Wild animals as resources: A zooarchaeological meta-analysis of deer exploitation during the Bronze and Iron Ages (3600–586 BCE) in the Southern Levant

Abstract

This paper explores the use of wild animals in the southern Levant during the Bronze and Iron Ages (3600–586 BCE), with a particular focus on deer. Our research examines how deer exploitation reflects the interplay between the environmental conditions and cultural practices of past societies in the region. To address our research questions, we employed a multifaceted approach that includes the analysis of the relative abundance of deer across more than 140 zooarchaeological assemblages, spatial density analysis to understand diachronic and regional patterns, correlations between annual precipitation and deer abundance, and multivariate statistics. These methods enable us to examine regional and diachronic variation in the role of deer within subsistence economies and for non-economic use. Our findings highlight several key insights: first, motivations for hunting deer stemmed from diverse factors that varied diachronically; second, assemblages containing a higher abundance of deer bones were typically located close to water sources or in areas with higher humidity; and third, deer meat, bones, and antlers were used for non-subsistence purposes, including but not limited to markers of social prestige, ritual activities, and medicinal practices.