StoneFlakes

Donated on 5/19/2014

Stone flakes are waste products of the stone tool production in the prehistoric era. The variables are means of geometric and stylistic features of the flakes contained in different inventories.

Dataset Characteristics

Multivariate

Subject Area

Other

Associated Tasks

Classification, Clustering, Causal-Discovery

Feature Type

Real

# Instances

79

# Features

-

Dataset Information

Additional Information

Background information: The data set concerns the earliest history of mankind. Prehistoric men created the desired shape of a stone tool by striking on a raw stone, thus splitting off flakes, the waste products of the crafting process. Archaelogists do not find many tools, but they do find flakes. The data set is about these flakes. Its rows do not stand for single flakes but for whole inventories of them. The given features are relative frequencies of binary, and mean values of numerical characteristics taken over all pieces found in the inventory. A question related to the data set is: Does the data reflect the technological progress during several hundred thousand years? Annotation: The columns below stand for the identifier of the inventory, a group defined by the archaeologists mainly by age and hominid type (1=Lower Paleolithic, Homo ergaster?, oldest; 2=Levallois technique; 3=Middle Paleolithic, probably Neanderthals; 4=Homo sapiens, youngest), age of the stone artefacts (millennia, not to be taken too seriously), mode of dating (geological=more accurate, typological), stone material (1=flint, 2=other), region (mit=Central Germany, d=Non-Central Germany, eur=Europe without Germany), site (1=gravel pit, 0=other), number of finds in inventory. ID group age dating mat region site number ------------------------------------------- ar 3 -120 geo 2 d 0 34 arn 2 -200 typo 1 mit 1 5 be 2 -200 typo 1 mit 1 331 bi1 1 -300 geo 1 mit 0 4111 bi2 1 -300 geo 2 mit 0 77 bie 2 -200 geo 1 mit 1 8 bn 2 -200 typo 1 mit 1 25 bo 2 -200 geo 1 d 1 211 by 2 -200 typo 1 mit 1 8 c 3 -80 geo 1 mit 1 50 cl 1 -300 geo 1 eur 1 134 d 2 -200 geo 1 mit 1 104 e1 3 -120 geo 1 mit 0 772 e2 3 -120 geo 2 mit 0 215 ey 2 -200 geo 1 mit 1 356 fli 1 ? ? 1 mit ? 119 g10 3 -80 geo 1 d 0 38 g11 3 -80 geo 1 d 0 122 g2 3 -80 geo 1 d 0 614 g4 3 -80 geo 1 d 0 60 g5 3 -80 geo 1 d 0 57 g6 3 -80 geo 1 d 0 104 ga1 3 -80 geo 1 mit 0 418 ga2 3 -80 geo 2 mit 0 44 goe 3 -120 geo 1 mit 0 21 gra 3 -120 geo 1 mit 0 7 gro 1 -300 geo 1 mit 1 11 gue 2 -200 typo 1 mit 1 95 hey 2 -200 typo 1 mit 1 56 hu 2 -200 geo 1 mit 1 71 hx 2 -200 geo 1 eur 0 135 ka 3 -80 geo 1 mit 0 270 kb 3 -80 geo 1 mit 0 506 kc 3 -80 geo 1 mit 0 190 l 3 -120 geo 1 mit 0 20 li 3 -80 geo 1 mit 0 140 lue 2 -200 geo 1 mit 1 651 m 2 -200 geo 1 mit 1 2717 mar 1 -300 geo 1 mit 1 16 ml 1 -300 typo 1 mit 1 62 mr 2 -200 typo 1 mit 1 107 ms 2 -200 typo 1 mit 1 17 n 3 -120 geo 1 mit 0 256 nie 2 -200 typo 1 mit 1 55 pb 3 -80 geo 1 mit 0 291 r 3 -120 geo 1 mit 0 102 r1 3 -80 typo 1 d 1 270 r3 3 -80 typo 1 d 1 315 reh 2 -200 geo 1 mit 1 36 roe 3 -80 geo 1 mit 1 104 s1 3 -80 geo 1 d 0 159 s2 3 -80 geo 1 d 0 299 s4 3 -80 geo 1 d 0 153 s5 3 -80 geo 1 d 0 100 sa1 4 -40 geo 1 eur 0 65 sa2 4 -40 geo 1 eur 0 370 sa3 4 -40 geo 1 eur 0 430 san 1 ? ? 1 mit ? 103 sk 2 -200 geo 2 d 0 126 sm 3 -80 geo 1 d 0 180 so 3 -80 geo 1 d 0 366 sz 2 -200 typo 1 d 1 308 t1 3 -120 geo 1 mit 0 395 t2 3 -120 geo 2 mit 0 58 ta 2 -130 geo 2 d 0 59 tb 3 -80 geo 1 d 0 42 v1 1 -400 geo 1 eur 0 120 v2 1 -400 geo 2 eur 0 208 va 2 -200 geo 1 mit 1 5 w1 3 -120 geo 1 mit 0 537 w2 3 -120 geo 2 mit 0 24 wd 1 -300 geo 1 mit 1 727 we 3 -80 geo 1 mit 0 338 wl 2 -200 typo 2 mit 1 315 wn 1 -300 geo 1 mit 1 39 woe 1 -300 geo 1 mit 1 20 wol 2 -200 geo 1 mit 1 218 wst 2 -200 typo 2 mit 1 69 z 2 -200 geo 1 mit 0 214

Has Missing Values?

Yes

Variables Table

Variable NameRoleTypeDemographicDescriptionUnitsMissing Values
no
no
no
no
no
no
no
no

0 to 8 of 8

Additional Variable Information

LBI: Length-breadth index of the striking platform RTI: Relative-thickness index of the striking platform WDI: Width-depth index of the striking platform FLA: Flaking angle (the angle between the striking platform and the splitting surface) PSF: platform primery (yes/no, relative frequency) FSF: Platform facetted (yes/no, relative frequency) ZDF1: Dorsal surface totally worked (yes/no, relative frequency) PROZD: Proportion of worked dorsal surface (continuous) LBI, RTI, WDI, FLA, and PROZD are averages, PSF, FSF, and ZDF1 are relative frequencies

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Creators

Thomas Weber

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