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Results for index fossil:

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index fossil

SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: index fossil concept; index species
CATEGORY: artifact; technique
DEFINITION: A fossil with widespread geographical range but which is restricted in time to a brief existence. In archaeology, it is a theory that proposes that strata containing similar fossil assemblages will tend to be of similar age. This concept enables archaeologists to characterize and date strata within archaeological sites using diagnostic artifact forms, making an animal species the basis for dating by faunal association. Artifacts that share the attributes of index fossils are useful in the cross-dating and correlation of deposits that contain them and in the construction of chronologies.

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diagnostics

SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: diagnostic
CATEGORY: technique
DEFINITION: Artifacts that can be used as index fossils in a cultural context.

Smith, William (1769-1839)

CATEGORY: person
DEFINITION: British engineer and geologist known for his development of the science of stratigraphy. He collected fossils throughout England and discovered that different exposures of the same stratum contained comparable fossils, eventually leading to the formulation of the index fossil concept. Smith's great geologic map of England and Wales (1815) set the style for modern geologic maps, and many of the names he applied to the strata are still in use today.