Abstract

Zooarchaeologists are now focusing part of their research interests toward recognizing variations in patterns of bone distribution and morphology in both natural and cultural deposits. Field observations and experimental studies are widely used by researchers to identify those factors which variably affect recoverable skeletal remains and to recognize those similarities and differences which are manifest in the bone remains themselves. In this study we introduce the need for establishing a rigorous quantitative approach to taphonomic studies by examining variations in attritional states of a single element. Qualitative and quantitative characterizations of a sample of scapulae from Banks Island, N.W.T. form an explanatory base. Results of this study are discussed in terms of existing accomplishments in taphonomy and purported goals of the discipline.