Abstract

The observation that divergent faunal taxa co-occur in equal stratigraphic proportions is the basis for developing a faunal deposition rate index to standardize taxonomic abundance among major stratigraphic units. This standardization method yields an unambiguous indication of changes in taxonomic abundance. In application, the method is used to monitor change in faunal utilization during 4000 years of economic prehistory at the site of Namu (ElSx-1) on the central coast of British Columbia.