Sampling Strategies

Click here if your browser does not support tables.
Systematic Sampling Random Sampling Judgmental Sampling
Site Size=12,000 sq. meters
Site Sample=8.75%
N of Excavation Units=42
Area Excavated=1050 sq. meters
N Pits w/Artifacts=10
% Pits w/Artifacts=23.8
N Recovered Artifacts=70
Site Size=12,000 sq. meters
Site Sample=8.75%
N of Excavation Units=42
Area Excavated=1050 sq. meters
N Pits w/Artifacts=10
% Pits w/Artifacts=23.8
N Recovered Artifacts=70
Site Size=12,000 sq. meters
Site Sample=8.75%
N of Excavation Units=42
Area Excavated=1050 sq. meters
N Pits w/Artifacts=22
% Pits w/Artifacts=52.3
N Recovered Artifacts=140

Discussion

In this hypothetical case, it appears that the Judgmental Sampling Strategy was the most effective. Using this strategy, twice as many pits contained artifacts and twice as many artifacts were recovered. However, the Judgmental sampling strategy only wo rks effectively when there is a reason to choose particular areas for excavation. In this case, the location of surface finds influenced the decision of where to dig. In the real world, archaeologists are not as fortunate in discovering archaeological s ites.

The moral of this story is this: Different conditions in the field influence the kinds of strategies used by archaeologists in discovering sites.

archnet@borealis.lib.uconn.edu