Provisioning urbanism: a comparative urban-rural zooarchaeology of ancient Southwest Asia

Gaastra, Jane S.; Lawrence, Dan; Tumolo, Valentina

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 findings 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 find 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.

Citation

Gaastra, J. S., Lawrence, D., & Tumolo, V. (2024). Provisioning urbanism: a comparative urban-rural zooarchaeology of ancient Southwest Asia. Antiquity, 98(398), https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.24

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 30, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Apr 9, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024-04
• Deposit Date: Apr 9, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 10, 2024
• Journal: Antiquity
• Print ISSN: 0003-598X
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 98
• Issue: 398
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.24
• Keywords: Levant; Mesopotamia; Middle East; food production; land use; urbanism; zooarchaeology
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2380378