Faculty Publications

Representativity Of The Midwestern Paleoindian Sample

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book/Conference Title

North American Archaeologist

Volume

25

Issue

2

First Page

189

Last Page

212

Abstract

Knowing Midwestern Paleoindians from archaeological evidence requires due regard for the record's quality as a sample. How big is it? How much of it do we have? How representative is this sample by size and composition? Estimating Cowgill's "physical-finds population"; partly from the existing sample, I gauge "representativity"; of the Midwestern Paleoindian record. Yes, the sample is small and biased, but representativity is no counsel of despair that available evidence is hopelessly corrupted. Instead, it identifies better data-collection methods and is a necessary prelude to intelligent synthesis. © 2004, Baywood Publishing Co., Inc.

Department

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology

Original Publication Date

12-1-2004

DOI of published version

10.2190/RC4Y-5T2E-4L7X-22FB

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