Urbanization and the Organization of Animal Production at Tell Jemmeh in the Middle Bronze Age Levant

Wapnish, Paula; Hesse, Brian

doi:10.1086/373259

Cited by 34 publications

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“…However, very little attention has been given to the movement of animal resources from hinterlands to urban centres (Smith 2004) and there is little agreement in the literature about the nature of animal product provisioning in the earliest cities. The various archaeological models of animal product provisioning proposed for early cities range from generalised to specialised provisioning (Maltby 1985;Wapnish and Hesse 1988;Wattenmaker 1987a, b;andspecifically, Zeder 1988, 1991). Further, Crabtree's (1990) discussion of the examination of provisioning systems between urban and rural areas highlights the need to examine both the urban (consumer) and the rural (producer) sites for complementary patterns.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, any analysis must allow for the possibility of a variety of sources and/or producer sites/groups to provision an urban centre. As Wapnish and Hesse (1988) note, it is difficult to evaluate both the emergence of producing economies and consumption economies if one is examining only one site. However, with the introduction of the isotopic analyses of the domestic animals that would have been involved in this mobility, we overcome some of these limitations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, if milk is a key product for consumption at the site, dairy herds would need to be maintained in relatively close proximity to the site (cf. Wapnish and Hesse 1988). Milk is not well suited to an indirect system of distribution (Zeder 1991).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Specialised economies can serve as a means of regional integration (Zeder 1991;Wapnish and Hesse 1988). The export or import of domestic stock can be used as evidence of increasing economic specialization since a network of exchange would be necessary to integrate communities that specialize in production (Wapnish and Hesse 1988).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The export or import of domestic stock can be used as evidence of increasing economic specialization since a network of exchange would be necessary to integrate communities that specialize in production (Wapnish and Hesse 1988). The presence of non-local animals in the Tell es-Safi/Gath sample indicates that a small percentage of animals were brought to the site from regions much further afield, including as far away as Egypt (Arnold et al 2016;Shai et al 2016b).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Provisioning the Early Bronze Age City of Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel: Isotopic Analyses of Domestic Livestock Management Patterns

Arnold¹,

Greenfield²,

Hartman³

et al. 2018

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It is often assumed that domestic animals in early urban Near Eastern centres either are a reflection of the local pastoral economy, or were raised at a distance by pastoral specialists. In this paper, we test these assumptions through detailed isotopic analyses (carbon, oxygen and strontium) of caprines (sheep and goat) from Tell es-Safi/Gath, an Early Bronze Age urban centre in central Israel. The isotopic analyses demonstrate that the bulk of the caprines were raised within the general vicinity of the site, suggesting that the majority of food resources were largely produced at the local level, within the territory of the city-state, and not at a distance by specialised pastoralists. It is the rare specimen that comes from a great distance and would have entered the local system through long distance trade networks.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Provisioning the Early Bronze Age City of Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel: Isotopic Analyses of Domestic Livestock Management Patterns

Arnold¹,

Greenfield²,

Hartman³

et al. 2018

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Geography and Economic Preferences as Cultural Markers in a Border Town: The Faunal Remains from Tel Beth‐Shemesh, Israel

Tamar

Bar-Oz

Bunimovitz

et al. 2013

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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We present a zooarchaeological analysis of the faunal remains at Tel Beth-Shemesh, a site located in the Shephelah region of Israel, which has been dated to the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age I. The site, identified as the biblical city of Beth-Shemesh, was a Canaanite border town between Philistine and Israelite settlements and of great importance in our attempts to understand the social and cultural transformations that occurred in the southern Levant during those periods. This study contributes to a more accurate understanding of the cultural identity of the site's inhabitants by exploring the cultural differences between populations as reflected in their different dietary preferences. We analysed the subsistence economy at the site, the general exploitation patterns, herd management strategies and consumption practices, all of which are based mostly on domestic livestock. We determined the cultural identity at the site mainly by comparing the representation of pig remains with that found at other sites in the region, and offer various explanations for the differences. The comparisons revealed clear differences between Tel Beth-Shemesh and other known nearby Philistine sites. This site appears to have possessed a self-contained production and consumption economy with similarities in the general pattern of animal exploitation between the two periods. These similarities constitute evidence for the continuation of the local population and of its culture at the site during the period of turmoil that swept the region during the transition to the Iron Age.

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Animal resource exploitation at the Huadizui site on the eve of state formation in China (1850–1750 BC)

Liu

Yuan

et al. 2023

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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The Xinzhai period (1850–1750 BC) was on the eve of state formation. Abundant animal remains unearthed from the Huadizui site provide new key materials for a comprehensive understanding of animal resource utilization at that time. At Huadizui, the exploitation of pigs and sheep shows a meat‐oriented utilization. The exploitation of secondary products for sheep and cattle was absent. The activities of raising, hunting and consuming large bovines were less efficient but served as significant approaches to demonstrate the wealth or prestige of elites. In contrast, the Xinzhai site, a potential capital during Xinzhai Period, saw newly intensified and specialized animal exploitation, especially for secondary products. This differentiation in animal exploitation appeared earlier than state formation, suggesting the new intensified manner of animal utilization, that is, the exploitation of secondary products, may have been a critical force in sustaining the crucial political shift. This study contributes to our understanding of the role of animal exploitation in the process of state formation.

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Urbanization and the Organization of Animal Production at Tell Jemmeh in the Middle Bronze Age Levant

Cited by 34 publications

References 0 publications

Provisioning the Early Bronze Age City of Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel: Isotopic Analyses of Domestic Livestock Management Patterns

Provisioning the Early Bronze Age City of Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel: Isotopic Analyses of Domestic Livestock Management Patterns

Geography and Economic Preferences as Cultural Markers in a Border Town: The Faunal Remains from Tel Beth‐Shemesh, Israel

Animal resource exploitation at the Huadizui site on the eve of state formation in China (1850–1750 BC)

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