ASSESSING DEPARTURES FROM LOG-NORMALITY IN THE RANK-SIZE RULE

Archaeologists have used the rank-size rule, and deviations from it, t o explain a number of different processes related to urbanism and soci al complexity. Frequently, hypotheses have been developed to account f or these processes, and they depend on the existence of primate or con vex settlement patterns for verification. When the rank-size rule has been used in these cases, most of the time no effort has been made to determine whether the observed settlement system is significantly diff erent than the expected distribution; the two distributions are simply examined and a judgement is made. Some studies have used the Kolomogo rov-Smirnov test to verify the statistical significance. The Kolomogor ov-Smirnov test is not appropriate for a number of reasons, which will be described in this paper. Here, a Monte-Carlo method is presented; it empirically determines the probability that an observed Kolomogorov value may be equalled or exceeded in a random draw of sites from a po pulation which conforms to the rank-size rule. This method allows stat istical significance to be assessed for rank-size studies in settlemen t archaeology for the first time. Data from a series of Chalcolithic t hrough Middle Bronze IIB/C sites in the Levantine coastal plain are ex amined with the simulation. The results indicate that, except for the Early Bronze III period, all of the periods examined present significa nt departures from the rank-size rule. Rank-size plots of the verified distributions indicate the possible existence of a relatively constan t rural component in the coastal plain, which exhibits a central-place like distribution. Superimposed on this low-level rural component is a higher level urban distribution, which can be seen to develop, colla pse, and redevelop during the periods in question, providing exciting new insights into the nature of Bronze Age urbanism in the Levant. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.