Distribution

Simply, the spatial location of archaeological sites or artifacts. More specifically, a definition of the spatial location of artifacts, structures, or settlement types over a landscape. Analysis of the distribution of a particular artifact type may lead to conclusions about the nature of the industry or culture which produced or used it. The distribution of objects is studied by the plotting of an artifact's find-places on a distribution map. This is the visual representation of the distribution of some archaeologically significant trait or traits. The relationship of the find-spot symbols to the natural environment may reveal something about communication networks, economic subsystem, cultural or technological entities. The distribution map should show the extent of a culture of which the traits are distinctive, outlying occurrences being explained by diffusion, especially if spread along natural routes. The origin of more localized traits may be defined. The overlaying of one trait on another may suggest association or sequence, while mutually exclusive distributions can imply contemporaneity. The emphasis is on individual parts of archaeological deposits rather than on the site as a unit.

This term is used in two different ways in archaeology. (1) In general it refers to the spatial location of archaeological sites or artefacts. These are usually plotted on one or more distribution maps, which are used in a number of ways. For instance, they may simply indicate the spatial extent of the items in question, or they may be used to indicate the distribution of material from a source, or to suggest relationships between one archaeological feature and another or between archaeological features and topography or other aspects of the natural environment. (2) The second use of the term relates to statistics. In this context distribution refers to the way in which values of variables are spread throughout a group of cases, objects or items. Distributions for one variable are easily represented by histograms (bar-charts). It is, however, just as possible to have a distribution for two, three or many more variables (see MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS).