Abstract
<p class="Abstract"><span lang="EN-US">In this work the application of Bayesian statistics to archaeological problems will be discussed. In particular, three case studies will be analyzed, each presenting complex interpretative scenarios, and the most suitable way to solve them. It will be shown that the Bayesian approach allows to refine a dating when in presence of multiple data, even from different dating techniques. The Bayesian approach is presented as the common language between physicists, archaeologists and statisticians to perform more accurate evaluations on stratigraphies and chronologies.</span></p>
Highlights
Absolute dating has become a powerful tool in archaeology
The Bayesian approach is presented as the common language between physicists, archaeologists and statisticians to perform more accurate evaluations on stratigraphies and chronologies
The selected samples come from three different sections of the structure walls, and the archaeological question was if all the masonries were contemporary or not
Summary
Absolute dating has become a powerful tool in archaeology. The interpretation of the archaeometric data can be sometimes difficult, especially in the case of non-Gaussian probability distributions (e.g. radiocarbon dates). Sometimes scientific analysis results are not univocal and must be interpreted. In absence of an impartial instrument to discriminate data, the degrees of freedom in the choice of the right results is often left to archaeologists and historians. Prior information about analyzed samples and provenance sites are not usually taken into account in real synergy with experimental data and historical studies, giving space to subjective interpretations, sometimes in conflict. In order to overcome this misunderstanding it is important to think about the scientific results as a higher concept than “numbers”, and treat the historical data and clues as mathematical terms of an equation
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