This is an old post and is probably extremely cringe. Please understand that I have moved on from these ideas. Still, it may contain some nuggets that point to some continuity in my thinking over the years, which is why I decided to post it here.
Data Collection
It’s been a couple of weeks since I posted here, so here’s a quick update of what’s going on.
I’ve been keeping myself busy by collecting data from excavation reports, which is kind of slow and tedious. I’m trying to record the properties of vessels used for food and drink preparation and consumption from 34 major sites in the Aegean.
So far, I’ve been keeping track of specific properties of pottery such as decorative themes and wether or not a vessel is burnished or slipped, etc. My thinking was that I could use these data to interpret the use of the vessel. But now I realize that I can just skip recording these details and interpret these data right on the spreadsheet. Adding this step later on would slow me down and I may not be able to run an analysis before the end of the semester, as planned. Additionally, these properties are not recorded to the same extent in every excavation report.
Deciding what data suits your goals is tough. I have to keep in mind what my aims are, and be consistent throughout the project.