Glossary Archaeological method and dating
Seriation
A relative dating method that arranges groups of finds in sequence according to how the popularity of their types rises and falls.
Seriation works on the observation that styles come into use, become common and then fade away. If many tomb groups or layers are arranged so that the frequency of each type forms a single rise and fall, the resulting order is taken to be chronological. The method gives a sequence without calendar dates, which have to come from other evidence.
Most of the Cypriot period scheme was built this way. Einar Gjerstad seriated the pottery of Iron Age tombs into seven numbered Types, which underpin the Cypro-Geometric, Cypro-Archaic and Cypro-Classical subdivisions, and the Middle Cypriot I–III phases rest almost entirely on the seriation of pottery styles. Its weak points are mixed tomb deposits and regional differences, since a sequence built in one part of the island may not hold in another.
Related terms
- Typology
A system for sorting objects into classes and types by shape, fabric and decoration, so that like can be compared with like and dated.
- Relative chronology
An ordering of sites, layers or objects as earlier or later than one another, without fixing them to calendar years.
- Assemblage
A group of objects found together in one context, such as a tomb, pit or floor, and studied as a set.
- Period subphases
Codes such as MC III, LC IIC or CA II that divide each Cypriot period into numbered phases and lettered subphases for finer dating.