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Wool they, won’t they: Zooarchaeological perspectives on the political and subsistence economies of wool in northern Mesopotamia (2024)
Journal Article
Price, M. D., & Wolfhagen, J. (2024). Wool they, won’t they: Zooarchaeological perspectives on the political and subsistence economies of wool in northern Mesopotamia. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 74, Article 101590. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2024.101590

An important facet in the study of complex societies involves documenting how the extraction of resources to support political structures (the political economy) impacted the subsistence economy of everyday life. Caprine production was a central feat... Read More about Wool they, won’t they: Zooarchaeological perspectives on the political and subsistence economies of wool in northern Mesopotamia.

Towards an antifragility framework in past human–environment dynamics (2023)
Journal Article
Jaffe, Y., Caramanica, A., & Price, M. D. (2023). Towards an antifragility framework in past human–environment dynamics. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 10(1), Article 915. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02413-3

Scholarship on human–environment interactions tends to fall under two headings: collapse or resilience. While both offer valid explanatory frameworks for human–environment dynamics, both view stress as a net negative that, if unchecked, disrupts syst... Read More about Towards an antifragility framework in past human–environment dynamics.

Ending the war on error: towards an archaeology of failure (2023)
Journal Article
Price, M., & Jaffe, Y. (2023). Ending the war on error: towards an archaeology of failure. Antiquity, 97(396), 1598-1606. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2023.120

Failure is a fundamental part of the human condition. While archaeologists readily identify large-scale failures, such as societal collapse and site abandonment, they less frequently consider the smaller failures of everyday life: the burning of a me... Read More about Ending the war on error: towards an archaeology of failure.

The Southern Levantine pig from domestication to Romanization: A biometrical approach (2023)
Journal Article
Price, M. D., Perry-Gal, L., & Reshef, H. (2023). The Southern Levantine pig from domestication to Romanization: A biometrical approach. Journal of Archaeological Science, 157(September), Article 105828. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2023.105828

Zooarchaeological research has begun to expose the long and complex history of the pig in the southern Levant. In this paper, we present the first large-scale synthesis of biometrical data from pigs and wild boar in the southern Levant from sites dat... Read More about The Southern Levantine pig from domestication to Romanization: A biometrical approach.

Wealth in Livestock, Wealth in People, and the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Jordan (2023)
Journal Article
Price, M., & Makarewicz, C. A. (2023). Wealth in Livestock, Wealth in People, and the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Jordan. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, https://doi.org/10.1017/s0959774323000136

Within archaeology, the value of livestock is usually presented in terms of use values, the calories and products animals provide humans. Yet domestic animals are also sources of wealth that accrue symbolic and social values, tying livestock producti... Read More about Wealth in Livestock, Wealth in People, and the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Jordan.

The Political Economy of Livestock in Early States (2022)
Journal Article
Corcoran-Tadd, N., Price, M., & Caramanica, A. (2023). The Political Economy of Livestock in Early States. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 33(1), 119-136. https://doi.org/10.1017/s095977432200021x

Animals were central elements in many early state political economies. Yet the roles of livestock in building and financing the state generally remain under-theorized, particularly in comparison with other major elements such as crop intensification... Read More about The Political Economy of Livestock in Early States.

Animal Production and Secondary Products in the Fifth Millennium BC in northern Mesopotamia (2021)
Journal Article
Price, M., Fisher, M., & Stein, G. (2021). Animal Production and Secondary Products in the Fifth Millennium BC in northern Mesopotamia. Paléorient (En ligne), 47(2), 9-41. https://doi.org/10.4000/paleorient.1032

Abstract. Current anthropological and archaeological research posits a strong role for livestock in the development of economic specialization and social inequality in the ancient Near East. We examine animal production in the Ubaid through Late Chal... Read More about Animal Production and Secondary Products in the Fifth Millennium BC in northern Mesopotamia.

Canine Economies of the Ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean (2020)
Journal Article
Price, M., Meier, J., & Arbuckle, B. (2021). Canine Economies of the Ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean. Journal of Field Archaeology, 46(2), 81-92. https://doi.org/10.1080/00934690.2020.1848322

Archaeological assemblages, texts, and iconography indicate a multifaceted, yet often ignored, canine economy in the ancient eastern Mediterranean and Near East. This economy included not only dogs’ celebrated roles as hunting aids, guards, village s... Read More about Canine Economies of the Ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean.

Fodder, pasture, and the development of complex society in the Chalcolithic: isotopic perspectives on animal husbandry at Marj Rabba (2020)
Journal Article
Price, M., Rowan, Y. M., Kersel, M. M., & Makarewicz, C. A. (2020). Fodder, pasture, and the development of complex society in the Chalcolithic: isotopic perspectives on animal husbandry at Marj Rabba. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 12(4), Article 95. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-020-01043-z

The emergence of social complexity in the Southern Levant during the Chalcolithic (c. 4500–3600 cal. BC) was intimately tied to intensification in animal management. For the first time, secondary products such as milk and wool were intensively exploi... Read More about Fodder, pasture, and the development of complex society in the Chalcolithic: isotopic perspectives on animal husbandry at Marj Rabba.

