Comparative Osteology. Between Trachemys callirostris callirostris (Colombian Slider) and Chelonoidis carbonaria (Red-footed tortoise)

Osteological analyses of fauna in archaeological contexts offer enormous potential in helping us understand different human phenomena. However, this potential is markedly limited by biases introduced to the analysis process that alter and distort the derived interpretations. The risk of introducing errors is particularly critical when it comes to identifying fragmentary remains, such as the majority of samples recuperated in an archaeological context, and when it comes to determining species with marked similarities in their osseous anatomy. These types of problems have been recognized and discussed, for a number of years already, in zooarchaeological publications (Reitz & Wing, 1999; O'Connor, 1996; Thomas, 1996; Davis, 1989; Hesse & Wapnish, 1985), highlighting the urgent need to introduce corrective measures to the aforementioned problems.