Method and theory of archaeological spatio-temporal analysis

Abstract

Much has been written about spatial analysis, temporal analysis and spatio-temporal analysis of archaeological material. The methods and theories of spatial analysis are a well trodden path, with considerable literature. The methods and theories of temporal analysis are less copious, although there is still a not insignificant quantity of research, weighted slightly more toward the theory than the method. Spatio-temporal analysis can not stake a claim in both of these traditions, it is not the union, but the intersection. Such analysis is required to consider both the spatial and the temporal dimension of the material being analysed. This thesis evaluates the status quo of the methods and theories of spatio-temporal analysis. It examines current approaches to spatio-temporal analysis through the essential components of theory, method and tools. Following this are two case studies, of very different scales of data set and analysis, drawing on different intellectual traditions within archaeology. The first study, of Hambledon Hill, demonstrates the application of spatio-temporal analysis to a single site, by enhancing the bayesian modelling of the dates. The second study, of the spread of the Neolithic across central and western Europe, takes a continental scale data set and suggests new spatio-temporal methods of analysis. All archaeological data, sites and processes operate over both space and time, it is therefore inherently a spatio-temporal discipline. Only through combined analysis can such resources be fully analysed, their full potential to tell us about the past revealed. This thesis identifies the complexities and limitations with current approaches for such combined analysis. It offers instead extensions to existing methods and novel forms of spatio-temporal analysis. It demonstrates that such analysis is equally applicable to small and large scale studies and is not the preserve of individual intellectual traditions. This thesis is about getting the most out of archaeological data.