WOOD CHARCOAL : DATA ANALYSIS
Representing identification results
Ubiquity scores are represented as a column graph for each archaeological level (figure 1). Percentages calculated from fragment counts are represented by anthracological spectra (a simple bar graph), either for a whole archaeological level or for one sample (depending on the purpose of the analysis) (figure 2). Spectra of the different archaeological levels of a site can be figured together on the same diagram, then called an anthracological diagram (figure 3).
Analysing identification results
Qualitative and quantitative data are analysed by comparing how taxa vary in relation to one other on the various diagrams built. Qualitative data provide overall information about woody vegetation exploited (main associations represented, dominant species in each formation…). Quantitative data provide information about the relative importance of each taxa in the anthracological assemblages (taxa most frequently used, variation of exploitation of the various species the ones with the others…). The information provided by qualitative and quantitative date is different and somehow complementary. So both types of analyses would gain be combined, thus improving the quality of the interpretations proposed.
Representing and analysing dendro-anthracological information
The results of the growth-ring curvatures analysis are represented as column graphs: one for all the taxa in the sample together and one for each of the most commonly identified taxa in this sample (figure 4). Data obtained from dendro-anthracological analysis are used to assess the relative importance of each different sizes of wood in the anthracological assemblages. These data can also be used to assess the relative importance of green wood and dead wood, according to the presence of features such as fungal hyphae, insects degradation channels or radial cracks (see the complementary information to growth ring curvatures provided here).
