A spatial and chronological examination of butchering skill in the Levantine Early Bronze Age: analysis of the butchery marks from Tel Arad, Israel. By Trent Cheney A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Manitoba in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Anthropology University of Manitoba Winnipeg Copyright © 2020 by Trent Cheney i Trent Cheney Table of Contents List of Figures .................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ...................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... vii Abstract ............................................................................................................................ viii I. Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................... 1 A. Introduction to the problem........................................................................................ 1 B. Geographic and temporal context .............................................................................. 1 C. Early Bronze Age provisioning .................................................................................. 2 D. Introduction to data .................................................................................................... 3 E. Butchering and skill .................................................................................................... 4 F. Hypotheses .................................................................................................................. 5 1. General .................................................................................................................... 5 2. Specific ................................................................................................................... 5 3. Criteria for identifying skilled versus unskilled butchering ................................... 6 G. Method ....................................................................................................................... 7 H. Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 8 II. Chapter 2: The ethnography of butchering .................................................................. 10 A. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 10 B. Butchering stages ..................................................................................................... 11 1. Slaughtering .......................................................................................................... 12 2. Skinning ................................................................................................................ 15 3. Disarticulation ....................................................................................................... 16 4. Carving .................................................................................................................. 17 5. Filleting ................................................................................................................. 18 6. Consumption ......................................................................................................... 19 C. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 20 III. Chapter 3: Data Description ........................................................................................ 21 A. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 21 B. Chronology of the EB in the southern Levant .......................................................... 21 C. Regional culture history ........................................................................................... 23 D. Settlement pattern of the EB in the southern Levant ............................................... 23 1. Regional settlement patterns ................................................................................. 23 2. Intra-site settlement patterns ................................................................................. 25 ii Trent Cheney E. Socio-Political organization of the EB of the southern Levant ................................ 26 F. Technology and productive specialization in the EB of the southern Levant .......... 27 1. Lithics in the EB of the southern Levant .............................................................. 27 2. Metalworking in the EB of the southern Levant ................................................... 28 G. EB faunal exploitation ............................................................................................. 29 H. Tel Arad ................................................................................................................... 31 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 31 2. Chronology ........................................................................................................... 31 3. Nature of occupation ............................................................................................. 32 4. Site description...................................................................................................... 33 5. Some relevant artefact types from the EB settlement ........................................... 34 6. Faunal data ............................................................................................................ 35 7. Butchering data ..................................................................................................... 36 I. Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 37 IV. Chapter 4: zooarchaeological analytical methods in butchering analysis .................. 38 A. Analytical domain – Zooarchaeology ...................................................................... 38 B. Zooarchaeological analysis ...................................................................................... 38 1. Taphonomy ........................................................................................................... 38 2. Taxonomic identification ...................................................................................... 38 3. Element and part of element identification ........................................................... 39 4. Symmetry, age, and pathology of elements .......................................................... 39 C. Butchering marks ..................................................................................................... 39 1. Identifying natural vs human-made marks ........................................................... 40 2. Human-made butchering marks ............................................................................ 41 D. Quantification........................................................................................................... 42 1. Assemblage taxonomic frequency quantification methods .................................. 42 2. Butchering quantification methods ....................................................................... 43 3. Butchering incidence ............................................................................................ 44 E. Butchering efficiency ............................................................................................... 45 1. Processing intensity .............................................................................................. 45 2. Slicing mark incidence frequency ......................................................................... 46 3. Butchering mark frequency................................................................................... 46 F. Identifying butchering technology ............................................................................ 46 1. Technique for reconstructing butchering tool technology .................................... 47 iii Trent Cheney G. Chronological and spatial analysis ........................................................................... 48 1. Chronological analysis .......................................................................................... 49 2. Spatial analysis...................................................................................................... 49 H. Statistics ................................................................................................................... 50 I. Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 51 V. Chapter 5: Data analysis .............................................................................................. 52 A. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 52 B. Analysis .................................................................................................................... 52 1. Quantification ......................................................................................................