Livestock management in the Northern Levant during the first millennium BCE

The economy of Levantine societies in the first millennium BCE was based on animal husbandry and the use of animal life products. New data from Iron Age sites in Lebanon and Syria are analysed in this paper. The investigation of livestock management through the study of archaeological animal bones and their measurements reveals specialised zootechnies. Size variability is observed, especially among sheep and cattle. This heterogeneity suggests that management techniques were directed towards ensuring the necessary supply of animal types to provide the required secondary products in coastal and hinterland, small or large centres. This response to market demands was possible by using different husbandry (zootechnies) strategies and by large-scale trade activities in the region.