The three authors research surface archaeological records dominated by low-density scatters and isolated artifacts, archaeological phenomena frequently encountered during cultural resource management (CRM) projects in areas of the United States and Australia. We each began researching surface artifact scatters for different reasons but converged on approaches that emphasize the formation of these forms of archaeological deposits. Through a variety of projects, we asked a common set of questions about the processes that both buried and exposed these materials, the methods needed to obtain a chronology in different regions, and the ways we might interpret artifacts found together in different densities. Answering these questions led to the collection and analyses of datasets in innovative ways and the questioning of a number of archaeological categories often thought of as fundamental for archaeological research. Here, we review examples of our respective research and consider the implications for CRM projects dealing with surface lithics.

中文翻译：

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表面伪影散布、数据收集和意义

三位作者研究了以低密度散布和孤立文物为主的地表考古记录，这是在美国和澳大利亚地区的文化资源管理 (CRM) 项目中经常遇到的考古现象。我们每个人都出于不同的原因开始研究表面人工制品散布，但都集中在强调这些考古沉积物形成的方法上。通过各种项目，我们提出了一系列常见问题，涉及埋藏和暴露这些材料的过程、获得不同地区年表所需的方法，以及我们可能解释在不同密度下一起发现的文物的方式。回答这些问题导致以创新的方式收集和分析数据集，并对许多通常被认为是考古研究基础的考古类别提出质疑。在这里，我们回顾了我们各自研究的例子，并考虑了对处理表面岩石的 CRM 项目的影响。