Statistical nonparametric methods for the study of fossil populations
Résumé
The precise knowledge of the number and nature of the species belonging to a fossil assemblage as well as of the structure of each species (e.g., age, sex) is of great importance in paleontology. Mixture analysis based on the method of maximum likelihood is a modern statistical technique that concerns the problem of samples consisting of several components, the composition of which is not known. Nonparametric bootstrap and jackknife techniques are used to calculate a confidence interval for each estimated parameter (prior probability, mean, standard deviation) of each group. The bootstrap method is also used to evaluate mathematically how many groups are present in a sample. Experimental density smoothing using the kernel method appears to be a better solution than the use of histograms for the estimation of a distribution. This paper presents some basic concepts and procedures and discusses some preliminary results concerning sex ratios and mortality profile assessments using bones and tooth metric data of small ( Ovis antiqua ) and large ( Bos primigenius ) bovines from European Pleistocene sites.
Domaines
Archéologie et Préhistoire
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