Discrete Counting of Short Lived Isotopes with Low Background Detectors

We consider radiation counting experiments used to measure quantities of materials that are short-lived with respect to the count durations. The HPS 13.31 statistical analysis seriously overestimates the uncertainty when the quantity and background are very low. We consider the case in which the objective is to quantify the number of atoms, n, that were present in a sample when it was drawn. Mathews and Gerts [JRNC, 2008] analyzed this case and developed formulas for the probability distribution of n, in order to develop experiment design processes that minimize the smallest detectable quantity of material, thus maximizing sensitivity for the detection problem. We extend their effort to the quantification problem: designing such experiments to find the count duration that yields the lowest possible minimum quantifiable quantity, given the other measurement parameters. A value of n is quantifiable if the precision of the measurement, defined as the width of the confidence interval for n divided by the mean value of n is sufficiently likely to be better than a specified precision tolerance. Our analysis and methods are confirmed by Monte Carlo simulation

Situating the Pot and Potter: Ceramic Production and Use at the Silvercreek Sites, Two Early-Late Woodland Sites in Elgin County, Ontario

This study examines the pottery from two archaeological sites that date to the beginning of the early Late Woodland period. In order to understand the production and use of ceramic vessels at the sites, a wide range of ceramic attributes are recorded and analyzed. A second component of the research is to understand the settlement patterns at the site, in order to determine how space was organized at the sites. Through these analyses, I situate these sites within the wider context of southwestern Ontario in the 11th century A.D. I adopt a ‘communities of practice’ approach, and conclude that the similarities in ceramics throughout the Great Lakes during this time period can be seen as indicating high levels of social interaction, as well as overlapping communities of practice, in which potters may have moved across the landscape and continued their craft traditions in new communities

Keeping CRM Archaeology Relevant: Presenting an Archaeology of Children and Childhood in the Past

The industry of cultural resource management (CRM) has been criticized for its failure to communicate research results publicly, and to make contributions on a local and global scale. In this paper, I suggest that school-based archaeology programs – either through mock archaeological digs, participation in actual excavations, or the use of specific material culture types to tell stories about the past – provide a means to make CRM archaeology relevant to a wider audience. I also propose that an effective teaching tool about local archaeology would be to create a program on the archaeology of children and childhood. This would be an engaging method for teaching history, making history accessible and relatable, and helping students to understand past populations and change over time. CRM archaeologists would be well suited to present this unique and engaging program. Furthermore, this would present students with an opportunity to learn about the pre-European-contact period of North America, an area of history that many consider to be excluded from formal curriculum

Human Babesia microti Incidence and Ixodes scapularis Distribution, Rhode Island, 1998–2004

Distribution of nymphal Ixodes scapularis in Rhode Island was used as a logistical regressor for predicting presence of human babesiosis. Although the incidence of babesiosis is increasing in southern Rhode Island, large areas of the state are free of babesiosis risk