**4. An Illustration: Faunal Remains from Area T, Tel Dan, Israel**

An application of this methodology may be briefly illustrated in recent work on faunal material from Tel Dan by applying the series of questions outlined above (see Greer 2013 for the full discussion, elements of which are summarized here).

## *4.1. Determining Context*

Tel Dan (Tell el-Qadi) is one of the northernmost sites within modern Israel, close to the Lebanese and Syrian borders, with remains from the Neolithic through early modern periods (Biran 1994). It is situated on the largest spring in the region, fed by snow melt from nearby Mt. Hermon, that forms one of the headwaters of the Jordan River. Due the abundant source of water and the site's location in the upper Hula Valley, a series of local and international ancient routes passed through Dan over the millennia resulting in periods of dense occupation by various peoples (Ilan 2019 fc; Thareani 2016). Evidence of religious veneration at the site, especially in the vicinity of the spring, is attested in archaeological material as early as the Late Bronze Age and well into the Hellenistic Period. The architectural remains from the Iron Age IIA-B (10th/9th–8th centuries BCE) in Area T above the spring are especially prominent and are associated with high concentrations of animal bone remains.
