**1. Introduction**

There has been increasing interest in the field of zooarchaeology and its application to the study of the religious practices associated with ancient Mediterranean peoples in recent years. This interest is due to the recognition of the value of the analysis of faunal remains for approaching questions of religion and has resulted in animal bone studies moving out of the appendices of archaeological reports to become integral components of more robust understandings of ancient peoples. This is especially the case in ancient Greek and Roman contexts (Ekroth and Wallensten 2013; Ekroth 2013), and this same trend may be observed in various societies from the southern Levant, in general, and ancient Israel, in particular (Lev-Tov and Kansa 2017).

This essay aims to provide a methodological framework for the application of zooarchaeology to the study of Israelite religion. Definitions and aims are provided before guidelines for a suggested methodology are set forth and problems are considered. Questions of context, excavation techniques and analysis, and the applicability of texts from the Hebrew Bible are explored for the purpose of providing an overview of this growing subfield for the non-specialist and encouraging further conversation among practitioners.
