Help

FaunAZ is a map-linked searchable database of vertebrate animal remains from archaeological sites in Arizona. Vertebrate animals include mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fishes. FaunAZ can be searched by scientific or common name, as well as time period.

To use FaunAZ, you should set your browser window to allow pop-ups.

Using the “Specific Search Option”, you can search the database by common name, site name, or site number. FaunAZ uses the Integrated Taxonomic Information System’s accepted English common names (http://www.itis.gov).

Using the “Open Search” option, FaunAZ can be searched at any of the following taxonomic levels: Class, Order, Family, Genus, or Species. However, if you select a Species, you must also select a Genus. All taxa currently recorded in FaunAZ appear in the appropriate drop-down menus.

The “Hierarchical Search” walks you through the taxonomic hierarchy from Class to Species – if you select a Class, only the taxonomic Orders within that Class that are recorded in the database will be displayed in the Order pull-down menu. Once you select the Order, only those Families within the selected Order will be available in the Family pull-down, and so forth.

FaunAZ can also return only those faunal remains that date to a specific time period. Dates should be entered in an A.D./B.C. format, with B.C. dates distinguished by a preceding negative (“-“) sign.

When the results map window loads, you will see highlighted USGS Quads across the state that represent where your selection is recorded. Clicking on a highlighted quad will popup a window with the site numbers within that quad that contain the faunal criteria you specified. Clicking on each site will popup another window with cultural resource attribute data about that specific site, including a list of all analyzed faunal remains. The short citations that are available here are reference numbers that can be looked up in the Arizona State Museum’s Library and Archaeological Records Catalog (LARC) – http://larc.asmua.arizona.edu, where full citations can be found.

For more information, read the text under “Disclaimer”.