Spatial statistic analysis of dating using pottery: an aid to the characterization of cultural areas in West Central France
Résumé
Obtaining accurate and precise estimated dates is an important objective in archaeology. But characterizing cultural areas and making socio-economic interpretations of archaeological contexts is another important question. In this paper, we briefly present two original statistical models developed to estimate context dates using pottery. Then we compare, for each context, their two possible estimated dates, using tools for spatial point patterns applied to the difference, and provide answers to archaeological issues in the socio-economic domain. The proposed approach is an innovative way to study and better understand economic and even cultural areas. It is applied to the analysis of archaeological contexts in West Central France, based on a large collection of medieval pottery finds.