Counting Cattle: Trends in Neolithic Bos Frequencies from the Southern Levant

The marked increase in caprine frequencies observed by the mid-Pre-Pottery Neolithic, is generally accepted as heralding the onset of their domestication/or introduction as domesticates into the Southern Levant. In order to investigate whether cattle exploitation shows a similar diachronic patterning to that shown by caprines, the relative proportions of their remains in archaeological sites from the Southern Levant were examined by chronological phase and geographic region. Results show that the increase in remains of cattle is not synchronous throughout the region but varies between geographic zones. An initial increase in cattle frequencies was noted in the Mid-Pre-Pottery Neolithic B. It was followed by a major increase in numbers by the Pre-Pottery Neolithic C accompanied by reduction in body size, indicating a significant time lag in the introduction/or domestication of cattle relative to caprines. Key word