数据科学在旧石器考古学中的应用

从考古学诞生之初,对抽象数据的解读与分析就一直伴随。对于旧石器考古学而言,“人工制品”成为了传达史前物质文化信息的主要载体,对人工制品中所提取的数据进行科学解读,成为了复原古代人类历史的关键步骤。数据科学在旧石器考古学中的应用具有三个主要因素,分别是数理统计学、计算机应用,以及旧石器考古学的基础数据与核心科学问题以及理论知识,即采用某种或多种逻辑将旧石器考古学领域的数据进行基于计算机平台的数理统计,并借助计算机语言对庞大的数据进行快速计算,从而帮助我们解释和重建史前人类社会。在目前的旧石器考古学领域,研究者们已经不再满足于对标本所进行的基础的描述性信息统计,对数据进行科学的处理并系统解读的诉求前所未有的强烈,这种诉求不断推动着学科的发展,深化了我们原本对史前社会的认识,甚至开拓出了新的研究领域,极大地推动了旧石器考古学的发展。本文就数据科学的概念、技术路线,以及在旧石器考古学中的应用历史与发展前景做详细介绍,希望通过系统性的梳理,使更多读者熟悉相关的研究手段与具体技术,使更多考古学者对数据科学的应用产生兴趣,从而应用于相关的项目研究中。

Data science in Paleolithic Archaeology

The examination and interpretation to the abstract data has been going since the born of Archaeology. In terms of Paleolithic Archaeology, artifact is considered as the main carrier to convey the prehistoric material and cultural information, and the scientific interpretation of the data extracted from the artifacts has become a key step in the restoration of ancient human history. Data science is the science of dealing with data, which was proposed since 1960s by computer scientist. This discipline has been applied in Archaeological studies within a context of rapid development of computer science and New Archaeology trend since later part of 20th century, especially in Paleolithic branch, which refers to natural science research avenues. According to the definition of data science, the application of this discipline in Paleolithic Archaeology could be summarized as a study of Archaeological data by statistic and mathematical method, with the help of computer program and language, and aiming at the interpretation and reconstruction of prehistoric human society. In this paper, we review the associated definitions and research history, and introduce the main areas of data science which have already engaged with Paleolithic Archaeology research.