Matrix in the Network: assemblage co-expression networks to unlock meaning in stratigraphic matrices
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 2019-10-14

Stratigraphic, intra-site co-expression networks of artifacts provide a means to assess both the depositional contexts and the significance of differential assemblage patterns. In this paper, I will describe a set of methods that address both compositional and spatial natures of site assemblages in order to parse the information from excavated components into interpretable sub-assemblages. The results of these methods allow not only an automated consociation of excavated components with which to reconstruct the depositional stratigraphic matrix, but also to consolidate the association networks of artifacts into interpretable sub-assemblages.

(James Scott Cardinal)