Butchering technology and metal adoption in the Bronze Age southern Levant: SEM evidence from Tell Aphek, Israel

Recent zooarchaeological research suggests that the transition from stone to metal butchering tools in the southern Levant occurred during or after the Middle Bronze Age and was accompanied by changes in butchering practices. However, few large and well-dated zooarchaeological assemblages that span the Bronze Ages have been systematically analyzed, limiting our understanding of when and how this technological transition occurred. This study investigates the evolution of butchering technology using newly analyzed zooarchaeological data from Bronze Age Tell Aphek (Antipatris), Israel. Tell Aphek, a prominent urban settlement continuously inhabited since the Early Bronze Age, is an ideal site for examining long-term technological change. Microscopic analysis of butchery marks on faunal remains, including scanning electron microscopy, was utilized to distinguish marks produced by stone tools from those produced by metal tools. The results show that stone tools dominate in the earliest periods (e.g., the Early Bronze Age) and a dramatic and sudden shift toward metal butchering tools occurs with the onset of the Middle Bronze Age occupation. By the end of the Late Bronze Age, metal tools had almost completely replaced stone tools as the main butchering implements. This transition is also associated with observable changes in butchering efficiency. These findings demonstrate that the microscopic analysis of butchering marks provides a valuable perspective on technoeconomic transformations occurring between the Early Bronze Age and later periods in the southern Levant.