Jwana Chahoud

French National Centre for Scientific Research | CNRS · Archéorient (UMR 5133), Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée

This paper examines the subsistence economy in the South Caucasus during the Early Chalcolithic (c.4700–4300 BC) through bioarchaeological analyses of the Bavra Ablari rock shelter site. This region, rich in biodiversity and characterized by a variety of climates and landscapes, has a history of agropastoral occupation dating back to the beginning...

The discovery of a unique Early-Middle PPNB funerary area in Tabarja Wata Slam 41 (TWS41) involving a complex burial sequence comprising both primary and secondary burials in addition to special arrangement of bones and a large number of grave goods brings substantial data on the mortuary practices of the Neolithic communities which inhabited the L...

One of the challenges of the EvoSheep project is to develop morphometric methods on bones to detect population signals, i.e. to be able to distinguish from sheep bones distinct groups that are linked to their breed. In order to develop these methodological approaches and to be able to apply them to archaeological bones, it is initially necessary to...

One of the research topics of the Evosheep project is the identification of sheep diversity in the past through the tools available in geometric morphometrics methods (GMM). GMM is an approach that aims to analyse size and anatomical shape of biological forms according to their variations compared and analysed statistically (Cucchi et al. 2015). Th...

With contributions spanning from the Neolithic Age to the Iron Age, this book offers important insights into the religions and ritual practices in ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern communities through the lenses of their material remains. The book begins with a theoretical introduction to the concept of material religion and features editor introdu...

The economy of Levantine societies in the first millennium BCE was based on animal husbandry and the use of animal life products. New data from Iron Age sites in Lebanon and Syria are analysed in this paper. The investigation of livestock management through the study of archaeological animal bones and their measurements reveals specialised zootechn...

Over the last decade, the petrous bone (petrosum) has become the ultimate repository of ancient biomolecules, leading to a plea for a more ethical curation preventing the systematic destruction of this bioarchaeological archive. Here, we propose to explore the biosystematic signal encompassed in the biological form of 152 petrosa from modern popula...

For almost a century there has been debate on the functional interpretation of desert kites. These archaeological structures have been interpreted as constructions for animal hunting or domestication purposes, sometimes for both, but with little conclusive evidence. Here, we present new evidence from a large-scale research programme. This unprecede...

To go further, we compared modern wild and domestic shapes and archaeological shapes classed by major chronological periods, from Neolithic to present. In fig. 4, you can observe the distribution of 245 individuals in the first three principal components coloured according to their chronological assignment. MANOVA result indicates significant diffe...

Southwest Asia is at the epicenter of zooarchaeological research on pivotal changes in human history such as animal domestication and the emergence of social complexity. This volume continues the long tradition of the ASWA conference series in publishing new research results in the zooarchaeology of southwest Asia and adjacent areas. The book is or...

The settlement of Godedzor is located at 1,800 m asl in the region of Syunik (south-eastern Armenia). Previous studies have highlighted the strategic position of the site in connection to both east to west and north to south routes of communication and in relation to the proximity to the main obsidian outcrops of the region. Excavations at Godedzor...

The cave of Getahovit-2 is situated in north-eastern Armenia, in the foothills of the Lesser Caucasus which dominate the valley of the Kura. The excavations (2011–2017), carried out by the Armenian-French mission ‘Caucasus’, have revealed several phases of occupation – Upper Palaeolithic (ca 22,000 cal BC), Chalcolithic (ca. 4700-4050 cal BC), and...

Stable isotope ratio measurements of fish remains from archaeological sites are relatively rare so here we report results of 201 fish remains from two Bronze and Iron Age sites along the Syrian (Tell Tweini) and Lebanese (Sidon) coast to document the inter- and intra-specific variation of the δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N isotope values. Due to poor preservation,...

The cave of Getahovit-2 is situated in north-eastern Armenia, in the foothills of the Lesser Caucasus which dominate the valley of the Kura. The excavations (2011–2017), carried out by the Armenian-French mission ‘Caucasus’, have revealed several phases of occupation – Upper Palaeolithic (ca 22,000 cal BC), Chalcolithic (ca. 4700-4050 cal BC), and...

Le projet de recherche franco-libanais "Nahr Ibrahim" initié autour de la vallée éponyme de ce fleuve majeur du Mont‑Liban s’attache à caractériser les impacts sur l'environnement forestier, les sols et les ressources en eau de la construction des paysages en terrasses, et des formes de peuplement à l'Holocène. La définition des transitions et les...

Emmanuelle Vila, Jwana Chahoud. Sheep husbandry from the sixth to the third millennia BC in the Near East: a launching pad for the Mesopotamian urban revolution ?. Camille Daujeard, Lionel Gourichon, Jean-Philip Brugal. Hommes et Caprinés : de la montagne à la steppe, de la chasse à l’élevage, XXXIXe Rencontres Internationales d’Archéologie et d’Hi...

