Hello Folks!
 
I'm posting the following for a colleague....
 
Jeannie K. Yang
http://www.wco.com/~genie/
 
 
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geoff carver wrote:
>and if you plot your finds 3D, can you maybe "recreate" strata that way?
 
IMHO, no. At least not with a stratigraphically complex site. It has been
tried unsucessfully (I can supply a reference if anyone is interested.)
 
Since Geoff is interested in other gems from "Thus Spake Ed Harris", I'll
point out that one of the niftyest elements of the matrix is that it
doesn't involve the use of finds--at least initially--to examine your site.
An unannotated matrix is an non-historical description of site structure.
It does not involve itself with the manufacturing dates of pots or other
artifacts (or artefacts, if you'd rather, Geoff) or whether the site is in
Ireland or Oz. As Harris wisely points out, archaeological site structure
is repetitive and predictable, and thus is amenable to this sort of
analysis. It is the history of particular sites that varies from place to
place.
 
Regards to all in HISTARCH land.
 
Adrian Praetzellis
Sonoma State University