Rethinking Animal Domestication at Abu Hureyra: 50 Years Later

On 30 April 2025, Dr. Carlos Tornero revisited the landmark excavations at Abu Hureyra, Syria, and explored how new biomarker techniques reshape our understanding of the Neolithic transition.

In the 1970s, an expedition led by Andrew M.T. Moore excavated the site of Abu Hureyra in Syria. The results became a cornerstone for interpreting the origins of the Neolithic and the emergence of animal domestication. For decades, Abu Hureyra has served as a reference point for understanding how early farming communities transformed their ways of life through the exploitation and management of animal resources.

On 30 April 2025, Dr. Carlos Tornero, Ramón y Cajal researcher and Principal Investigator of the ERC READ project, delivered a lecture entitled “Abu Hureyra y el origen del Neolítico: repensando el modelo de domesticación animal 50 años después” as part of the ANTARQBIO Seminar Series (Course 24–25) at the Universitat de València.

In his talk, Dr. Tornero revisited the Abu Hureyra model half a century later, assessing its enduring importance and its limitations in light of today’s analytical methods. He highlighted how new biogeochemical tools and biomarkers allow researchers to go beyond traditional zooarchaeological approaches and explore animal management at a seasonal scale. These approaches make it possible to reconsider how Neolithic communities organized the exploitation of animal resources, moving from broad patterns to detailed reconstructions of herd management practices.

The lecture, introduced by Dr. Domingo Carlos Salazar García, underscored Abu Hureyra’s lasting role in debates about domestication while pointing toward the ways in which READ is contributing fresh perspectives through isotopic and biomarker analysis of faunal remains.

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