Practical Application of Seriation for the Analysis of Archaeological Data

The article describes the basic algorithms for the practical application of various seriation methods for the classification, correlation and systematisation of archaeological data. Designed for the relative dating of archaeological complexes, seriation has not lost its scientific relevance and is used in all areas of archaeology, even today, when absolute dating methods are available to researchers. The analysis of multilayered Paleolithic complexes in Siberia demonstrates the potential for seriation to determine evolutionary development or cultural change at a single site. The advantages of this method over the calculation of percentages include the possibility of its use by researchers without experience in mathematical statistics; the possibility of visualising the results; and the possibility of operating with large sets of complexes and attributes. The objective of the proposed article is to familiarise a wide range of Russian-speaking researchers with the seriation.