Refining collection-unit survey methodology
The Maharal Valley project case study
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5953633 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Y Jaffe (0000-0002-4114-0910), Dmitry D Vasyukov (0000-0002-9142-2481), Gal Barmatov-Paz (0009-0004-3382-752X), R Shimelmitz (0000-0002-0395-9036), Nurit Shtober‐zisu (0000-0002-5711-2586), Michael Lazar (0000-0002-1415-8840), I Patania (0000-0003-3723-0582), Joel Roskin (0000-0003-3031-9605), Shmuel Bar (0009-0004-6101-5641) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 11 |
| Publication date | 2025-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1866-9557 • E-ISSN: 1866-9565 |
| Publisher | Springer Nature (PUBLISHER • SG) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s12520-025-02337-w |
| OpenAlex | W4415757571 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 100 |
Archaeological field surveys frequently rely on collection unit methodologies to map surface artifact distributions across landscapes. While effective in rapidly covering large areas, these methods face persistent limitations that arise from sampling biases and post-depositional histories. The Maharal Valley Project, Israel, tackles these challenges through an innovative integrative framework that strengthens the analytical capabilities of collection unit field surveys. This includes high-resolution, contiguous collection-unit survey integrated with hexagonal tessellation for post-field data standardization as well as considering multiple parameters that influence artifact collection numbers. These steps enable modeling the effects of visibility conditions to adjust artifact counts for sampling biases towards a more accurate exploration of their distribution across time and space (To this end the article is accompanied by substantial methodological detail in the supplementary materials). We further emphasize the importance of incorporating geoarchaeology as an integral part of the survey and, accordingly, excavated several trenches to assess post-depositional processes, aiming to exclude sediment displacement and support the integrity of surface scatters as proxies for ancient activity. The results are discussed in comparison to former work in the southern Levant, highlighting the importance of landscape exploitation and reveal several distinct patterns from the Middle Paleolithic to the Ottoman-period. This integrative framework enhances the analytical power of surface surveys, providing a replicable model for bridging field data collection and spatial analysis in regional archaeological research
Scratching the Surface at Gath
Town and Country in the Southern Carmel
A conceptual model of multi-scale formation processes of open-air Middle Paleolithic sites in the arid Negev desert, Israel
Sampling in Archaeology
Archaeological Survey
Density Estimation for Statistics and Data Analysis
The Siteless Survey
Rectangular and hexagonal grids used for observation, experiment and simulation in ecology
BRMS
A guide to good practice in Mediterranean surface survey projects
Refuse Usage and Architectural Reuse in the Field
Reassessing Surface Artefact Scatters. The Integration of Artefact‐Accurate Fieldwalking with Geophysical Data at Medieval Harbour Sites Near Bruges (Belgium)
Determining the settlement history of Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine sites in the Galilee, Israel
Stone Tools in the Paleolithic and Neolithic Near East
The Political Landscape
The Acheulo-Yabrudian of Jamal Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel
Hongshan households and communities in Neolithic northeastern China
Sovereignty, mobility, and political cartographies in Late Bronze Age southern Caucasia
Changes in regional settlement patterns and the development of complex societies in southeastern Shandong, China
Archaeological surveys in areas with a high density of artefacts
Chert exploitation and environmental awareness of the prehistoric inhabitants of Nahal Me‘arot Caves, Mount Carmel, Israel
Lingjiatan early complex societies and social organization in the Yuxi Valley, China
Surface Artifact Scatters, Data Collection, and Significance
Regression with Archaeological Count Data
Simulating Trial Trenches for Archaeological Prospection
How Does Visibility Count? An Open Data‐Driven Approach to Compare the Use of Ground Visibility in Archaeological Field‐Walking Surveys in the Mediterranean Region
Survey, Shovel Probes, and Population Estimates
Quality Assurance in Archaeological Survey
The Archaeology of Regions
Regional Settlement Pattern Studies
The Hidden Landscape of Prehistoric Greece
Finding Sites in Mediterranean Survey
Siteless Survey and Intensive Data Collection in an Artifact-rich Environment
Assessing visibility and geomorphological biases in regional field surveys
Survey, Shovel Tests and Excavations at Tel 'Eton
Sweep widths and the detection of artifacts in archaeological survey
Mapping archaeometallurgical data of the Iberian Copper Age
A probabilistic framework for assessing spatio-temporal point patterns in the archaeological record
Predictive modeling for archaeological site locations
Our Checkered Past
A Nested Approach to Survey in the Egiin Gol Valley, Mongolia
Parallel Archaeological and Visibility Survey in the Western Lower Papaloapan Basin, Veracruz, Mexico
GIS, Archaeological Survey, and Landscape Archaeology on the Island of Kythera, Greece
The Character of Surface Archaeological Deposits and Its Influence on Survey Accuracy
Multi-Scale and Nested-Intensity Sampling Techniques for Archaeological Survey
Landscapes of Urbanization and De-Urbanization
The Definition of Ancient Manured Zones by Means of Extensive Sherd-Sampling Techniques
Reliability of Archaeological Records on Cultivated Surfaces
Artifact Size and Plowzone Processes
Human adaptation and socioeonomic change in northeast China
Plow-Zone Experiments in Calabria, Italy
Qedesh in the Galilee
Off-Site Scatters and the Manuring Hypothesis in Greek Survey Archaeology
Evaluating the effect of plowing on the archaeological record
Exploring the land
Shallow site archaeology
Redistribution of archaeological assemblages in plowzones
Archaeological Survey in Guadalajara
Surface Stone Artifact Scatters, Settlement Patterns, and New Methods for Stone Artifact Analysis
The Lower to Middle Paleolithic transition and the diversification of Levallois technology in the Southern Levant
The toolkit in the core
Dynamic landscapes, artifact taphonomy, and landuse modeling in the western Mediterranean
An Archaeology of Landscapes
Mapping the Political Landscape
Surveying along the Slopes
The Size Effect
Archaeological Survey Design, Units of Observation, and the Characterization of Regional Variability
Monte Alban's Hinterland, Part I
Agricultural Intensification and the Evidence from Offsite Survey Archaeology
The Harif Point
Lithic raw material acquisition and use by early Homo sapiens at Skhul, Israel
Mediterranean myopia
Between the Carmel and the Sea
The Brown University Petra Archaeological Project
A grave matter
Novel survey methods shed light on prehistoric exploration in Cyprus
Detection Functions for Archaeological Survey
Empirical Bayesian Methods for Archaeological Survey Data
Coastal Shandong, China
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |