This paper probes whether there is a correlation between animal exploitation patterns and ethnicity using archaeofaunal assemblages from Kültepe-Kanesh, capital of the old assyrian colonies in anatolia during the middle Bronze age (mBa; ca. 2000–1700 BcE). a large corpus of cuneiform tablets written in an old assyr- ian dialect unearthed at Kültepe-Kanesh provide direct evidence for many aspects of agropastoral economy in general and animal food production, distribution, and consumption patterns in particular during the mBa in central anatolia. Thus, Kültepe-Kanesh provides us with a unique opportunity to investigate and test the relationships between historical, archaeological, and zooarchaeological records and evidence. despite the fact that the site has been subject to intermittent archaeological excavations since 1893, this paper generates the first zooarchaeological data from the site, hence the first direct approach to investigate urban food provisioning at the ancient state of Kanesh during the mBa. a fresh zooarchaeological approach with specific reference to food production, distribution, and consumption integrates faunal data into the broader anthropological and archaeological research agenda at the site and sheds new light on the study of ancient economies. more importantly, studying food and ethnicity from an informed perspective, without making general assumptions, by means of using faunal assemblages from contexts that are accurately and clearly associated with ethnicity in light of historical data available from the site help develop a fine-resolution picture of specialized urban economies and human agency.