'Faunal Assemblage' is the
archaeological or
paleontological term for a group of associated animal
fossils found together in a given
stratum.
The
principle of faunal succession is used in
biostratigraphy to determine each biostratigraphic unit, or
biozone. The biostratigraphic unit being a
section of geological strata that is defined on the basis of its characteristic fossil
taxa or faunal assemblage.
For example, in
East Africa, a distinctive group of animal species, mostly
pigs, is characteristic of the fossils preserved from a particular period of time. This faunal assemblage has been used effectively to chronologically correlate the East African early hominid sites.
References
★ Dawson, Peter Colin (1993) ''From death assemblage to fossil assemblage understanding the nature of intra-site and inter-site variability in faunal assemblages'' National Library of Canada, Ottawa, ISBN 0-315-78415-6
★ Rogers, Alan R. (2000) "On Equifinality in Faunal Analysis" ''American Antiquity'' 65(4): p.709
★ Cabtree, Pam J. (2005) ''Exploring Prehistory: How archaeology reveals our past'' McGraw-Hill, Boston p. 450, ISBN 0-07-297814-7
External links
★
"A Marine Faunal Assemblage"