title: Symbolic metal bit and saddlebag fastenings in a Middle Bronze Age donkey burial.
abstract: Here we report the unprecedented discovery of the skeleton of a ritually interred donkey with a metal horse bit in association with its teeth and saddlebag fastenings on its back. This discovery in the Middle Bronze Age III sacred precinct (1700/1650-1550 BCE) at Tel Haror, Israel, presents a unique combination of evidence for the early employment of equid harnessing equipment, both for chariot bridling (horse bit) and pack animals (saddlebags). The ritually deposited donkey with its unique accoutrements advances our understanding of the broad social and religious significance of equids in the Levantine Bronze Age, previously known mainly from textual and iconographical sources.
authors.affiliation: Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel. guybar@research.haifa.ac.il
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bar-Oz
authors.forename: Pirhiya
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nahshoni
authors.forename: Hadas
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Motro
authors.forename: Eliezer D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Oren
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001106:Archaeology; D002048:Burial / Q000266:history* / Q000379:methods; D018397:Equidae; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D008670:Metals; D013561:Symbolism
chemical_list: D008670:Metals