Grabungsvorberichte/Preliminary Excavation Reports: Second Intermediate Period and 18th Dynasty Animal Bone Remains from Tell el-Retaba. Ägypten und Levante|Ägypten und Levante XXVI 26|

Faunal remains from six Hyksos tombs and settlement layers from the Second Intermediate Period and 18th Dynasty were subjected to archaeozoological analysis. The results indicate that livestock species played a fundamental role in animal economy and meat diet of the inhabitants of Tell el-Retaba, with a marginal significance of fishing, hunting or possible mussel or snail collecting. The statistics concerning the bones of four domestic mammal species (sheep, goat, cattle, pig) demonstrate a certain variety in food preferences that the people living at Tell el-Retaba had in different periods. Generally, in the Second Intermediate Period mutton and goat meat dominated, with a lower share of beef and an even smaller proportion of pork. The role of ovicaprine meat was the most prominent in the times of Hyksos settlement activity. The significance of these animals is emphasized by the fact that they were deposited in the tombs together with humans, probably as a supply of food for the afterlife. It appears that offerings were made of portioned carcasses of subadult sheep, and less frequently subadult goats. Perhaps the local food supply was more varied as the tombs also contained remains of other species of mammals, as well as fishes, birds, and mollusks. During the 18th Dynasty there was a certain change in the diet, the importance of sheep and goat meat was further strengthened, with a decreased percentage of beef and pork. The trend is derived from modifications in husbandry practices, which in turn could have changed for cultural or environmental reasons