Quaternary Large-Mammal Zones

Abstract

Large mammal zones are indicative of the ages of rock strata and their content. It is fortunate that, in the study of prehistory, it is often the large mammal bones themselves that have to be dated, especially so in the case of bone accumulations due to human hunting activities. A biozone is a rock unit characterized by its fossil content, such as bones and teeth of large mammals, and the corresponding biochron is the time in which the biozone was formed. A sequence of biozones is a biozonation and gives the relative ages of the zones (older/younger than, etc.). If physical methods have been used to date the limits of a biozone, this time range is indicative of the age of the same fossil association found in other places.