Pampered Pooches or Plain Pariahs? The Ashkelon Dog Burials

Abstract

Did the cosmopolitan Persian period port city of Ashkelon have a "pet cemetery?" Dog bones are common at ancient sites, but the Ashkelon finds of thousands of bones and dozens of articulated skeletons, including many puppies, are altogether unique and extraordinary. Ashkelon's buried dogs are a first-class mystery whose solution demands all the forensic capabilities of zooarchaeological science. Were the dogs a special breed? Did they die of natural causes or were they sacrificed? Were the dogs pampered pets lovingly interred or urban hounds merely discarded?