Methoden vergleichen

	Minimum Number of Individuals	Gebrauchsspurenanalyse
Fachgebiet	Archäologie	Archäologie
Familie	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
Entstehungsjahr	1953	1980
Urheber	Theodore White	Lawrence Keeley
Typ	Faunal quantification method	Tool function inference
Wegweisende Quelle	White, T. E. (1953). A method of calculating the dietary percentages of various food animals utilized by aboriginal peoples. American Antiquity, 19(4), 396-398.	Keeley, L. H. (1980). Experimental Determination of Stone Tool Uses. University of Chicago Press.
Aliasnamen	MNI method, minimum individual number	microwear, tool use analysis
Verwandt	4	4
Zusammenfassung	Minimum number of individuals (MNI) is a quantitative zooarchaeological method that estimates the minimum number of animals represented in a faunal assemblage based on the frequency of unique skeletal elements. Developed by Theodore White in 1953, it is one of the most widely used techniques for analyzing animal bone assemblages from archaeological sites. The MNI method helps archaeologists understand hunting and butchering patterns, interpret subsistence practices, and assess the diversity of fauna exploited by past human populations.	Use-wear analysis (also called microwear or tool-use analysis) is a method that infers the function of stone tools from microscopic wear patterns on their cutting edges and surfaces. Pioneered by Lawrence Keeley in the 1970s-1980s, this technique examines damage patterns, polishes, and edge rounding produced as tools contact different materials during use. By analyzing these wear patterns, archaeologists can determine whether a tool was used to cut plant material, meat, bone, hide, or wood—revealing detailed information about task specialization and subsistence practices in prehistoric societies.