feature. Designates discrete features (hearths, postholes, storage pits, etc) within units.
7	Level. For non-feature contexts, designates the natural level beginning with the surface (00). For feature contexts, designates the natural level within the feature.
8	Material. Denotes material—either CE (ceramic) or MT (soil sample). Soil samples were recovered from every excavated context (see dissertation for more detail on soil sampling protocol). Soil sample volumes were calculated separately from excavated volumes so ceramics from soil samples and excavated contexts are presented separately here to facilitate calculation of densities.
9	Sherd count. Total number of sherds.
10	Total weight (g). Total weight of sherds in grams.
11	Nondiagnostic count. Number of nondiagnostic sherds.
12	Nondiagnostic weight (g). Weight of all nondiagnostic sherds in grams.
13	Nondiagnostic tinaja weight (g). Weight of nondiagnostic tinaja sherds in grams. While sherds were considered nondiagnostic if they lacked rims, bases, decoration, or other diagnostic attributes, sherds from large, thick-walled tinajas were identifiable. The weight was calculated as a separate variable to identify potential bias in sherd weight as a standardizing variable, since collections with a few large tinaja sherds would weigh substantially more than collections with no such sherds.
14	Diagnostic count. Number of diagnostic sherds.
15	Diagnostic weight (g). Weight of all diagnostic sherds in grams.
16	Olla weight (g). Weight of olla sherds.
17	Bowl weight (g). Weight of bowl (tazon) sherds.
18	Tinaja weight (g). Weight of tinaja (large storage vessel) sherds.
19	Jar weight (g). Weight of jar sherds.
20	Plate weight (g). Weight of plate sherds.
21	Paleteado weight (g). Weight of paleteado (paddle-stamped) sherds.
22	Other weight (g). Weight of other diagnostics.
23	Grater weight (g.). Weight of grater (rallador) sherds.
24	Olla count. Number of olla sherds.
25	Bowl count.
26	Jar count.
27	Tinaja count.
28	Plate count.
29	Grater count.
30	Other count.

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

0,10,D,0,0,0,0,CE,29,1336,20,920,434,9,416,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,9

This indicates that the data pertain to contex 0, bag number 10, sector D, area 0, unit 0, feature 0, level 0. The material is ceramic with a total sherd count of 29 and a total weight of 1336 grams. There are 20 nondiagnonstic sherds, which weight 920 grams. The nondiagnostic tinaja weight is 434 grams. The bag also contains 9 diagnostic sherds, which weight 416 grams. All nine of these diagnosic sherds were classified as "other."

The last, or 797th, line of the ASCII text file is:

678,9,E,4,RS-9,0,0,CE,16,639,14,520,0,2,119,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,2

This indicates that the data pertain to contex 678, bag number 9, sector E, area 4, unit RS-9, feature 0, level 0. The material is ceramic with a total sherd count of 16 and a total weight of 639 grams. There are 14 nondiagnonstic sherds, which weight 520 grams. The nondiagnostic tinaja weight is 0 grams. The bag also contains 2 diagnostic sherds, which weight 119 grams. Both of these diagnosic sherds were classified as "other."

Download the file CERAMICCOUNTS.TXT (57 KB) or the file CERAMICCOUNTS.XLS (247 KB).

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