These data recording issues are methodologically specific, but the issues have theoretical importance because later analyses are circumscribed by the units of analysis used in proveniencing. The above descriptions highlight an apparent contrast in the methodology:

Situation 1:Individually mapped and located artifacts and loci that are found at larger sites receive their own ArchID numbers. These are independent entities that may, or may not, belong to the larger site upon further interpretation. Importantly, the GPS derived coordinates store this spatial relationship and the numbering system is independent of spatial location.

Situation 2:Asin the example described previously, lithic locus ArchID 100 contains fifteen artifacts rotulonumbered RotID 1 through 15 that are analyzed and retained as 100.1 through 100.15. In this case, the artifacts are locked into their spatial container that is the ArchID number. While it would be ideal to have geographical positions for every artifact analyzed, it is not practical to spend so much time in the field and therefore, by necessity, the RotID is inside the ArchID spatial provenience. In other words, spatial provenience is the first level, while artifact provenience is the second level.

In sum, the object here is to allow the GIS to manage spatial information and use the ArchID number system not as a geographical hierarchy, but rather as a linking system to other forms of data be they attribute tables, artifact collections, or digital photos. On a theoretical level, when particular loci are subsumed within particular sites by the numbering strategy (as per the hierarchical system where loci are inferred to "belong" to sites), it is impossible to later extract the loci from within the site in the database because their numberings are inextricably linked. If later analysis reveals that the locus is likely a later occupation and not related to the site itself, there is no easy way to reverse the hierarchy in proveniencing. In the non-hierarchical proveniencing system used by the Upper Colca project, the location of that locus inside the site boundary is already conveyed in the GIS and that liberates the ArchID numbering system to serve as an effective primary key for the database.