The new course – Modern quantitative methods and shape analysis in archaeology – will take place at the Departement of archaeology at the University of Hradec Králové in spring 2019 and 2020.
The aim of the course is to apprehend to quantitatively express and process the information about the shape of archaeological artefacts. Students will be familiarised with the traditional and modern geometric morphometrics methods (2D/3D landmark analysis, analyses of open or closed contours, etc.). An essential part of the course will be devoted to the recent shape acquisition techniques (3D scanning, photogrammetry, etc.), followed the statistical treatment of the morphometric data. At the end of the course, students should be able to choose an appropriate method to solve variety of archaeological questions concerning various artefact productions (stone, ceramic, metal), dated to diverse chronological periods.
ed axes dating to the Middle Bronze Age (1650–1350 BC) is very complex. Many types of axe have been identified, some of which have numerous variant forms. In the current French terminology, all axes are divided into two generic groups: namely “Atlantic” (Atlantique) and “Eastern” (Orientale). Each of these generic groups, however, is highly polymorphic, so that it is often very difficult for the operator to classify individual axes with absolute confidence and certainty. In order to overcome such problems, a new shape classification is proposed, using morphometric analysis (Elliptic Fourier Analysis) followed by unsupervised model-based clustering and discriminant analysis, both based on Gaussian mixture modelling. Together, these methods produce a clearer pattern, which is independently validated by the spatial distribution of the findings, and multinomial scan statistics. This approach is fast, reproducible, and operator-independent, allowing artefacts of unknown membership to be classified rapidly. The method is designed to be amendable by the introduction of new artefacts, in the light of future discoveries. This method can be adapted to suit many other archaeological artefacts, providing information about the material, social and cultural relations of ancient populations.
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