Tools for constructing chronologies

de Caitlin E. Buck, Andrew Millard

Tools for Constructing Chronologies focuses on ways of getting more out of existing chronological data by careful analysis. It surveys a range of cutting edge methods in chronology construction and seeks to enable cross-disciplinary fertilisation of ideas. The specially invited papers cover a range of timescales, from the perspectives of a number of disciplines. The methods used range from complex statistical treatments, to (non-statistical) considerations of how to systematically represent relative dating information. Each chapter can be read alone, but they are also carefully cross-referenced. The editors' introductory essay provides a cross-disciplinary overview of the state of chronology construction methods, and highlights the links between them. This book will appeal to a wide range of researchers, scientists and graduate students using chronologies in their work; from applied statisticians to archaeologists, geologists and paleontologists, to those working in bioinformatics and chronometry. From the reviews: "Here's a good book on 'dating' that, luckily, won't find its way to the self-help section of your local bookstore!" Journal of the American Statistical Association, December 2005