Animal Bones from Ḥorbat Ṭarbenet

The faunal assemblage from Horbat Tarbenet represents tertiary deposition of faunal remains and associated sediments and finds. This is suggested not only by the mixed chronology and nature of all types of material remains, but also by the fauna, which comprises primarily beasts of burden, such as equids and camels. Asses, horses and camels are usually excluded from kitchen waste, and their carcasses are often thrown away in the settlement’s periphery. The high frequencies of fractures on already-dry bone, and carnivore gnawing marks, also suggest a deposition scenario that includes little human processing of bones for food and early discard some distance away from the main activity areas of the settlement, where scavenging dogs had access to the bones. The high frequency of older (probably draft) cattle may indicate that the livestock animals slaughtered in ?orbat ?arbenet originated in an economic system that prioritized agriculture over the traditional agro-pastoral economy. In all Byzantine faunal assemblages known to me, however, sheep and goats outnumber cattle (with the exception of Bab al- Hawa; Raphael and Lernau 1996). This observation, however, should be treated with care due to the uncertain context in which the bones were found, i.e., the fill probably does not represent the site’s economy.