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Laboratory of Archaeozoology
Head - Prof. Guy Bar-Oz
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 The Laboratory of Archaeozoology at Zinman Institute of Archaeology studies animal bone remains from a wide range of prehistoric and historic sites from Israel. The study of animal bones from archaeological sites serves to enhance the understanding of past environment and human life-ways and whether our ancestors relied on the hunting of wild game or on domesticated animals. Bone remains also represent the local environment around a site and contribute to our knowledge of the fauna of a particular era and our understanding of climatic and ecological changes through time.Bone remains also represent the local environment and contribute to our knowledge about the fauna of that  era and our understanding of climatic and ecological changes through time.Archaeological assemblages of animal remains commonly contain numerous bone fragments and isolated teeth - the result either from cooking and bone processing activities or from natural disintegration processes, all of which leave typical signatures on bones. The analysis of these signatures serves as a powerful tool for assessing the impact of both natural and cultural factors on the formation of bone assemblages in archaeological sites. Additional information retrieved from animal bone modifications include butchering mark patterning, disease presence, age at death estimates, and animal body-size ranges. Interpretations of archaeozoological data contribute significantly to the advance of archaeological, zoological, and ecological research in Israel. Reference collection  The Reference Collection at the Department of Archaeology, University of  reptile, and amphibian species from
Projects  from the Neolithic period until the 19th century.
Several of the surviving large Syrian and Jordanian desert kites have been studied, but not much is known about the small  vant
University of Connecticut. The project uses refined methods of age and sex determination, new taphonomic studies,
high-resolution morphometric analyses of body-size changes, and demographic information from numerous prehistoric sites to
improve the understanding of human hunting practices in the southern Levant. The goal of the research is to carry out a
comprehensive study of the evolution of ungulate hunting strategies and herd control in the zooarchaeological sequence of Israel.
The significance of this research lies in its scope which will enable us to consider many aspects of the relationships between
past human hunters and their prey, such as hunting strategies, hunting pressure and intensity, and seasonal selection. This will
help to resolve open questions about the evolution of human hunting and incipient cultural control and may be fundamental for
our understanding of ancient human hunting behaviors and the origins of animal domestication. Ronny Reich from the University Haifa . The research study animal bone remains from
excavations in the city dump of Jerusalem from the Early Roman Period. Excavation at the dump took advantage of a unique opportunity
in which a broken drainage pipe has cut a deep and long ravine which allows direct access to Early Roman deposits. Detailed reconstruction
of the complete faunal spectrum of the bone assemblage and the search for butchery and burning marks will enable us to refine our
understanding of food processing methods and the intensity of carcass utilization. Since the supply of meat to Jerusalem was part of
a wider agricultural economy the detailed examination of the sex and age profiles of the livestock species provide important insights
into local patterns of herd management. Morphological variation in size and shape of domestic livestock will provide data on livestock
trade, exchange, and utilization. The first of its kind to be conducted on the archaeology of Jerusalem, our project is an interdisciplinary
study integrating zooarchaeological data with abundant references to animal sacrificial and butchery practices from contemporary historical
texts. This will enable us to construct a broad picture of the role animals played in the population's diet and economy of the region.Late Middle Palaeolithic, Early Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic hunting strategies and meat processing behaviors in the southern Caucasus: The project is based on a long-term American-Israeli-Georgian archaeological research project in the Georgian Republic, led by Ofer Bar-Yosef from Harvard University,  Anna Belfer-Cohen from the Hebrew University,
Tengiz Meshvilliani from Tbilisi State Museum, and Dan Adler from University of Connecticut. It includes excavating several archaeological
sites along the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains. Archaeozoological results of our recent excavations at two cave sites indicate that the
hunting practices of Neanderthals and Modern Humans are largely indistinguishable, with seasonal economic strategies geared towards the
ambushing of Caucasian goats (Capra caucasica) during their winter aggregations.Contract Archaeozoology: To date the lab has conducted over 20 separate archaeozoological projects from a wide range of prehistoric and historic sites from Israel. A list of publications and zooarchaeological reports and prices for laboratory services are available. Graduate students
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