Totalremains

Totalremains is a term used in conservation science and archaeology to describe a single scalar metric that represents the total amount of material that remains after processing, sorting, or preservation steps within a defined study unit such as a site, sample, or time interval. The concept is intended to provide a compact summary of preserved material, whether as mass or as discrete fragments.

Calculation: The metric can be mass-based or count-based. In mass-based applications, totalremains equals the sum of masses of all remnants that meet a predefined retention threshold within the defined area, often reported in kilograms per square meter or per site. In count-based applications, it equals the total number of fragments that pass the threshold. Normalization by area or initial sample size yields a density-like value.

Applications: Used to compare preservation across sites, layers, or conditions; track changes in recovery efficiency during excavation or conservation workflows; support ecological litter studies and taphonomic analyses by aggregating residual material.

Data considerations: Results depend on threshold choices, sampling density, and detection limits. Fragmentation, identification criteria, and measurement error can influence totalremains, so transparent methodology is essential.

History and status: The term has appeared in multidisciplinary field reports and software toolkits designed for archival, paleontological, and ecological research, serving as a practical, though context-dependent, summary statistic.

See also: Remains, Residuals, Preservation, Taphonomy.