Cases of “Húainaphagy”: Butchery and consumption of striped hyena during Late Antiquity at Dadan and Thāj (Saudi Arabia)

Carnivores, including the striped hyena, are only marginally represented in faunal assemblages from archaeological sites across the Arabian Peninsula. However, recent discoveries of striped hyena remains bearing cut marks indicative of butchery practices at two archaeological sites in Saudi Arabia—Thāj, located near the Arabian Gulf, and Dadan (AlUla), situated inland not far from the Red Sea—raise important questions regarding the consumption of this carnivore by human populations during Late Antiquity (3rd–7th centuries AD).