Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Cruz-Uribe, Kathryn.

Description

1. xii, 266 pages : illustrations; 24 cm.

Summary

1. "After setting forth the interpretive framework that governs their use of numbers in faunal analysis, Richard G. Klein and Kathryn Cruz-Uribe survey various measures of taxonomic abundance, review methods for estimating the sex and age composition of a fossil species sample, and then give examples to show how these measures and sex/age profiles can provide useful information about the past. In the second part of their book, the authors present the computer programs used to calculate and analyze each numerical measure or count discussed in the earlier chapters. These elegant and original programs, written in BASIC, can easily be used by anyone with a microcomputer or with access to large mainframe computers"--Publisher.

Series statement

1. Prehistoric archeology and ecology

Uniform title

1. Prehistoric archeology and ecology

Subject

1. Animal remains (Archaeology) > Analysis > Data processing
2. Animal remains (Archaeology) > Analysis
3. Archéozoologie > Analyse informatique

Contents

1. Machine derived contents note: Series Editors' Foreword -- Preface -- Part One -- The Analysis of Archeological Bone Assemblages -- 1. The Interpretation of Fossil Faunas -- Fossil Samples and Populations -- Controlling Comparisons among Fossil Assemblages -- Problems in "Controlling" for the Collector -- Controlled Comparisons vs Taphonomy -- 2. The First Steps in Analysis: Sorting, Identification, Sexing, Aging, and Measurement -- The Mammalian Skeleton: Terminology -- Identifiable and Nonidentifiable Bone -- Identification -- Sexing and Aging -- Measurement -- 3. Quantifying Taxonomic Abundance -- Introduction -- Indexes of Species Abundance -- The Number of Identified Specimens (NISP) -- The Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI) -- More on NISPs and MNIs -- Modified MNIs -- Meat Weight Estimates -- The Petersen Index -- Summary and Conclusion -- 4. Sex and Age Profiles of Fossil Species -- The Utility of Sex and Age Determination -- Determination of Sex -- Determination of Age: Ephphyseal Fusion versus Dental Criteria -- Determining Individual Age from Teeth -- Ungulate Crown Height and Age -- Some Problems in Constructing Age Profiles from Crown Heights -- Interpretation of Age Profiles -- Discontinuities in Age Distributions -- 5. Interpreting NISPs, MNIs, Age/Sex Profiles, and Descriptive Statistics in Faunal Analysis -- Skeletal Element Representation -- The Transformation from the Death Assemblage to the Deposited Assemblage -- The Transformation from the Deposited Assemblage to the Fossil Assemblage -- Species Abundance -- Species Abundance and Changes in Environment -- Species Abundance and Cultural Change -- Species Abundance and Assemblages Created by Carnivores -- Age and Sex Profiles -- Age/Sex Profiles and Collector Behavior: Example 1 -- Age/Sex Profiles and Collector Behavior: Example 2 -- Age/Sex Profiles and Collector Behavior: Example 3 -- Age/Sex Profiles of a Fossil Species and Its Population Dynamics -- Mean Individual Size -- Mean Individual Size and Climate -- Size Variation and Human Predation Pressure -- Conclusion -- Part Two -- BASIC Programs for the Analysis of Animal Bones from Archeological Sites -- Some Technical Features Common to All the Programs -- 6. Computing the Minimum Number of Individuals in a Fossil Sample: Programs MNI, BONECODE, DENTCODE, and SKELDIV -- The Assumptions behind MNI: Skeletal Parts Other Than Dentitions -- The Assumptions behind MNI: Dentitions -- File Names -- Entry of Skeletal Parts Other Than Dentitions: Program BONECODE -- Entry of Dentitions: Program DENTCODE -- How MNI Deals with Indeterminacy: Skeletal Parts Other Than Dentitions -- How MNI Deals with Indeterminacy: Dentitions -- The Entry of Skeletal Part Divisors: Program SKELDIV -- A Sample Session with MNI -- The Results of an MNI Session -- 7. Computing Age Profiles from Dental Crown Heights: Programs AGEPROF, DENTDATA, CRNHGT, and SMIRNOV -- File Names -- Data Entry: Program DENTDATA -- Automatic Entry of Age and Crown Height Parameters: Program CRNHGT -- A Sample Session with AGEPROF -- Results of an AGEPROF Session -- Comparing Age Profiles: Program SMIRNOV -- 8. Computing Descriptive Statistics from Measurements of Bones and Teeth: Programs BONESTAT and BONEDATA -- File Names -- Entry of Bone Measurements: Program BONEDATA -- A Sample Session with BONESTAT -- The Results of a BONESTAT Session -- Appendix. The Principal Variables Used in the Program MNI -- References -- Index.

Owning institution

1. Princeton University Library

Note

1. Includes index.

Bibliography (note)

1. Bibliography: p. 249-259.