MNI Counts as Estimates of Species Abundance

Plug, Cornelis; Plug, Ina

doi:10.2307/3887918

Cited by 43 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Some analysts have argued that the use of MNI to measure species abundance is logically flawed and should therefore not be used (e.g., Plug and Plug 1990). The MNI is an estimated minimum, while the true number of individuals originally present was likely substantially higher (Lyman .…”

Section: Taphonomymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prey Choice During the South African Middle Stone Age: Avoiding Dangerous Prey or Maximising Returns?

Dusseldorp

2010

Afr Archaeol Rev

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Scrutinising prey choice allows the testing of hypotheses on whether the hunting capabilities of Middle Stone Age (MSA) people were as sophisticated as those of Later Stone Age hunter-gatherers. I apply an optimal foraging perspective to investigate whether MSA prey choice was constrained by the danger associated with hunting certain species. Here, I study the relative importance of elands, buffalo and suids. Eland was the most attractive prey to hunter-gatherers because it is large and docile. Buffalo and suids are more aggressive. When additional species to eland needed to be exploited, we would expect unsophisticated hunters to prefer the smaller suids over buffalo. If hunting prowess was sufficient to deal with both buffalo and suids, buffalo should be preferred. Due to their size, exploitation of buffalo would be more profitable than exploitation of suids. I show that, taking environmental circumstances into account, buffalo were preferred to suids, suggesting that MSA people were capable, sophisticated hunters.Résumée Le choix des espèces de proie des chasseurs du « Middle Stone Age » (MSA) peut être évaluée si les méthodes de chasse du MSA était également raffinée comme les méthodes de chasse du « Later Stone Age » (LSA). Ici j'applique «Optimal Foraging Theory» aux collections fauniques du MSA pour rechercher si le choix de la proie était contraint et par le danger associée avec chasser certaines espèces. Cette étude est concentrée à l'exploitation de l'éland, des buffles et des suidés. L'éland était la proie préférée par les chasseurs MSA, parce que c'est un animal grand mais docile. Les buffles et les suidés sont plus agressifs. Si l'exploitation des plus d'espèces que l'éland était nécessaire, il y a deux scénarios distinctifs. Si des espèces dangereuses étaient difficiles à chasser pour les hommes MSA, les suidés serait préférées. Si chasser des espèces dangereux n'était pas problématique, les buffles serait préférées, parce que des buffles sont plus grand et leur exploitation serait plus bénéficiaux. Je montre que, dans les environnements ou c'était possible, des hommes MSA préférait des buffles. Leur exploitation insinue que les homes MSA étaient des chasseurs très capables.

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Section: Taphonomymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The MNI is an estimated minimum, while the true number of individuals originally present was likely substantially higher (Lyman . It is argued that MNI data should therefore not be used to calculate ratios of species abundance (Lyman 2008;Plug and Plug 1990). Other problems are also associated with using MNI data (Lyman 2008: 45-46).…”

Section: Taphonomymentioning

confidence: 99%

Prey Choice During the South African Middle Stone Age: Avoiding Dangerous Prey or Maximising Returns?

Dusseldorp

2010

Afr Archaeol Rev

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“…Whilst MNI is a relatively simple and conservative calculation it has also received a lot of criticism (Plug and Plug 1990). MNI is affected by similar biases to NISP, including: the number of identifiable elements in each animal, site formation processes, recovery techniques and laboratory procedures.…”

Section: Estimating Relative Frequencies Of Taxa Commonly Involves Twmentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-constructing the past in post-genocide Rwanda: an archaeological contribution

Giblin

2010

Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa

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“…MNI) for other more NISP-dependent derived units [e.g. quantifiable skeletal part (QSP)] (Plug and Plug 1990). Others argue that taphonomic/depositional context of any given fauna should also be considered, with a reliance on NISP preferred in depositionally derived assemblages and a reliance on MNI in assemblages accumulated under low disturbance (Badgley 1986).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Much of the general criticism of the use of these derived units is based on theoretical/mathematical modelling (Grayson 1978;Plug and Plug 1990;Lyman 2008), which is interesting in itself, but, because it lacks scientifically contrasted, referential modelling, is not actually an evaluation of the relative heuristics of various zooarchaeological counting units. Other research, employing data on published archaeofaunas, shows interesting (including, in some cases, tight) correlations between NISP and MNE or MNI estimates (Casteel 1977b;Grayson and Frey 2004;Lyman 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Critical review of the MNI (minimum number of individuals) as a zooarchaeological unit of quantification

Domı́nguez-Rodrigo

2011

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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The use of minimum number of individuals (MNI) in the analysis of mammal archaeofaunal assemblages has received intense criticism for its derived nature and its dependence of biasing variables. Some authors have argued that similar taxonomic variability as documented by MNI can be achieved with other less biased measuring units, such as number of identified specimens (NISP) and derivates thereof. The present study is the first experimentally controlled test that shows the degree of bias of estimates of MNI and NISP by different analysts. It shows that the margins of error of both measuring units are independent and that MNI can be more accurately estimated than NISP, despite its "derived" inferential nature.

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MNI Counts as Estimates of Species Abundance

Cited by 43 publications

References 13 publications

Prey Choice During the South African Middle Stone Age: Avoiding Dangerous Prey or Maximising Returns?

Prey Choice During the South African Middle Stone Age: Avoiding Dangerous Prey or Maximising Returns?

Re-constructing the past in post-genocide Rwanda: an archaeological contribution

Critical review of the MNI (minimum number of individuals) as a zooarchaeological unit of quantification

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