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

San Ramón de Alajuela Settlement Dataset
Mauricio Murillo Herrera

Ceramic Densities

The data files DENSITIES.TXT and DENSITIES.XLS contain data on the counts and densities of ceramic material for each collection lot (by period). DENSITIES.TXT is an ASCII text file; DENSITIES.XLS contains the same data in the form of an Excel spreadsheet. Each line represents one collection lot. There are 816 lines in the text file, each with 12 variables separated by commas. The variables are, in the following order:

1

Lot Number

2

Area of collection (m²)

3

Cartago sherd count

4

Curridabat sherd count

5

Pavas sherd count

6

Barva sherd count

7

Total sherds

8

Surface sherd density (sherds/m²)

9

Cartago sherd density (sherds/m²)

10

Curridabat sherd density (sherds/m²)

11

Pavas sherd density (sherds/m²)

12

Barva sherd density (sherds/m²)

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

1,12.56,17,0,0,0,17,1.354,1.354,0.000,0.000,0.000

This indicates that the data pertains to collection lot 1, in which a systematic collection with an area of 12.56 m² yielded a total of 17 Cartago sherds, 0 Curridabat sherds, 0 Pavas sherds, and 0 Barba sherds. Hence, there are 17 total sherds. These counts yield a total sherd surface density of 1.354 sherds/m², which when broken down by phase are 1.354 Cartago sherds/m², 0 Curridabat sherds/m², 0 Pavas sherds/m², and 0 Barva sherds/m².

The last, or 816th, line of the ASCII text file is:

816,400.00,2,2,0,0,4,0.010,0.005,0.005,0.000,0.000

This indicates that the data pertains to collection lot 816, in which a systematic collection in a lot with an area of 400.00 m² yielded a total of 2 Cartago sherds, 2 Curridabat sherds, 0 Pavas sherds, and 0 Barba sherds. Hence, there are 4 total sherds. These counts yield a total sherd surface density of 0.010 sherds/m², which when broken down by phase are 0.005 Cartago sherds/m², 0.005 Curridabat sherds/m², 0 Pavas sherds/m², and 0 Barva sherds/m².

Click here to download the file DENSITIES.TXT (43 KB) or the file DENSITIES.XLS (130 KB).


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