Statistics for Archaeologists: A Commonsense Approach

Taking a jargon-free approach, this guidebook introduces the basic principles of statistics to archaeologists. The author covers the necessary techniques for analyzing data collected in the field and laboratory as well as for evaluating the significance of the relationships between variables. In addition, chapters discuss the special concerns of working with samples. This well-illustrated guide features several practice problems making it an ideal text for students in archaeology and anthropology.

In the decade since its publication, the first edition of Statistics for Archaeologists has become a staple in the classroom. Taking a jargon-free approach, this teaching tool introduces the basic principles of statistics to archaeologists. The author covers the necessary techniques for analyzing data collected in the field and laboratory as well as for evaluating the significance of the relationships between variables. In addition, chapters discuss the special concerns of working with samples. This well-illustrated guide features several practice problems making it an ideal text for students in archaeology and anthropology.

Using feedback from students and teachers who have been using the first edition, as well as another ten years of personal experience with the text, the author has provided an updated and revised second edition with a number of important changes. New topics covered include:

-Proportions and Densities
-Error Ranges for Medians
-Resampling Approaches
-Residuals from Regression
-Point Sampling
-Multivariate Analysis
    -Similarity Measures
    -Multidimensional Scaling
    -Principal Components Analysis
    -Cluster Analysis

Those already familiar with the clear and useful format of Statistics for Archaeologists will find this new edition a welcome update, and the new sections will make this seminal textbook an indispensible resource for a whole new group of students, professors, and practitioners.

Praise for the first edition:

"Robert Drennan has done the field a great service." Larry R. Kimball, American Antiquity, Vol 62 (1997).

"There is a great deal to recommend this book.... It is written in an engaging style...and it is consistently focused on the practical problems of archaeological analysis." Robert E. Dewar, SAS Bulletin, July 1997.

"...this book is highly recommended." Gary Lock, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol 101 (1997).

"I will use this book when I teach statistics in the future, and I will gladly recommend it to others." Randall McGuire, Historical Archaeology, Vol 32 (1998).

"an excellent introductory textbook ...introducing complex ideas on statistics to students in a practical, non-threatening way.... [It] will help us to train our students to be better consumers of the statistical analyses they must deal with throughout their careers." Mark Aldendorfer, Journal of Field Archaeology, Vol 25 (1998).