Replication Code and Data for "Pottery classification through unsupervised techno-typological clustering in the Istmo-Colombian Area: evidence from the Central Caribbean Panama"

This repository contains the replication code and data for the analysis presented in the accompanying article. We used a database of approximately 24,000 ceramic fragments within a chronological range of 400 BCE - 1500 CE recovered from the Mina de Cobre Panamá project to develop a quantitative data-driven classification protocol based on low-visibility technological attributes. The workflow combines Gower distance computation, clusterability testing, and HDBSCAN clustering to identify technological clusters. The analysis revealed five technological clusters, each characterised by distinct temper composition signatures. Archaeological validation through spatial distribution, co-occurrence analysis, and chronological association with 45 radiocarbon dates suggest that these clusters probably correspond to geographically coherent and temporally structured communities.