Z

Abstract

Paleolithic archaeologists have been recording the three-dimensional coordinates of excavated artifacts for several decades. These data, however, have been put to limited use. Z, or absolute elevation, in particular, is seldom used in analysis despite the fact that it speaks most directly to one of the more important areas of research we have—namely, behavioral change through time. This article addresses this deficiency in two ways. First, it examines the way in which we record elevations. The point is made that the elevations returned by high-resolution recording systems like total stations provide behavioral and site formation data that traditional recording systems are probably incapable of capturing. Second, elevation data from two Middle Paleolithic sites are used to examine changes in behavioral factors that structure the archaeological record and that apparently take place independent of changes in factors which structure the geological record. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.