Appendix C: Quality Assurance Tables

Advances in Archaeological Practice, 2014

Issues of social and economic inequality are increasingly becoming areas of study for archaeologists; however, little work has been done on the uniform application of analytical methods. Here we assess the use of the Gini index for determining wealth inequality in eight Prehispanic central Mexican contexts. We analyze house size at the Late Postclassic sites of Capilco (village), Cuexcomate (town), and Yautepec (city), all in the state of Morelos. Agricultural field sizes for two communities described in a Nahuatl-language census immediately after the Spanish conquest are also analyzed. Our final context is the Xolalpan phase apartment compounds at Teotihuacan. Using these case studies we discuss methodological issues concerning the use of Gini indices to infer social inequality with archaeological data. We find that the Gini index, when applied following the proposed methodological standards, serves as a useful tool for the quantification of inequality across multiple archaeological case studies.

Nato Science Series: IV: Earth and Environmental Sciences, 2006

h t t p : / / w w w . j o h n m a r t i n . c o m / r e s e a r c h

Scientific Reports, 2019

Considerable taxonomic diversity has been recognised among early Miocene catarrhines (apes, Old World monkeys, and their extinct relatives). However, locomotor diversity within this group has eluded characterization, bolstering a narrative that nearly all early catarrhines shared a primitive locomotor repertoire resembling that of the well-described arboreal quadruped Ekembo heseloni. Here we describe and analyse seven catarrhine capitates from the Tinderet Miocene sequence of Kenya, dated to ~20 Ma. 3D morphometrics derived from these specimens and a sample of extant and fossil capitates are subjected to a series of multivariate comparisons, with results suggesting a variety of locomotor repertoires were present in this early Miocene setting. One of the fossil specimens is uniquely derived among early and middle Miocene capitates, representing the earliest known instance of great ape-like wrist morphology and supporting the presence of a behaviourally advanced ape at Songhor. We suggest Rangwapithecus as this catarrhine’s identity, and posit expression of derived, ape-like features as a criterion for distinguishing this taxon from Proconsul africanus. We also introduce a procedure for quantitative estimation of locomotor diversity and find the Tinderet sample to equal or exceed large extant catarrhine groups in this metric, demonstrating greater functional diversity among early catarrhines than previously recognised.

The circulation and exchange of goods and resources at various scales have long been considered central to the understanding of complex societies, and the Andes have provided a fertile ground for investigating this process. However, long-standing archaeological emphasis on typological analysis, although helpful to hypothesize the direction of contacts, has left important aspects of ancient exchange open to speculation. To improve understanding of ancient exchange practices and their potential role in structuring alliances, we examine material exchanges in northwest Argentina (part of the south-central Andes) during 400 BC to AD 1000 (part of the regional Formative Period), with a multianalytical approach (petrography, instrumental neutron activation analysis, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) to artifacts previously studied separately. We assess the standard centralized model of interaction vs. a decentralized model through the largest provenance database available to date in the region. The results show: (i) intervalley heterogeneity of clays and fabrics for ordinary wares; (ii) intervalley homogeneity of clays and fabrics for a wide range of decoratedwares (e.g., painted Ciénaga); (iii) selective circulation of two distinct polychrome wares (Vaquerías and Condorhuasi); (iv) generalized access to obsidian from one major source and various minor sources; and (v) selective circulation of volcanic rock tools from a single source. These trends reflect the multiple and conflicting demands experienced by people in small-scale societies, which may be difficult to capitalize by aspiring elites. The study undermines centralized narratives of exchange for this period, offering a new platform for understanding ancient exchange based on actual material transfers, both in the Andes and beyond.

Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research, 2000

Vol. 24 -N°1 p . 8 7 -1 3 3

Http Dx Doi Org 10 5172 Mra 2010 4 2 138, 2014

The purpose of this paper is to address and test two assumptions on which csQCA is based, namely that csQCA will generate contradictions and low consistency scores if models are ill-specified. The first part of the paper introduces csQCA in general and as a stepwise approach. In a second part a real-life example is introduced with the purpose of illustrating how csQCA operates and as an input for a simulation in the subsequent part. The third part introduces contradictions, consistency, their interrelatedness and the assumptions which are made with regard to contradictions and consistency. Subsequently the assumptions are tested via a simulation on the basis of a csQCA analysis of over 5 million random datasets. The paper argues that researchers cannot always assume that csQCA will generate contradictions or low consistency scores when models are ill-specified. Such an assumption is only justified when csQCA applications take limitations with regard to model specification (the number of conditions and the number of cases) into account. Benchmark tables for model specification purposes are developed. Since these tables are based on a probability value of 0.5 the paper also tests the results for contradictions and consistency for the probabilities which were present in a real-life example. This test shows that the 0.5 probability generates an appropriate measure for the occurrence of contradictions and consistency indicating that the benchmark tables can be used for different applications with different distributions of 0's and 1's in the conditions and outcomes. The paper ends with a conclusion.

2009

This Open File provides the results of a study of detrital mineralogy in Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous rocks from 26 wells in the Scotian Basin. It provides a database for understanding the provenance of sandstones in different parts of the Scotian Basin, which can be used as an exploration tool for sandstone reservoir distribution. Detrital minerals play an important role in influencing diagenesis and hence reservoir quality.

The Astrophysical …, 1999

We present new high-resolution near-infrared observations in the J, H, and K bands, obtained to study the properties of Seyfert host galaxies. The data set consists of images in the three bands of practically the entire CfA sample of Seyfert galaxies, and K-band images of a control ...

Chemistry Central Journal, 2013

Background: Anthropogenic activities introduce materials increasing levels of many dangerous substances for the environmental quality and being hazardous to human health. Major attention has been given to those elements able to alter the environment and endanger human health. The airborne particulate matter pollutant is considered one of the most difficult task in environmental chemistry for its complex composition and implications complicating notably the behavior comprehension. So, for investigating deeply the elemental composition we used two nuclear techniques, Neutron Activation Analysis and Photon Activation Analysis, characterized by high sensitivity, precision and accuracy. An important task has been devoted to the investigation of Quality Control (QC) and Quality Assurance (QA) of the methodology used in this study. This study was therefore extended as far back as possible in time (from 1965 until 2000) in order to analyze the trend of airborne concentration of pollutant elements in connection with the industrial and lifestyle growth during the entire period. Results: Almost all the elements may be attributed to long-range transport phenomena from other natural and/or anthropogenic sources: this behavior is common to all the periods studied even if a very light decreasing trend can be evidenced from 1970 to 2002. Finally, in order to investigate a retrospective study of elements in PM10 and their evolution in relationship with the natural or anthropogenic origins, we have investigated the Enrichment Factors. The study shows the EF trends for some elements in PM10 during four decades.