Byrd proposes a method for predicting pair matches in commingled remains to reduce visual comparison. The method compares differences between left and right postcranial element measurements in commingled samples with differences in known pairs from a reference sample using a t-score approach. We duplicated his protocol using six elements from two samples of known paired elements (n = 854 to 1063) and calculated the number of pairs correctly predicted. Time commitment was estimated by mathematically attempting matches with all left and right elements in these samples. Although the results show an 86% reduction in the number of potential pairs requiring visual matching, we do not recommend the method because (i) the normality assumption for use of a t-score approach is violated, (ii) no account is made for bilateral asymmetry, and (iii) the high rate of false rejections (up to 22%) undermines its ability to show true incompatibilities for potential pair matches.

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Age and season of death information for prey animals at archaeological sites can address issues such as season of site occupation and prey hunting or harvesting strategies. Unfortunately, adequate reference information for estimating age and season is lacking for many wild species, including pronghorn antelope. To address this problem, new methods of scoring tooth eruption and wear have been developed and have been applied to a sample of over 500 pronghorn mandibles to obtain improved eruption and wear schedules. One implication of this study is that 'age class discreteness' is an unreliable method for demonstrating mass mortality of prey. This study provides a much larger comparative sample than previously available, although larger known-age mandible samples are still needed for pronghorn and many other wild species.

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The stylohyoid is the largest bone in the hyoid complex surrounding the throat in artiodactyls. There is little published information to allow its identification to species or anatomical side. Our study examined comparative stylohyoid bones to provide criteria for taxonomic identification, using 494 animals representing 13 artiodactyl species, including all species native to the continental United States. The goal was to find criteria showing at least 95% success in separating between species or species groups. Osteometric and discrete feature criteria were found to provide strong distinctions between some species through an iterative set of comparisons arranged in a dichotomous key. For example, a small artiodactyl bone could be identified as pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) with 100% success (n = 260) if it exhibited both an S‐shaped dorsal aspect and a ratio of angle width to anterior end width > 1.6. Consistent criteria could not be found for some other species, notably between small bovids and between the 2 species of deer (Odocoileus sp.). Our study also extracted stylohyoids in place to provide criteria for siding, using 28 carcasses representing 7 species, and found they can be readily sided based on a marked concavity on the lateral side.

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