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Animal domestication led to changes in the interaction between animals and humans, including new ways of exploitation, which could potentially leave lesions on the animals' bones. This study aims to examine changes in the prevalence of pathological manifestation following changes in human‐animal interactions as a result their domestication. For this purpose, we studied 19,565 animal remains recovered from archaeological excavations, dated from the Pre‐Pottery Neolithic period to historical periods and assigned the pathologies into types. Of these, 60 animal remains presented pathological lesions. The suspected pathological cases were validated using a microscope, X‐ray, and/or micro‐CT scan. Lesions were divided into four categories: trauma, aging/musculoskeletal stress marks (MSM), periodontal diseases, and inflammatory processes. Then, our database was combined with previously published data to a total of 26,596 animal remains, out of which 128 demonstrated pathological lesions. We found that the prevalence of lesions in animals was higher in the historical periods compared with prehistoric periods. Moreover, based on a comparison between recent gazelles living in captivity and those living in the wild, we found that captivity resulted in the deterioration of the animals' health. We concluded that pathologies were more frequent in livestock in historic periods, in comparison with wild species and livestock from earlier periods. Such lesions were common not only in working livestock (cattle and donkeys) but also in non‐working domesticates (caprines and chickens) and companion animals (dogs and cats). Variations in the pathological frequencies between these three categories may be attributed to differences in exploitation, including the intensification of farming and herding. Finally, this study provides a unique reference dataset for zooarchaeologists when studying ancient animal assemblages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faunal remains from Ḥorvat Tevet, a site located in the rural hinterlands of the Jezreel Valley, reveal patterns of a complex redistributive apparatus during the Late Iron IIA. This paper assesses a large assemblage of animal bones within inter- and intra-site comparative analyses. Inter-site comparisons to contemporary sites in the northern valleys of Israel demonstrate that the agricultural production of grain and animal by-products at Ḥorvat Tevet is unprecedented and went far beyond the site's local needs. Further, an intra-site comparison reveals a hierarchical distinction in the consumption patterns between elites and the labour force. These results further reinforce the conclusion that the late Iron IIA Ḥorvat Tevet was an administrative centre of a royal Israelite estate in the Jezreel Valley. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeological and historical sources describe differently the course of events that occurred during the Islamic conquest of Jerusalem. Was the transition from the Byzantine to the Islamic period a short and dramatic event or a long and steady process? This study aims to examine the Islamic cultural influences over Jerusalem during the Byzantine/Umayyad period and later post-earthquake of the 8th century CE. Thus, we carried out a study of Mount Zion's (seasons 2018 and 2019) faunal assemblages, analyzing the species discovered at the site, their demography and distribution between the different architectural contexts. The focus was on evaluating the cultural identity and economic preferences of the local population. The remains we found indicate that the economy was based mainly on caprines, pigs and fish. As the site was located inside the Jerusalem walls, the locals gained their meat supply from the local markets and might have been involved in agriculture outside the walls. Although the site experienced architectural alterations between the two periods, the Christian population remained, and their faunal economy did not change from the Byzantine period till after the earthquake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The popular image of metalworking sites in desert settings envisages armies of slaves engaged in back-breaking labour. This is in conflict with ethnographic evidence indicating that skilled specialist metalworkers are often accorded high social status. This study approaches that contradiction directly by studying the remains of domesticated food animals from domestic and industrial contexts at Timna in southern Israel. The authors demonstrate that the higher-value meat cuts come from industrial contexts, where they were associated with the specialist metalworkers, rather than the 'domestic contexts occupied by lower status workers engaged in support roles. It is suggested that the pattern documented here could also have been a feature of early metalworking sites in other times and places. Keywords: Timna, Wadi Arabah, copper smelting, faunal analysis, Egyptians, craft specialists, social status, Introduction Metalworkers in ancient societies played a substantial role which is yet to be fully understood (e.g. Ehrenreich 1991). Various sources can be drawn upon, including ethnographic studies (e.g. Bisson [...]

By the Late Bronze and Iron Ages in the southern Levant, livestock animals were the dominant meat source, and wild animals constituted a very small supplementary proportion of economy. As a result, wild animals often receive limited attention in studies of these periods. This article aims to examine the role of wild animals based on a large body of published zooarchaeological data. By studying temporal changes in species presence and frequencies, the study tracks the local diminution in several wild species; reveals a clear preference for hunting deer in sites of the Iron Ages, regardless of changes in local landscape; and shows that various other wild animals can be correlated to assemblages that are identified with Egyptian presence. Based on these observations and with correlation to historic events and cultural changes, wild animals' roles in the economic and symbolic world of past societies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]