High-stress silicon nitride nanostrings are a promising system for sensing applications because of their ultrahigh mechanical quality factors (Qs). By performing thermomechanical calibration across multiple vibrational modes, we are able to assess the roles of the various dissipation mechanisms in these devices. Specifically, we possess a set of nanostrings in which all measured modes fall upon a single curve of peak displacement versus frequency. This allows us to rule out bulk bending and intrinsic loss mechanisms as dominant sources of dissipation and to conclude that the most significant contribution to dissipation in high-stress nanostrings occurs at the anchor points.The extremely high values of mechanical Q that have been reported in silicon nitride nanostrings 1-3 have generated a great deal of excitement in the nanomechanics community. 4 These devices are ideal for use in mass sensing, 5 temperature sensing, 6 and optomechanics 7-9 and have proved to be an invaluable platform for research into the quantum properties of nanoscale resonators. 10,11 Nanostrings possess all the desired properties for these endeavors, including small mass, high frequency, and high Q, with correspondingly large displacement amplitudes. This combination makes them sensitive to external perturbation yet still within the limits of current detection techniques. 12 In this manuscript, we demonstrate thermomechanically limited detection of up to six mechanical nanostring modes. Furthermore, we present a set of devices in which all harmonics fall upon a single curve of calibrated peak displacement versus frequency. As we discuss below, we are able to infer that the mechanical Q is limited by dissipation processes operating in the vicinity of the anchor points-thus suggesting ways to further engineer the mechanical Q.Silicon nitride nanostrings are devices under extremely high tensile stress (σ = 0.8 GPa for our devices). The accepted understanding is that the tension along their length results in large stored elastic energy and a correspondingly large mechanical Q. 3 Experiments have confirmed that Q increases with mechanical tensioning of non-prestressed (low tension, non-stoichiometric silicon nitride) devices, 13,14 corroborating the tension's central role.In addition to causing the high Q, the tension compels the devices to behave like strings rather than doubly clamped beams, as one would usually expect for this geometry. The harmonics are at integer multiples of the fundamental frequency, 15 ν n = nν 1 , where ν 1 is the fundamental mode frequency and n indicates the mode number; the mode frequency depends only on the length of the string (not on the width or thickness). These features are in contrast to the more complicated harmonics of doubly clamped beams, 16 which are realized in low-stress silicon nitride devices of the same geometry. 17 Furthermore, it has now been shown that very high mechanical Qs exist for nanostrings under tension in a variety of other materials, including the polymer SU-8, 18 aluminum, 6,19 and AuPd...