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Abstract

A small assemblage of 162 complete and fragmentary bones was retrieved from strata dated to the second half of the twelfth–thirteenth centuries CE. The faunal remains comprise predominantly domesticated livestock: sheep and goat (most frequent) as well as domestic fowl, cattle, an equid, a pig and a dog. In addition, a single shell fragment of a tortoise and two fish head-fragments were identified. The anatomical representation of sheep/goat skeletal elements seems to indicate a context of a butcher’s shop. The absence of burnt bones further attests to the excavated refuse being principally the leftovers of butchery deposits. More than 38% of the identified bones bore evidence of knife cutting and chopping. Such a preponderance of butchered bones characterizes the remains of large industrial butchery waste areas. The high frequency of chopped bones resembles other medieval urban industrial butchery sites.

Keywords

Ottoman period, gnawing marks, butchery marks, butchery waste, food refuse, chopped bones, slaughtering, secondary products, economy, taxonomic representation

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