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15.1: Articulating MNI in the Cranium

  • Page ID
    138561
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    Colorful strings connect labeled cards in a network diagram, illustrating various anatomical or functional relationships.
    Example of activity to represent cranial articulations
    • Format: In-person or online
    • Author: Rebecca J. Gilmour
    • Time needed: 20-50 minutes

    Supplies Needed

    • Decks of cards labelled with skull bones (directions and template provided)
    • Pipe cleaners
    • Optional: Cranial pictures, online 3D model of a skull, or a cast of a skull (e.g. magnetic osteological teaching skull)

    Readings

    • Kendell, Ashley, Alex Perrone, and Colleen Milligan. 2019. Chapter 15: Bioarchaeology and Forensic Anthropology. Explorations
    • Organ, Jason and Jessica Byram. 2019. Appendix A: Osteology. Explorations.

    Introduction

    This activity utilizes decks of homemade cards to represent cranial elements that could be found in a skeletal assemblage. Students (in groups or as individuals) analyze a unique assortment of these cards to establish the minimum number of individuals (MNI) represented in that skeletal assemblage. Students also use these cards and pipe cleaners to visually represent all the articulations and sutures in the human skull. Students will then discuss their experiences and challenges, and connect this activity to practices in bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology.

    Preparation of Card Decks

    • Make a variety of color coded card decks (see photo below for examples). Each color deck represents a single complete skull. The colors are a symbolic way to represent actual skeletal differences, such as differences in body size, coloration, osteological age, and preservation. To make this a little more challenging, be sure to make multiple complete skull decks in the same color (i.e., three full decks of blue). This allows students to make MNI interpretations based not only on color (easy-level), but also on duplicate elements (more challenging and more realistic).
    • Within each color deck/individual skull, you will label cards with the terms below (see the template at the end of this document). Punch holes into each card to represent the total number of articulations that the bone should have (number of holes per card indicated in brackets next to the bone label).
      • Left parietal (5)
      • Right parietal (5)
      • Left temporal (4)
      • Right temporal (4)
      • Left zygomatic (4)
      • Right zygomatic (4)
      • Left maxilla (4)
      • Right maxilla (4)
      • Ethmoid (4)
      • Sphenoid (9)
      • Frontal (8)
      • Occipital (5)
    VWWM3_5dauYqulBa_fWN0EmRrnNor7tuSgiu07QvLqVSa0wvp_PVFPiuzLg0xueVyY_yYjf5WHZQPjl6oy7jiyP3vyOoQC4OqAD0Cn1BNG6g2kXIgIJT-FwAzTVD11MYqtcm_8RtQno
    Color coded decks can be coded using different imagery, card stock, etc. Note different numbers and patterns of punched holes. Color coded decks with holes punched photos by Rebecca Gilmour original to Explorations Lab and Activities Manual is under a CC BY-NC 4.0 License.

    Steps

    • Prior to the activity, shuffle all the decks of cards together, mixing up the multiple individuals.
    • Distribute stacks of shuffled cards to groups or individuals around the class.
    • First, have the students work to establish MNI.
      • This is most easily achieved by first sorting the decks by color, and next looking for duplicates within and between the colors. If, for example, there are two blue, one orange, and one green ethmoid, the MNI would be four.
    • Once the groups have established their MNI, have a group discussion about their experiences and challenges. Relate this schematic exercise to practical MNI estimation on actual archaeological assemblages.
      • It is worth addressing at this point how the color coded cards oversimplify variation; discuss with the class the types of variation we might be looking for in actual archaeological assemblages (e.g. growth and development differences, body size differences, taphonomic differences).
      • Also discuss preservation: You have dealt complete skulls, what happens if only part of an element is present?
    • Have the students trade cards to make complete decks for each individual. The next stage will involve refitting the skull bones to learn their complex articulations.
    • Distribute pipe-cleaners to the students. Have the students use the pipe cleaners to connect the elements that would articulate in real life. Note: Students may find this easier if they keep the pipe cleaners longer with looser articulations rather than trying to create a 3D model (see photos below).
    • Instruct students to identify and name each suture as it has been stylized in their cranial-spider-sculpture. They should try to first refit bones and name sutures unaided, but after attempting this, they may compare their schematic sculpture to cranial pictures (or an online 3D model) of a human skull.
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    Three photo examples of articulated elements assignment by Rebecca Gilmour original to Explorations Lab and Activities Manual is under a CC BY-NC 4.0 License.

    Examples of articulated elements assignment. All correct articulations are depicted in the left image.

    Review Questions

    • Discuss your experiences with this activity. What did you learn?
    • What challenges did you have with this activity?
    • Would these challenges be similar with actual osteological assemblages? What additional challenges might be present? Discuss the types of variation that might be present including growth and development differences, body size differences, and taphonomic differences. Also be sure to discuss preservation and what happens if only part of an element is present.

    Adapting for Online Learning

    Rank how adaptable to online learning it would be: Easy to adapt

    This exercise can be adapted for online using slides or documents.

    Instructors can create text boxes (with different colored outlines or fonts) and insert the name of a specific element (e.g., Right Temporal). Students will be able to move and manipulate these text boxes, connecting them using digitally drawn lines to demonstrate articulations. For the MNI portion of the exercise, simply insert duplicates and triplicates of the same elements (remember that these should be color coded; one color = one individual) so students learn to first group and look for these multiple bone copies to establish MNI.

    For Further Exploration

    • eSkeletons-human skull. Department of Anthropology. University of Texas, Austin. http://www.eskeletons.org/boneviewer/nid/12537/region/skull/bone/cranium
    • Essential Skeleton 4 App. 3D4Medical from Elsevier. (This app is a free medical app that covers the human skeleton’s basic anatomy and allows users to investigate and fly through a 3D rendering of the human skeleton.)

    References

    1. Kendell, Ashley, Alex Perrone, and Colleen Milligan 2019. “Chapter 15: Bioarchaeology and Forensic Anthropology.” In Explorations: An Open Invitation to Biological Anthropology, edited by Beth Shook, Katie Nelson, Kelsie Aguilera, and Lara Braff. Arlington, VA: American Anthropological Association. http://explorations.americananthro.org/
    2. Organ, Jason and Jessica Byram. 2019. “Appendix A: Osteology.” In Explorations: An Open Invitation to Biological Anthropology, edited by Beth Shook, Katie Nelson, Kelsie Aguilera, and Lara Braff. Arlington, VA: American Anthropological Association. http://explorations.americananthro.org/

    This page titled 15.1: Articulating MNI in the Cranium was last modified on Fri, 03 Jul 2026 04:53:32 GMT and is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Rebecca J. Gilmour via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.