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Number of Identified Specimens/Evidence
Method evidence record

Number of Identified Specimens

Number of identified specimens (NISP) is a fundamental zooarchaeological method that quantifies the abundance of faunal remains by counting all identifiable bone fragments or specimens in an assemblage. Formalized by R. E. Chaplin and later refined by Donald Grayson and others, NISP is the most straightforward and widely used quantification metric in zooarchaeology. Despite its simplicity, NISP is sensitive to both cultural and taphonomic factors that affect preservation, fragmentation, and identification of bone assemblages.

Sources recorded, not reviewed

Source record

Citations copied verbatim from the method’s source record. No claim-level verification is inferred from them.

Number of Identified Specimens (NISP)
Taxonomic method record · process-pipeline / archaeology
  • Chaplin, R. E. (1971). The Study of Animal Bones from Archaeological Sites. Seminar Press. · URL
  • Grayson, D. K. (1984). Quantitative Zooarchaeology. Academic Press. · URL
  • Lyman, R. L. (2008). Quantitative Paleozoology. University of Chicago Press. · DOI 10.1017/cbo9780511813863
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Related methods

Generated from the method graph and shown as machine-suggested relations — no evidence claim is inferred.

Same method familyDental Microwear Texture Analysismachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.Same method familyGeometric Morphometricsmachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.Taxonomic bucketMinimum Number of Individualsmachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.Same method familyUse-Wear Analysismachine-suggested · Relational suggestion, not evidence.

Evidence status

Sources recorded, not reviewed

Bibliographic sources are present. Claim-level evidence review has not been performed.

Sources

3 recorded citations, copied from the method source record.

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