A Statistical Examination Of Caddoan Vessel Design And Shape From The Ben Mckinney Site,Marion County,Texas

Abstract

The statistical analysis reported here was done to set mathematical criteria for typologies of Caddoan ceramics. A fifty-vessel sample was analyzed through contingency table analysis, factor analysis, and canonical analysis to isolate design variables that would be statistically valid for assigning vessels to established types and to delineate statistically significant relationships between design attributes and vessel shape. Further work on this project canbe expected to establish a numerical method for ceramic typology for archeologists working in the Caddo area.