Religion et alimentation sont intrinsèquement liées. La religion, en particulier antique, a besoin de la nourriture pour donner forme au rite : les aliments, en tant qu’offrandes, circulent entre l’ici-bas et l’au-delà, depuis les hommes qui les présentent aux dieux et aux morts, puis en retour, depuis les dieux – parfois les morts – qui garantisse...

Zooarchaeology, Archaeology,

Les travaux de construction d’un immeuble conduits dans la parcelle 1598 à Ashrafiyeh ont permis la mise au jour d’un hypogée creusé dans la roche dont la période d’utilisation s’étend entre le 1er siècle avant J.-C. et le 2e siècle après J.-C. environ. Un minimum de trente-quatre défunts y ont été successivement inhumés avec des déplacements impor...

The cat has long been important to human societies as a pest-control agent, object of symbolic value and companion animal, but little is known about its domestication process and early anthropogenic dispersal. Here we show, using ancient DNA analysis of geographically and temporally widespread archaeological cat remains, that both the Near Eastern...

Recent excavation at College Site Sidon has revealed new animal remains from the medieval occupation of the city. These faunal assemblages consisted of equid and swine skeletons discarded in a medieval ditch. Archaeozoological analysis conducted on these remains has allowed us to better understand the type of animal exploitation that took place dur...

Les travaux de construction d'un immeuble conduits dans la parcelle 1598 à Ashrafiyeh ont permis la mise au jour d'un hypogée creusé dans la roche dont la période d'utilisation s'étend entre le 1 er siècle avant J.-C. et le 2 e siècle après J.-C. environ. Un minimum de trente-quatre défunts y ont été successivement inhumés avec des déplacements imp...

The origin and dispersal of the domestic cat remain elusive despite its importance to human societies around the world. Archaeological evidence for domestication centers in the Near East and in Egypt is contested, and genetic data on modern cats show that Felis silvestris lybica , the subspecies of wild cat inhabiting at present the Near East and N...

New uncovered analyses on the mortuary practices focusing on animal remains from Bronze Age Sidon. Available on http://www.ahlebanon.com/index.php/new-issues

Kites in Armenia were recently discovered, and investigations into their construction, typology and dating are ongoing. With these discoveries, it has become necessary to investigate a series of unsolved questions. In order to test the functions of kites, we conducted a synthesis describing the occurrence and habitat range of Late Pleistocene and H...

This paper argues that the wide geographical distribution of desert kites, which are huge archaeological structures of stone visible from satellite images, must be more broadly acknowledged as a momentous factor in the study of their variability and function. This is important so that researchers can more accurately understand and interpret their i...

Kites have often been interpreted as traps built for hunting purposes. This is based on ethnographic parallels, and recurrent references of the habitat range of animals and possible migration routes. Faunal remains from limited zones and from a selection of sites around kites were studied, particularly from northern Syria and eastern Jordan. When c...

Faunal remains found in cultic & ritual contexts are studied in this paper. Diet and place of animals in the activities and the way of life of the inhabitants of the temples of Sidon and Tell Kazel are analyzed. The food economy linked to animal use inside Levantine temples of the Recent Bronze Age is based almost entirely on domestic sheep and goa...

New data on animal and human remains from Bronze Age burials of Sidon. Mortuary practices related to animal place in funeral rites, offering and/or feasting are analyzed. The overview of animal remains from Bronze Age grave sites in the Lebanon have enabled the reconstruction of three phases of funeral traditions and two types of animal deposits in...

Within Sidon’s ‘College site’, a monumental building which was identified as a temple has been under excavation since 2004.Apart from the evidence of feasting activities that took place in this building, the only structural element that indicates it was a temple are two platforms. Five rooms have been excavated to date and further excavations are u...

Animal exploitation during the third and the Second millennium BC is discussed throughout the new excavated finds from Sidon ‘College site’, Tell Arqa and Tell Kazel in the northern Levant. A diversity of fauna and biotopes are attested by hunting, fishing and shellfishing activities, on a different scale, all the way through the Bronze Age. The di...

This contribution outlines an overview of ongoing zooarchaeological studies on animal bone remains collected since 1998 from Bronze Age buildings and funerary structures on Sidon’s “College” site. Since 2002, faunal remains from layers of occupation dating from the third and second millennium BC, have been analyzed. The site’s long sequence of occu...

The recent study of the faunal remains from the Komishan cave in Southeast of the Caspian Sea provided new insight to the final Pleistocene fauna of the region that could be compared to the previously known late Pleistocene faunal assemblages from Belt, Hotu and Ali Tappeh caves. This paper provides a comparative analysis of these remains as a sket...