The Archaeology of Pig Domestication in Eurasia (2019)
Journal Article
Price, M., & Hongo, H. (2020). The Archaeology of Pig Domestication in Eurasia. Journal of Archaeological Research, 28(4), 557-615. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10814-019-09142-9

The multifaceted behavioral and ecological flexibility of pigs and wild boar (Sus scrofa) makes study of their domestication both complex and of broad anthropological significance. While recognizing contextual contingency, we propose several “pathway... Read More about The Archaeology of Pig Domestication in Eurasia.

Long-term morphological changes and evolving human-pig relations in the northern Fertile Crescent from 11,000 to 2000 cal. bc (2017)
Journal Article
Price, M. D., & Evin, A. (2019). Long-term morphological changes and evolving human-pig relations in the northern Fertile Crescent from 11,000 to 2000 cal. bc. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 11(1), 237-251. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-017-0536-z

The pig (Sus scrofa) was one of the earliest animals in the ancient Middle East to undergo domestication. Scholars have long been interested in the pig’s unique history, especially in the northern Fertile Crescent (NFC), the region in which the first... Read More about Long-term morphological changes and evolving human-pig relations in the northern Fertile Crescent from 11,000 to 2000 cal. bc.

Pigs and the pastoral bias: The other animal economy in northern Mesopotamia (3000–2000 BCE) (2017)
Journal Article
Price, M., Grossman, K., & Paulette, T. (2017). Pigs and the pastoral bias: The other animal economy in northern Mesopotamia (3000–2000 BCE). Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 48, 46-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2017.06.001

Discussion of the animal economy in Mesopotamia has been subject to a persistent, pastoral bias. Most general treatments assume that the Early Bronze Age (ca. 3000–2000 BCE) animal economy was dominated by the herding of sheep and goats. An examinati... Read More about Pigs and the pastoral bias: The other animal economy in northern Mesopotamia (3000–2000 BCE).

A probabilistic model for distinguishing between sheep and goat postcranial remains (2017)
Journal Article
Wolfhagen, J., & Price, M. D. (2017). A probabilistic model for distinguishing between sheep and goat postcranial remains. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 12, 625-631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.02.022

Distinguishing morphologically-similar taxa is a perennial problem for zooarchaeologists. As an example, zooarchaeological methods to distinguish sheep and goat bones are limited by the fact that diagnostic traits are not exclusive to each species. F... Read More about A probabilistic model for distinguishing between sheep and goat postcranial remains.

Gazelles, Liminality, and Chalcolithic Ritual: A Case Study from Marj Rabba, Israel (2016)
Journal Article
Price, M. D., Hill, A. C., Rowan, Y. M., & Kersel, M. M. (2016). Gazelles, Liminality, and Chalcolithic Ritual: A Case Study from Marj Rabba, Israel. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 376, 7-27. https://doi.org/10.5615/bullamerschoorie.376.0007

Endangered today, gazelles were both economically and symbolically important to the peoples of the ancient Near East. In various contexts, the gazelle has represented liminality, death, and rebirth. Gazelles held special significance in the southern... Read More about Gazelles, Liminality, and Chalcolithic Ritual: A Case Study from Marj Rabba, Israel.

Confidence Intervals in the Analysis of Mortality and Survivorship Curves in Zooarchaeology (2016)
Journal Article
Price, M., Wolfhagen, J., & Otárola-Castillo, E. (2016). Confidence Intervals in the Analysis of Mortality and Survivorship Curves in Zooarchaeology. American Antiquity, 81(1), 157-173. https://doi.org/10.7183/0002-7316.81.1.157

The analysis of age-at-death data, derived from epiphyseal fusion and dental eruption/wear patterns, is one of the most powerful tools at the disposal of zooarchaeologists studying past hunting and herd management practices. Zooarchaeologists typical... Read More about Confidence Intervals in the Analysis of Mortality and Survivorship Curves in Zooarchaeology.

Animal Management Strategies during the Chalcolithic in the Lower Galilee: New Data from Marj Rabba (2013)
Journal Article
Price, M., Buckley, M., Kersel, M., & Rowan, Y. (2013). Animal Management Strategies during the Chalcolithic in the Lower Galilee: New Data from Marj Rabba. Paléorient (En ligne), 39(2), 183-200

The Chalcolithic period in the Southern Levant witnessed increasing social differentiation and economic specialization. Some of the most important sources of economic specialization were animal products, particularly the secondary products of sheep,... Read More about Animal Management Strategies during the Chalcolithic in the Lower Galilee: New Data from Marj Rabba.

Early Pig Management in the Zagros Flanks: Reanalysis of the Fauna from Neolithic Jarmo, Northern Iraq (2013)
Journal Article
Price, M., & Arbuckle, B. (2015). Early Pig Management in the Zagros Flanks: Reanalysis of the Fauna from Neolithic Jarmo, Northern Iraq. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 25(4), 441-453. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.2312

In this paper, we present a reanalysis of pig (Sus scrofa) remains from the Neolithic site of Qalat Jarmo, originally excavated in the 1940s and 1950s. Employing modern zooarchaeological techniques, not available during the initial analyses, we explo... Read More about Early Pig Management in the Zagros Flanks: Reanalysis of the Fauna from Neolithic Jarmo, Northern Iraq.