Fish Remains MNI Analysis
The data files MNI-PECES.TXT and MNI-PECES.XLS provide the counts of fish remains for the four excavated units (6A, 6B, 8 and 9) by Stratigraphic Unit (S.U.). The remains were identified at the species (in italics) and family (in upper case) levels. Only diagnostic bones like otoliths, head bones, and vertebrae were used to identify all taxa. After the taxa were identified, the abundance of each taxon was calculated first by the number of identifiable specimens (NISP). For the MNI a series of indicators were applied using the highest estimate available counts of single, paired or multiple elements. The left and right otoliths, the number of right and left head bones, the presence of first and last vertebrae and the number of vertebrae (abdominal and caudal) where used to estimate MNI. In cases with a low NISP count, the MNI sometimes could not be determined (a "hyphen" was reported instead for the particular taxon). MNI-PECES.TXT is a comma delimited ASCII text file, while MNI-PECES.XLS contains the same data in the form of an Excel spreadsheet. Each line in the ASCII file corresponds to a ceramic type within a given lot. There are 573 lines, each with 27 variables separated by commas. The variables are listed in the following order:
| 1 |
Stratigraphic Unit (S.U.). A natural or cultural layer or feature, sequentially numbered within an excavation unit, where the alphanumeric part to the left of the period identifies the unit, and the digits to the right of the period identify the layer or feature.
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| 2 |
MNI counts of leonora (Spanish common name; marblefish in English) (Family: APLODACTYLIDAE; Genus species: Aplodactylus punctatus). |
| 3 |
MNI counts of bagre (Spanish common name; catfish in English) (Family: ARIIDAE; Genus species: Galeichthys peruvianus). |
| 4 |
MNI counts of jurel (Spanish common name; jack mackerel in English) (Family: CARANGIDAE; Genus species: Trachurus murphyi). |
| 5 |
MNI counts of tiburón (Spanish common name; sharks in English) (Family: CARCHARHINIDAE). |
| 6 |
MNI counts of cojinoba (Spanish common name; palm ruff in English) (Family: CENTROLOPHIDAE; Genus species: Seriolella violacea). |
| 7 |
MNI counts of sardina (Spanish common name; sardine in English) (Family: CLUPEIDAE; Genus species: Sardinops sagax). |
| 8 |
MNI counts of machete (Spanish common name; menhaden in English) (Family: CLUPEIDAE; Genus species: Ethmidium maculatum). |
| 9 |
MNI counts of anchoveta (Spanish common name; anchovy in English) (Family: ENGRAULIDAE; Genus species: Engraulis ringens). |
| 10 |
MNI counts of cabinza (Spanish common name; cabinza grunt in English) (Family: HAEMULIDAE; Genus species: Isacia conceptionis). |
| 11 |
MNI counts of chita (Spanish common name; Peruvian grunt in English) (Family: HAEMULIDAE; Genus species: Anisotremus scapularis). |
| 12 |
MNI counts of raya (Spanish common name; eagle ray in English) (Family: MYLIOBATIDAE; Genus species: Myliobatis sp.). |
| 13 |
MNI counts of lorna (Spanish common name; drum in English) (Family: SCIAENIDAE; Genus species: Sciaena deliciosa.). |
| 14 |
MNI counts of corvina (Spanish common name; drum in English) (Family: SCIAENIDAE; Genus species: Cilus gilberti). |
| 15 |
MNI counts of corvina del norte (Spanish common name; northern weakfish in English) (Family: SCIAENIDAE; Genus species: Cynoscion sp.). |
| 16 |
MNI counts of cachema (Spanish common name; weakfish in English) (Family: SCIAENIDAE; Genus species: Cynoscion analis). |
| 17 |
MNI counts of coco (Spanish common name; coco croaker in English) (Family: SCIAENIDAE; Genus species: Paralonchurus peruanus). |
| 18 |
MNI counts of burro (Spanish common name; arnillo drum in English) (Family: SCIAENIDAE; Genus species: Cheilotrema fasciatum). |
| 19 |
MNI counts of mis-mis (Spanish common name; mismis kingcroaker in English) (Family: SCIAENIDAE; Genus species: Menticirrhus ophicephalus). |
| 20 |
MNI counts of bonito (Spanish common name; Eastern Pacific bonito in English) (Family: SCOMBRIDAE; Genus species: Sarda chiliensis). |
| 21 |
MNI counts of tollo (Spanish common name; speckled smooth-hound in English) (Family: TRIAKIDAE; Genus species: Mustelus mento). |
| 22 |
MNI counts of tollo (Spanish common name; smooth-hounds in English) (Family: TRIAKIDAE; Genus species: Mustelus spp.). |
| 23 |
MNI counts of tramboyo (Spanish common name) (Family: LABRISOMIDAE; Genus species: Auchenionchus variolosus). |
| 24 |
MNI counts of cherlo (Spanish common name; brick seabass in English) (Family: SERRANIDAE; Genus species: Acanthistius pictus). |
| 25 |
MNI counts of cabrilla (Spanish common name; Peruvian rock seabass in English) (Family: SERRANIDAE; Genus species: Paralabrax humeralis). |
| 26 |
MNI counts of unidentified fish remains. |
| 27 |
Total MNI counts of fish remains per Stratigraphic Unit. |
The first line of the ASCII text file, for example, looks like this:
6A.2,,,1,,,1,,1,,,,1,1,,,,1,,,,,,,,,6
Which means that the fish remains came from S.U. 6A.2. One MNI of jurel (jack mackerel; Family: CARANGIDAE; Genus species: Trachurus murphyi), 1 MNI of sardina (sardine; Family: CLUPEIDAE; Genus species: Sardinops sagax), 1 MNI of anchoveta (anchovy; Family: ENGRAULIDAE; Genus species: Engraulis ringens), 1 MNI of lorna (drum; Family: SCIAENIDAE; Genus species: Sciaena deliciosa), 1 MNI of corvina (drum; Family: SCIAENIDAE; Genus species: Cilus gilberti), and 1 MNI of burro (arnillo drum; Family: SCIAENIDAE; Genus species: Cheilotrema fasciatum) were identified. A total of 6 MNI counts were identified in this S.U.
The last, or 573rd line of the ASCII text file is:
9.46,,,,,,1,,1,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,2
Which means that the fish remains came from S.U. 9.46. One MNI of sardina (sardine; Family: CLUPEIDAE; Genus species: Sardinops sagax) and 1 MNI of anchoveta (anchovy; Family: ENGRAULIDAE; Genus species: Engraulis ringens) were identified. A total of 2 MNI counts were identified in this S.U.
Download the file MNI-PECES.TXT (21 KB) or the file MNI-PECES.XLS (137 KB).
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