Glossary

All Other Artifact Attributes are fields in the DAACS database that record variation in artifacts that are not Beads, Buckles, Buttons, Ceramic Vessels, Faunal Remains, Glass Vessels, Utensils, or Tobacco Pipes. All Other Artifact attributes provide detailed information on nails, bricks, window glass, and hundreds of other artifact forms. The following attributes are recorded for All Other Artifacts. Attributes that may have multiple values for a single object are listed in brackets.

Category

Form
Completeness
[Material, Manufacturing Technique]
Nail Head Type
Nail End Type
Nail Modification
Nail Length
Mended
Post Manufacturing Modification
Burned Length
Width
Height
Weight
Marks
Notes
Marks
Conservation
[DecorativeTechnique, AppliedColor, Decoration Notes]
Images
Notes

A complete list of the database authority terms used to characterize discrete attributes for All Other Artifacts can be found in the Database Structure section of the web site. For more information on how DAACS analysts use authority terms and measurements to produce the data on All Other Artifacts, see the DAACS cataloging manuals.

Bead Attributes are fields in the DAACS database that record variation in Beads. The following attributes are recorded for Beads. Attributes that may have multiple values for a single object are shown in brackets.

Completeness
Material
Manufacturing Technique
Structure
Form
Shape
End Treatment
Heat Treated
Color
Number of Facets
Diaphaneity
Post-Manufacturing Modification
Patination
Weathered or Eroded?
Burned
Length
Width
Height
Weight
Size of Perforation I
Size of Perforation II
Mended
Conservation
Images
Notes
[Casing, Layer Color ]
[Decorative Technique, Applied Color, Decorative Notes]

A complete list of the database authority terms used to characterize discrete attributes for Beads can be found in the Database Structure section of the web site. For more information on how DAACS analysts use authority terms and measurements to produce the data on Beads, see the DAACS cataloging manuals.

Buckle Attributes are fields in the DAACS database that record variation in Buckles. The following attributes are recorded for Buckles. Attributes that may have multiple values for a single object are listed in brackets.

Buckle Type
Completeness
Frame Plating
Weight
Marks
Burned
Conservation
Mended
Post-Manufacturing Modification
Images
Notes
[Buckle Part, Manufacturing Technique, Shape, Element, Length, Width]
[Decorative Technique, Decorative Motif]

A complete list of the database authority terms used to characterize discrete attributes for Buckles can be found in the Database Structure section of the web site. For more information on how DAACS analysts use authority terms and measurements to produce the data on Buckles, see the DAACS cataloging manuals.

Button Attributes are fields in the DAACS database that record variation in Buttons. The following attributes are recorded for Buttons. Attributes that may have multiple values for a single object are listed in brackets.

Completeness
Manufacturing Technique
Button Type
Button Shape
Face Material
Material
Button Color
Eye
Shank Style
Shank Material
Shank Condition
Appearance
Burned
Conservation
Post-Manufacturing Modification
Backstamp
Length
Width
Height
Weight
Images
Notes
[Decorative Technique, Jewel/Inlay, Applied Color, Decorative Motif]

A complete list of the database authority terms used to characterize discrete attributes for Buttons can be found in the Database Structure section of the web site. For more information on how DAACS analysts use authority terms and measurements to produce the data on Buttons, see the DAACS cataloging manuals.

Ceramic Attributes are fields in the DAACS database that record variation in Buckles. The following attributes are recorded for Ceramics. Attributes that may have multiple values for a single object are listed in brackets.

Material
Manufacturing Technique
Ware
Vessel Category
Form
Mended Form
Completeness
Exterior Glaze Type
Exterior Color
Interior Glaze Type
Interior Color
Oxidized Vs Reduced
Burned
Post Manufacturing Modification
Pattern Name
Pattern Reference
Stylistic Genre
Base Mark
Base Mark Reference
Base Mark Color
Sherd Thickness
Maximum Sherd Measurement
Sherd Weight
Rim Length
Rim Diameter
Mended Rim Diameter
Images
Notes
Plog Diameter
[Decoration Int/Ext Location, Decorative Technique, Applied Color. Stylistic Element, Decorative Motif ]
[Inclusions]
[Use Wear Location, Use Wear Pattern]

A complete list of the database authority terms used to characterize discrete attributes for Ceramics can be found in the Database Structure section of the web site. For more information on how DAACS analysts use authority terms and measurements to produce the data on Ceramics, see the DAACS cataloging manuals.

A delimited volume of sediment that is excavated and recorded as a single unit and from which any artifacts are given a single provenience designation. For some sites in DAACS, context numbers were assigned by the excavators not only to excavated sediment, but also to the basins or cuts in which the sediments resided.

That portion of a context from which artifacts were retrieved using a specified recovery method; for example, flotation or ¼-inch mesh dry screening.

