Meat Consumption and Animal Keeping in the Citadel at al-Marqab: A Preliminary Report 1

Extensive fieldwork surveys and associated archaeological documentation have been carried out in the coastal zone of syria since the year 2000 by the Syro-Hungarian Archaeological Mission (SHAM) under the direction of Dr Balázs Major. The area of investigation first attracted attention in the West at the end of the eleventh century, when European crusaders arrived in great numbers. Much of the coastal zone of Syria was subsequently controlled by the Hospitallers and Templars, who built the largest castles – notably Crac des Chevaliers, al-Marqab, Tartūs and Safita – to defend their territories.