Walker/Life on the Farm, 7.3. Land Use and Foodways: The Zooarchaeological Remains

The study of animal bones from archaeological sites has become a well- developed research field. There remain, however, some chronological periods in specific geographic areas which need larger datasets to accurately reconstruct the interactions between humans and animals in the past. The sample analyzed here represents a contribution to this issue and adds to the existing zooar chaeological studies concentrated on the Mamluk, Ottoman, and British Mandate periods in Israel and the surrounding countries. Khirbet Beit Mazmīl is a rural site on the outskirts of Jerusalem, which has provided clear evidence for the relationship between humans and animals. The faunal remains provide the kind of evidence about everyday life that is not usually described in the available written sources.