A multivariate statistical method that estimates the position of a set of assemblages along an underlying gradient or dimension on the basis of the relative frequencies of types in each assemblage. The spacing of the assemblages relative to one another on the gradient is a function of how similar their relative frequencies of types are. Similar assemblages are close to one another. Very different assemblages are far apart. DAACS uses correspondence analysis to seriate assemblages and build intrasite chronologies. Assemblages that are close along the gradient estimated by CA to another are assigned to the same phase. The idea here is that the underlying gradient estimated by CA is correlated with time. When relative frequencies of each type are plotted against the estimated positions of the assemblages, the type frequencies should describe a unimodal, “battleship-shaped” curve.

A deposit type is what forms the major composition of the context. This can be anything from general “fill” to brick-in-course.

One or more contexts that are recognized as a spatially discrete unit. Most features are comprised of the contexts that reside in a single depositional basin and the basin itself; for example, the layers in a single pit or cellar and the cellar walls. Other examples include a posthole’s fill and its mold, or the bricks comprising a foundation wall, the builder’s trench in which the bricks are set, and the fill of the trench. Features are numbered uniquely within sites and carry a F-prefix.

A group of features whose spatial arrangement indicates they are parts of a single structure. For example, a feature group might include all the postholes, subfloor pits, and hearths associated with a single structure. Or a feature group might be comprised of all the postholes associated with a single fence line. Feature Groups are numbered uniquely within sites and carry a FG-prefix.

In DAACS archaeological features have been assigned numbers that are unique to the site at which they were excavated. For those sites where the original excavators assigned numbers to features during excavation, DAACS used those original numbers. For sites where feature numbers were not assigned during excavation, DAACS assigned feature numbers. The latter are distinguished by an F prefix (e.g. F01, F02).

DAACS assigns excavated features to one of the following Feature Types: Animal Hole; Basin formed by post-depositional settling; Brick in Course; Brick Paving; Burial, human; Burned Subsoil; Cellar; Chimney Base; Ditch, other; Dry Well; Floor, brick; Floor, clay; Floor, composite; Floor, marl; Floor, plaster; Floor, stone cobble; Foundation, stone; Gully; Hearth, possible; Hearth, stone; Interior wall, stone; Mechanical Excavator Scar; Midden, shell; Not a Basin/Cut; Pier hole; Pier, brick; Pit, subfloor(< 28 sq.ft); Pit, trash; Pit, unidentified; Planting Bed; Planting Hole; Plowscar; Post, driven; Posthole; Posthole, possible; Postmold; Previous Archaeology; Raised Platform; Road; Root Disturbance; Rubble Scatter; Stake Hole; Tree hole; Tree Stump; Trench, builder’s; Trench, fence; Trench, repair; Trench, robber’s; Trench, unidentified; Trench, utility; Unidentified.

General Artifact Attributes are fields in the DAACS database that record variation in artifacts that are not Beads, Buckles, Buttons, Ceramic Vessels, Faunal Remains, Glass Vessels, Utensils, or Tobacco Pipes. All Other Artifact attributes provide detailed information on nails, bricks, window glass, and hundreds of other artifact forms. The following attributes are recorded for All Other Artifacts. Attributes that may have multiple values for a single object are listed in brackets.

Category Form
Completeness
[Material, Manufacturing Technique]
Nail Head Type
Nail End Type
Nail Modification
Nail Length
Mended
Post Manufacturing Modification
Burned

Length
Width
Height
Weight
Marks
Notes
Marks
Conservation
[DecorativeTechnique, AppliedColor, Decoration Notes]
Images
Notes

A complete list of the database authority terms used to characterize discrete attributes for All Other Artifacts can be found in the Database Structure section of the web site. For more information on how DAACS analysts use authority terms and measurements to produce the data on All Other Artifacts, see the DAACS cataloging manuals.

Glass Attributes are fields in the DAACS database that record variation in Glass vessels. The following attributes are recorded for Glass vessels. Attributes that may have multiple values for a single object are listed in brackets.

Material
Color
Vessel Category
Form
Completeness
Manufacturing Technique
Mold Type
Post Manufacturing Modification
Pontil Type
Total Container Height
Stemware Body Shape
Stemware Foot Shape
Stem Shape
Stem Length
Weathered or Eroded?
Burned
Patination/Solarized
Sherd Size
Sherd Thickness
Sherd Weight
Length of Rim
Rim Diameter
Mended Rim Diameter
Plog Diameter
Conservation
Images
Notes
[Bottle Element, Shape, Manufacturing Technique, Treatment, Height, Diameter]
[Decorative Technique, Applied Color, Stylistic Element]
[Marks, Mark Location]

A complete list of the database authority terms used to characterize discrete attributes for Glass can be found in the Database Structure section of the web site. For more information on how DAACS analysts use authority terms and measurements to produce the data on Glass, see the DAACS cataloging manuals.

