Faunal Analyses in the Near East: scope and limitations

Abstract

Faunal studies are an integral part of archaeological research in the Near East. The questions the excavation can address through the use of animal remains is conceptually broad and methodologically varied. In order for those analyses to be of use, however, one needs to build a framework which could serve as a comparative testground for specific results. In this paper we comment briefly on some of the problems of archaeozoological assemblages on the NEar East during the transition to sedentary life.