A Data Mining Perspective of XRF Elemental Analysis from Pueblo People’s Pottery

Abstract

Hierarchical clustering was used to identify elemental signatures in artifacts attributed to the Pueblo peoples. The artifacts in this study are pottery samples found at different sites in the state of New Mexico, USA. Three methods were applied: complete, average, and Ward. Their corresponding cophenetic correlation coefficients were used to contrast the three methods. Elemental characterization was only based on X-ray fluorescence excitation from a portable spectrometer with the silver anode. The elemental correlations here disclosed by data mining techniques are expected to guide further archaeological studies and assist experts in the assessment of provenance and historical ethnographic studies.