Digital Companion to "A Preliminary Analysis of the Iron Age III Faunal Remains from Tell Ta'yinat, Turkey (Ancient Kunulua)"

Project Note

This content pertains to the chapter “A Preliminary Analysis of the Iron Age III Faunal Remains from Tell Ta'yinat, Turkey (Ancient Kunulua)” in The Wide Lens in Archaeology: Honoring Brian Hesse's Contributions to Anthropological Archaeology (Justin Lev-Tov, Allan Gilbert, and Paula Wapnish, eds.), published by Lockwood Press. The Wide Lens in Archaeology: Honoring Brian Hesse's Contributions to Anthropological Archaeology is an edited volume that links several of its chapters to rich digital content published open access with Open Context. The authors have chosen to link their chapters to related online content (including primary data, maps, and additional images) in order to provide additional research resources in their subject area. The Wide Lens in Archaeology: Honoring Brian Hesse's Contributions to Anthropological Archaeology will be available for purchase from ISD.

Overview

Tell Ta’yinat is located in southern Turkey about one kilometre from the current course of the Orontes River, about 35 km from the modern city of Antakya, and about 700 metres northwest of the site of Bronze Age Alalakh. During the Iron Age II and III (ca. 950-550 BCE), it was the location of the city of Kunulua/Calno, capital of the Syro-Hittite kingdom of Patina/Unqi. Kunulua was destroyed in 738 BCE by Tukultī-apil-Ešarra III and subsequently rebuilt as the Assyrian provincial capital of Kunalia. New excavations at the site by the University of Toronto discovered two phases of a large rectilinear structure in Field 5 which may have served in an administrative capacity. A series of so-called "midden surfaces" were found running up to the exterior face of the eastern wall of this building. They included extremely dense concentrations of animal bones and other artifacts. A grand total of 7,361 fragments of bone were analyzed from these Iron Age III loci. Their analysis suggests that during the Neo-Assyrian occupation of the site, goat-herding, probably for hair production, was the dominant aspect of the animal economy while the presence of dog remains with cut marks suggests the continued presence of a remnant of the Sea People population that settled at the site during the early Iron Age.