ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the study of two animal assemblages from the Early Bronze Age layers brought to light in Ebla during different excavation seasons. The first sample comes from Area G and refers to the layers dated to the EB III that lie below the Royal Palace G complex, dating to the age of the Archives. The second assemblage was brought to light in Area P South from the layers dated to EB IVA. The animal assemblage was recovered in different rooms of Area P South, while a small part was evenly scattered across the same excavation area and did not come from specific rooms. Von den Driesch and Weber suggested that the increase of the number of sheep/goats in most of the animal assemblages from northern Syria could reflect the continuous process of desertification that characterized the region through the Bronze Age. Zooarcheological data from the assemblages dated to the Late Bronze Age come from the sites of el-Qitar.
