Abstract

Attributive analysis is a popular and convenient tool for processing large amount of archaeological material evidence when it is needed to establish dependence of one individual feature of the artifact on another, or more often, on a certain set of features. In working with large databases, scholars should carefully monitor the unified nature of information since the initial stage of data entry. The most effective solution to this problem is using specialized software which limits the type of information entered (textual or digital), number of possible options for feature values, etc. Until recently, these tasks were solved by the Entrer software series developed in the mid 1990s. However, the outdated software platform and unforeseen errors appearing after its installation on modern operating systems lead to significant difficulties in setting up or editing the list of features and their values. This is why new IT-Fact software for current operating systems was developed with the purpose of conducting effective attributive analysis of technologically significant artifact features and tested on over 2000 lithic objects of the Stone Age. The Python3 programming language and Qt5 cross-platform graphic interface for development of user environment were basic components in the design of the IT-Fact software. Currently, IT-Fact is a unified graphical user interface for entering and, in the future, processing a large amount of data (a set of qualitative and quantitative descriptive features of artifacts predetermined by the researcher with the list of possible values).

Keywords

archaeological collection, attributive analysis, software, programming language

Pavlenok G.D.

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3727-776X

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS

Lukianov R.D.

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0840-8054

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS

Pavlenok K.K.

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0205-2077

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS

References

McPherron S., Holdaway S.J. Entrer Trois. In A multimedia companion to the Middle Paleolithic site of Combe-Capelle Bas (France). Philadelphia: The Univ. Museum, 1996. CD-ROM.

Pavlenok K.K., Belousova N.E., Rybin E.P. Atributivnyi podkhod k rekonstruktsii “operatsionnykh tsepochek” rasschepleniia kamnia. Novosibirsk State University Bulletin. Series: History and Philology, 2011, vol. 10, iss. 3, pp. 3546. (In Russ.).

Список литературы

Павленок К.К., Белоусова Н.Е., Рыбин Е.П. Атрибутивный подход к реконструкции «операционных цепочек» расщепления камня // Вестн. Новосиб. гос. ун-та. Сер.: История, филология. - 2011. - Т. 10, вып. 3. - С. 35-46.

McPherron S., Holdaway S.J. Entrer Trois // A multimedia companion to the Middle Paleolithic site of Combe-Capelle Bas (France). - Philadelphia: The Univ. Museum, 1996. - CD-ROM.