Haskel Greenfield kindly notified me about a just-appeared article, by him and Katja (who is also a veteran Safi volunteer team member, from years back!). They question (rightfully so!) the simplistic connection between the consumption of dogs and the Sea Peoples, based on examples from Tell Zirāʿa. In other words, if you find evidence of dog consumption in early Iron Age sites, does this serve as an indicator for Philistines or Sea Peoples?
Very nice study!
The article (which is open access) is:
Soennecken, K.; Greenfield, H. J. 2024. Dog consumption at Tell Zirāʿa: Is it a “cultural marker” for the “Sea Peoples”? Humans 4: 148–182.
Here’s the abstract:
It has been argued that the increase in the consumption of dogs in the southern Levant during the Iron Age was due to the advent of the Philistines/“Sea Peoples” into the region. In this study, we test this proposal through the presentation of new information on dog consumption and its depositional context in Bronze and Iron Age strata from the archaeological site of Tell Zirāʿa (Jordan), and we compare the results to other sites in the region. Our study does not support that such behaviour is a signal of ethnic identity.
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