4.1.1. What Type of Space Serves as the Context for the Faunal Remains?

The architectural remains from Area T have many features that line up with Renfrew's "indicators of ritual" (Renfrew 1985, 1994; Renfrew and Bahn 2016, pp. 413–21; cf. Gilmour 2000; Zevit 2001), and such have been applied specifically in this case (Davis 2013). Indeed, the area has all of the hallmarks of a major, regional temple complex. Construction features associated with the 9th—8th c. BCE, Strata III and II in Biran's (1994) assessment, include fine ashlar masonry with slots for cedar beams typical of palaces and temples, a massive substructure for a large, elevated building, and parallel casemate side-chambers on the western and eastern boundaries of the precinct. The decorative techniques and other features, too, emphasize monumental display resonating with garden motifs typical of temples (Ackerman 2013). In the center of the complex, the base of a large altar was discovered as well as a single horn that, when compared to proportions from other altars, allows for a reconstructed altar of 4.75 × 4.75 m and, thus, apparently the largest altar ever discovered in the region.

The artifact remains, too, support the identification of the space as a temple as evidenced in the discovery of several smaller altars, seven-spouted oil lamps, perforated "incense" cups, cultic stands, metal implements associated with animal slaughter and processing, and even what has been identified as an altar kit found in situ consisting of a bowl, pair of shovels, incense pan, possibly a meat fork, and a sunken pot with charred animal remains (Greer 2010).

Evidence from the architecture and available artifacts, especially when combined with the discovery of massive concentrations of animal bone remains both in charred deposits and in deposits from the remains of meals, leaves little doubt that the space functioned as a major temple during the Iron Age IIA-B especially during the 9th–8th c. BCE (cf. Greer 2013, 2017; Davis 2013).
