Provisioning urbanism: a comparative urban-rural zooarchaeology of ancient Southwest Asia
Author(s)
Date Issued
2024
Type
article
Volume
98
Issue
398
Start Page
363
End Page
379
Journal
Abstract
Historically, urban centres are seen as consumers that
draw in labour and resources from their rural hinterlands.
Zooarchaeological studies of key urban sites in
Southwest Asia demonstrate the movement of livestock,
but the region-wide application of these fndings
has not been tested and the logistics of urban
provisioning remain poorly understood. Here, the
authors analyse zooarchaeological data from 245
sites in the Levant and Mesopotamia to examine patterns
of livestock production and consumption over a
5000-year period. They fnd that although preferences
varied over time and space, urban sites consistently
relied on rural satellites to overcome local
limitations to support their large and diverse
populations.
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