مقایسهٔ روش‌ها

	تعداد نمونه‌های شناسایی‌شده	حداقل تعداد افراد
حوزه	باستان‌شناسی	باستان‌شناسی
خانواده	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
سال پیدایش	1971	1953
پدیدآور	R. E. Chaplin	Theodore White
نوع	Faunal quantification method	Faunal quantification method
منبع بنیادین	Chaplin, R. E. (1971). The Study of Animal Bones from Archaeological Sites. Seminar Press.	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.
نام‌های دیگر	NISP method, specimen count	MNI method, minimum individual number
مرتبط	4	4
خلاصه	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.	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.