A schematic representation of the chronological relationships among the events represented by deposits and the basins in which they sometime reside.

An estimate of the center of gravity of the period over which an assemblage accumulated. Computed as the weighted average of the manufacturing span midpoints for a suite of ceramic types present in an assemblage. The weights are the frequencies of the respective types. This gives greater weight to the manufacturing midpoints of the more frequent types. The formula is Σ(m_if_i)/Σf_i  where m_i is the manufacturing span midpoint for the i’th type and f_i is its frequency. In DAACS, MCDs are computed using mean-ceramic-date types.

Ceramic types used in the computation of mean ceramic dates. In DAACS, MCD types are based on the intersection of ware, decorative technique, and color for individual decorative elements on a sherd. When a single sherd carries multiple decorative elements associated with different MCD types and different beginning and ending manufacturing dates, the sherd is assigned to the MCD type with the shortest manufacturing span.

Phases are groups of assemblages that have similar correspondence-analysis scores and are therefore inferred to be broadly contemporary. Phases are numbered uniquely within sites and carry a P-prefix.

Quadrat IDs are unique identifiers that group all contexts belonging to the same excavation quadrat. They are numbered uniquely within sites and often simply consist of the quadrat or unit number itself.

A site is a spatial cluster of artifacts or other physical traces of past human activity and the surrounding sedimentary matrix. Only sites that have been investigated archaeologically are represented in the DAACS database.

A group of separately excavated contexts that the original excavators of a site recognized were part of a single larger deposit. Stratigraphic groups are numbered uniquely within sites and carry a SG-prefix.

Tobacco Pipe Attributes are fields in the DAACS database that record variation in tobacco pipes. The following attributes are recorded for Tobacco Pipes. Attributes that may have multiple values for a single object are listed in brackets.

Completeness
Material
Paste Color
Inclusions
Manufacturing Technique
Glaze Type
Glaze Color
Post Manufacturing Modification
Bowl Form
Bowl and Base Type
Mouth Piece Form
Stem Length
Exterior Stem Diameter
Bore Diameter, Metric
Bore Diameter, 64ths inch
Bowl Height
Bowl Volume
Maximum Bowl Diameter
Bowl Rim Diameter
Weight Conservation
Images
Notes
[Decorative Motif, Motif Location, Manufacturing Technique, Notes]
[MarkType, Location, Frame Motif, First Name, Last Name, Place Name, Slogan, Notes]

A complete list of the database authority terms used to characterize discrete attributes for Tobacco Pipes can be found in the Database Structure section of the web site. For more information on how DAACS analysts use authority terms and measurements to produce the data on Tobacco Pipes, see the DAACS cataloging manuals.

The terminus post quem of an assemblage – literally the latest date after which it was deposited. The traditional estimate of the TPQ is the latest (or maximum) starting manufacturing date among all the artifacts comprising it. In DAACS, TPQ’s are based on ceramic MCD types.

A robust estimate of an assemblage TPQ based on the 90th percentile of the beginning manufacturing dates for all the artifacts comprising it. If the TPQp90 of an assemblage is 1770, then 90 percent of the artifacts in the assemblage have a beginning manufacturing date before 1770. This measure is less sensitive to excavation errors and taphonomic processes that might introduce a small amount of anomalously late material into an assemblage.

A robust estimate of an assemblage TPQ based on the 95th percentile of the beginning manufacturing dates for all the artifacts comprising it. If the TPQp95 of an assemblage is 1770, then 95 percent of the artifacts in the assemblage have a beginning manufacturing date before 1770. This measure is less sensitive to excavation errors and taphonomic processes that might introduce a small amount of anomalously late material into an assemblage.

Unit Types describe the kind of horizontal control maintained over each context in the DAACS database. The following Unit Types are recognized: Core; Feature; Metal Detector Hit; Not Applicable; Quadrat/Unit; STP; Surface Find; Unnumbered Feature.

Utensil Types are fields in the DAACS database that record variation in Utensils. The following attributes are recorded for Utensils. Attributes that may have multiple values for a single object are listed in brackets.

Completeness
Form
Plating
Handle Decoration
Post Manufacturing Modification
Number of Fork Tines
Presence of Rat Tail
Length
Width
Length
Weight
Burned
Marks
Mended
Conservation
Images
Notes
[Element, Shape, Manufacturing Technique, Material, Length, Width, Height]

A complete list of the database authority terms used to characterize discrete attributes for Utensils can be found in the Database Structure section of the web site. For more information on how DAACS analysts use authority terms and measurements to produce the data on Utensils, see the DAACS cataloging manuals.