Animal husbandry and other human-animal interactions in Late Ubaid-Early Uruk northern Iraq: the faunal remains from the 2012 excavation season at Tell Nader

Animal husbandry and generally human-animal relationships in northern Iraq are poorly known to archaeological research. This paper presents and discusses the (predominantly) Ubaid faunal assemblage recovered in 2012 at the multi-period site of Tell Nader (Erbil, northern Iraq). Despite limitations in sample size, preservation and chronological resolution, the analyses presented shed light into several aspects of human-animal interactions at Tell Nader and more broadly in northern Mesopotamia. The importance of each species, management strategies of domestic herds, consumption of animal products and bone tool production constitute the main issues addressed in this paper. The economy of Late Ubaid/Early Uruk Tell Nader was heavily domestic and evenly balanced between sheep/goat, pig and cattle husbandry. Beyond the obvious exploitation of these taxa for their meat, there is evidence for exploitation of renewable products from some of them. The interaction with wild animals was very limited and the faunal evidence suggests that the landscape around the site was predominately open, possibly with few forested pockets. Fieldwork is ongoing at the site and it is anticipated that these preliminary and tentative results from northern Iraq will be confirmed, refuted or further refined based on larger samples.