| Abstract: |
This chapter applies spatial statistical and computational methods in order to understand the spatial variability exhibited by various artefact classes across the site of Kao Sam Khaeo, and what this might suggest about the character of the settlement overall. In so-doing, it describes the spatial recording system used during excavations, as well as some likely biases in archaeological recovery at KSK. We stress the value of considering changing patterns of artefact co-occurence across different excavation trenches via a combination of multivariate and spatial methods, with such an approach providing useful evidence for differentiated activity areas, and quite possibly some degree of urban zoning. Comparison with the site size is neighbouring regions of south-east Asia, as well as attention to the scale of the artefact distribution at KSK and the possibility of partial site loss due to erosion, all provides a platform upon which to offer some preliminary (and necessarily speculative) estimates of the possible spatial extent of KSK and the likely size of its resident human community.
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