Minimum number of individuals from osteological samples

The author criticizes the usual methods of calculating the minimum number of individuals from osteological materials. His point of departure is that biassed samples, exemplified by numerical differences between left and right bones of a certain type, contain information on the size of the originally deposited material. The problem is described by a hypergeometric probability model. The model is applied to some previously published osteological materials. The author demonstrates that the least possible number of individuals is considerably higher than the number of the more frequently occurring bones.