Tel Dor Excavation Project


Tel Dor office
Institute of Archaeology
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Mt. Scopus 91950
Jerusalem, Israel
dorproj@mail.huji.ac.il
Tel. +972 (0)2 5881304

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Computerized artefact analysis

(Archaeomath)

bowl opens new avenues for the classification and typology of ceramic assemblages, which are the most widespread finds at any ancient site postdating the invention of pottery. Our goal is to develop new tools and methods for typology, classification and comparative analyses on a computer-aided basis.

These will hopefully replace the traditional methods of pottery analysis which are subjective and qualitative, and cannot cope with a large volume of data.
We convert the standard drawings which appear in ceramic tables of archaeological reports (top figure) to functions which are their mathematical equivalent (bottom figure). These serve as the basis of subsequent analysis, where we sort the assemblages according to types, find parallels between assemblages, compute volumes, and in general provide objective and quantitative tools for typological research.

This project is being carried out at the Weizmann Institue of Science, by Avsahlom Karasik under the supervision of Prof. Uzy Smilansky, in collaboration with Prof. Ilan Sharon and Dr. Ayelet Gilboa. It receives support from the "bikura" program of the Israel Science Foundation. function