PREFACE

The faunal materials should not be analyzed in a vacuum. That is, it is important that the analyst becognizant of the context of discovery and the rationale for establishing context groupings for analysis.Also, essential to any faunal analysis is an estimate of relative category abundance. A number oftechniques have been proposed for measuring faunal remains, their frequency of occurrence and relativecontribution to the diet. Because faunal analysts do not always agree on the appropriate methodology, noone specific technique is recommended. It is strongly recommended, however, that some measure offaunal assemblage diversity be included in each report and that the rationale for its selection be explicitlyidentified. Measures frequently used include: minimum number of individuals, category abundance(bone volume, bone weight, total number of fragments), relative frequency or weighted abundance ofelements, and utility indices.Finally, the faunal analysis should include an evaluation of the environmental setting and catchmentrepresented by the faunal remains. Also, depending on the condition of the remains, evaluation of thepost-discard setting and processes affecting the site may be appropriate.References CitedFarmington Resource Area Cultural Advisory Groupn.d. Faunal Remains. In Data Comparability Guidelines for Gathering Systems Data Recovery. U.S.D.I.Bureau of Land Management, Farmington Resource Area.Speth, John2003 Current State of Knowledge: Faunal Studies. Report prepared for the Southeastern New MexicoRoundtable. Copy on file at Office of Contract Archeology, University of New Mexico,Albuquerque.6-53