Institute of Archaeology, Mount Scopus, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, Mount Scopus, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
PLoS One. 2018 Nov 20;13(11):e0207890. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0207890. eCollection 2018.
We present here a newly developed software package named Artifact GeoMorph Toolbox 3-D (AGMT3-D). It is intended to provide archaeologists with a simple and easy-to-use tool for performing 3-D landmarks-based geometric morphometric shape analysis on 3-D digital models of archaeological artifacts. It requires no prior knowledge of programming or proficiency in statistics. AGMT3-D consists of a data-acquisition procedure for automatically positioning 3-D models in space and fitting them with grids of 3-D semi-landmarks. It also provides a number of analytical tools and procedures that allow the processing and statistical analysis of the data, including generalized Procrustes analysis, principal component analysis, a warp tool, automatic calculation of shape variabilities and statistical tests. It provides an output of quantitative, objective and reproducible results in numerical, textual and graphic formats. These can be used to answer archaeologically significant questions relating to morphologies and morphological variabilities in artifact assemblages. Following the presentation of the software and its functions, we apply it to a case study addressing the effects of different types of raw material on the morphologies and morphological variabilities present in an experimentally produced Acheulian handaxe assemblage. The results show that there are statistically significant differences between the mean shapes and shape variabilities of handaxes produced on flint and those produced on basalt. With AGMT3-D, users can analyze artifact assemblages and address questions that are deducible from the morphologies and morphological variabilities of material culture assemblages. These questions can relate to issues of, among others, relative chronology, cultural affinities, tool function and production technology. AGMT3-D is aimed at making 3-D landmarks-based geometric morphometric shape analysis more accessible to archaeologists, in the hope that this method will become a tool commonly used by archaeologists.
我们在此介绍一款新开发的软件包，名为Artifact GeoMorph Toolbox 3-D（AGMT3-D）。它旨在为考古学家提供一种简单易用的工具，用于对考古文物的 3D 数字模型进行基于 3D 标志点的几何形态测量学形状分析。它不需要编程或统计学方面的专业知识。AGMT3-D 包括一个用于自动在空间中定位 3D 模型并将其与 3D 半标志点网格拟合的数据集获取程序。它还提供了许多分析工具和程序，允许对数据进行处理和统计分析，包括广义 Procrustes 分析、主成分分析、变形工具、形状变异性的自动计算和统计检验。它以数字、文本和图形格式提供定量、客观和可重复的结果。这些结果可用于回答与文物组合中的形态和形态变异性相关的具有考古意义的问题。在介绍完软件及其功能后，我们将其应用于一个案例研究，该研究涉及不同类型原材料对实验产生的阿舍利手斧组合体形态和形态变异性的影响。结果表明，燧石和玄武岩制成的手斧的平均形状和形状变异性之间存在统计学上的显著差异。使用 AGMT3-D，用户可以分析文物组合并解决从物质文化组合的形态和形态变异性中得出的问题。这些问题可以涉及相对年代、文化亲缘关系、工具功能和生产技术等问题。AGMT3-D 的目的是使基于 3D 标志点的几何形态测量学形状分析更容易为考古学家所接受，希望这种方法能成为考古学家常用的工具。
