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Linking artifact assemblages to household cycles: An example from the Gibbs site

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Abstract

In this essay, a new quantitative method called time sequence analysis is introduced. The method is used to link artifact distributions to family cycles, allowing reconstruction of consumption dynamics across several generations. Information for the study was recovered from excavations conducted at the Gibbs site, a 19th-century farm near Knoxville, Tennessee. Four generations of the Gibbs family occupied the site between 1792 and 1913. The relationship between household cycles and material consumption is measured statistically with correlation tests using time sequence analysis. The analysis results indicate that, given optimum excavation and documentary contexts, artifact assemblages can be linked directly to successive household cycles.

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  1. University of South Carolina, Savannah River Archaeological Research Program South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, New Ellenton, SC, USA, P.O. Box 400, 29809-0400

    Mark D. Groover

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Groover, M.D. Linking artifact assemblages to household cycles: An example from the Gibbs site. Hist Arch 35, 38–57 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03373651

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