Holy lanDfillBIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY REVIEW 43dates of decades or less. Numismatic evidence is
helpful, but coins tended to stay in circulation for
longer periods of time due to their value, and the
analysis of the coins discovered in our excavation
is still in progress. However, other pieces of evi-
dence from our excavation indicate that this area
was indeed a planned, intentional landfill.
Analysis of the animal bones from the site showed
that the material layers were quickly covered by lay-
ers of dirt following their disposal in the landfill.
We know this because there are relatively few bite
marks from rodents and other scavengers on the
bones in the material layers and because the bones
are not weathered, meaning they did not blanch in
the sun and open air—a process requiring a long
period of time (see “The Jerusalem Diet,” above, for
more on the bones). Furthermore, an unusually highpercentage of the bones (14 percent) are burnt. This
is higher than the typical percentage of burnt bones
from domestic contexts. The garbage in our area
had been intentionally burnt and was then quickly
covered with soil.
The nature of the finds—almost all dating to the
Early Roman period, their large size, and the near
lack of large building materials—coupled with the
finds’ assortment into layers, being burnt at the
site, and possibly being covered quickly with soil,
all demonstrate that these remains were not sim-
ply tossed downslope, but were instead the deliber-
ate result of an organized, “industrial” garbage dis-
posal process at the outskirts of the city. This area
was designated as a city disposal site, specifically
an ancient landfill, just outside of Jerusalem’s walls.
The nature of the massive amount of garbageThe Jerusalem Diet
T
he animal remains from Jerusalem’s Early
Roman landfill are the largest assemblage
of fauna ever published from Jerusalem. We
compared these bones with contemporane-
ous animal bone assemblages from other
parts of the city, as well as with bones exca-
vated from a northern section of the landfill
closer to the Temple Mount. The remains from
the landfill were highly fragmented, and only
a handful of bones were complete. Yet the
bones were well preserved and showed little
evidence of weathering, which suggests that
the assemblage was covered quickly either by
more refuse or by organic material.
Our analysis reveals that domestic livestock
was the main source of meat consumed in the
city and was supplemented by wild game and
chicken. The lack of pigs and other non-kosher
animals suggests that the populace was Jew-
ish. Further support that Judaism was the domi-
nant religion of Jerusalem at this time comes
from evidence that early kashrut (kosher)
butchery practices were being employed in
the removal of the sciatic nerve from the pelvis
(cf. Genesis 32:33). The meat proportions,
culling pattern, and animals present denote a
mix of elites and commoners—suggesting that
everyone’s refuse, regardless of socioeconomic
class, was disposed in the same area.
Comparing the usage of animals from this
excavation with that from the northern landfill
reveals a difference in Jerusalem’s disposal
activities. The livestock culling strategies, body
part frequencies, and lack of the priestly por-
tion (cf. Leviticus 7:31), as well as the absence
of pigeon remains in the southern section
demonstrates that this refuse originated
from the residential areas of Jerusalem. In
contrast, in the northern section closer to the
Temple, the dominance of male sheep andgoat remains, skull bones, and the presence
of pigeon remains suggest refuse from ritual
activity. Our assessment of the animal bones
from the landfill contributes to a greater
understanding of its formation processes and
the economic, social, and religious status
of the people behind the garbage.—Abra
Spiciarich, Tel Aviv UniversityINFORMATIVE BONES. These bone fragments from the Jerusalem landfill derive from sheep
or goats consumed in Early Roman Jerusalem and show evidence of early kashrut (kosher)
butchery practices. The butchery marks are highlighted with arrows.ABRA SPICIARICH