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Chapter 6: Interpreting Spatial Data
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A third important aspect of the research at Pech IV is to document the exact position of all cultural materials (animal bones and stone artifacts) that are larger than 2.5 centimeters in size. We do this by using a total station, which is a theodolite with a built-in electronic distance meter. The excavator holds a prism on the spot where the animal bone or stone artifact has been found. The total station emits a laser beam that bounces off the prism and is reflected back to it. The instrument then calculates the X, Y, and Z coordinates of that spot, and this information is transferred to a small computer that we have attached to it.
Twice a day we download all the points recorded by the total station into our main computer database. This information allows us to plot the position of all these objects in 3-D space. There are two main ways that we can look at how artifacts group together. The first of these is a profile view. Here we can see if artifacts are clustered together in discrete layers. 
We can also make the location points for the stone artifacts and animal bone different colors, and examine the distribution of each class of cultural materials both within layers and throughout the entire site profile.
• 1. Overview
• 2. Middle Paleolithic Stone Tool Industries
• 3. Mousterian Assemblage Variability
• 4. Site Formation
• 5. Establishing Chronology
• 6. Interpreting Spatial Data
Theodolite
Optical equipment used in survey and archaeological excavations. It has a small mounted telescope that can be rotated both horizontally and vertically.