Toward a Mathematical Prehistory of Homo sapiens: Data Integration and Statistical Representation in PaleoAsiaDB

This talk introduces PaleoAsiaDB, a curated database of lithic assemblages from Paleolithic Asia, and aims to initiate a discussion on its potential uses and methodological challenges. The database integrates information on tool typology, technological attributes, stratigraphy, and chronological ranges across multiple sites and periods.

Archaeological assemblage data are inherently heterogeneous, combining categorical variables with hierarchical structure and, in some cases, continuous measurements. In addition, temporal information is often represented as ranges rather than precise dates, and sampling intensity varies substantially across sites. These features make it non-trivial to define consistent procedures for comparison, aggregation, and quantitative analysis.

The goal of this session is to gather feedback on data representation and analysis strategies, and to clarify what types of quantitative approaches are most suitable for extracting robust patterns from archaeological assemblage data.