ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a series of brief examples on assessing site records and archaeological surveys along with an extended study of James N. Hill's analyses of ceramics from Broken K pueblo. It focuses on one case study, reanalysis of the formation processes of Broken K Pueblo's ceramic artifacts. The chapter also presents a sample of techniques for assessing the influence of the recovery and analytical processes on the archaeological record. It suggests that it is incumbent upon the investigator to identify the entire range of processes that might have affected the formation of evidence relevant to his or her research problems. If archaeology is to reach its scientific potential, no source of variability-not even one own behavior-can remain unexamined. In general, where the regional archaeological record is sparse, especially if highly obtrusive sites are scarce, investigators tend to use generous site definitions that encompass even the smallest artifact scatters.
