The East Isthmia Archaeology Project has developed a methodology that considers both the process of work in the field and the ramifications of that process in subsequent analyses, and that produces data that can be compared with other forms of evidence such as the stratigraphic units from excavation. Using a series of analytical steps, a 'hierarchy of abstractions' (discussed below - see Figure 16), this method incorporates each stage of field work and gives equal weight to the storage, visualisation, and analysis of the evidence in order to create data which can be used to interpret the standing remains and which are, moreover, easily utilised by other methods of research. Our methodology, therefore, is a departure from the standard and often problematic numbering systems for standing architecture; for a discussion of those systems, and some of the inherent problems of their use, see Appendix A. In what follows, we present the step-by-step process we developed to shepherd the archaeological evidence from the field to the database in a way that is efficient and establishes the necessary empirical foundation for the next level of analysis.
© Internet Archaeology/Author(s)
URL: http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue24/3/4.2.2.html
Last updated: Mon Jun 30 2008