Abstract

This chapter discusses the timing of the first domestication of donkeys in the southern Levant with reference to the region’s archaeozoological record. It further examines their subsequent utilization in local exchange systems based on iconographic records found in archaeological sites. More specifically, this chapter reviews data concerning the role of these beasts of burden and the possible existence of a dedicated social stratum or group of persons specializing in their use in the Early Bronze Age. These data are bolstered by additional ancient Near Eastern sources and by ethnographic examples from the New World thought to possibly represent analogous situations.