Unit 19443
Category: Layer dug in 2012
Area: North
Interpretive Categories: burial fill in Byzantine grave
Data Category Information: Location: cut; Description: burial; Deposition: heterogeneous
Dimensions: E-W 2.2 x N-S 0.5 x 0.25 m thick
Discussion: The fill of the burial consisted of two materials. The harder, light grey brick material in the center of the burial was 1-2.5 dm thick. In some places it was laying directly on the skeleton and between the legs the brick reached the floor of the burial. Around the edges of the burial there was a softer material, that also was found under the brick material in places. Some metal nails indicate the dead was buried in a wooden coffin. Perhaps the bricks were placed on top of the coffin during the burial? Later the brick material fell down onto the skeleton.
An animal burrow had disturbed a large part of the western part of the fill. It is possible that someone had dug into the burial fill at some point and retrieved the head of the dead body. This 'head retrieval pit' left a softer material for an animal to burrow in, which may explain the extent of disturbance in that area of the burial.
No skull fragment were found in the disturbed area, which indicates that the head was gone by the time the animal disturbed the area.
However, the animal may have displaced some hand bone on the left side, see plan 12/315.
Recognition: Darker colour fill in relation to surrounding area
Definition: E-W alignment, bricky texture, colour
Execution: Trowel and brush. All fill is dry sieved, except samples.
Condition: dry and disturbed
Consistency: very compact bricky material and softer soil
Colour: Bricky material - light grey, soft material - brownish grey
Texture: Bricky material - silty clay, soft material - silty loam
Bedding: composite
Inclusions: human bone, some animal bones, lumps of burnt clay, metal nails, small amount of clay ball fragments, stones (some worked?), obsidian, pottery
Post-depositional Features: large animal burrow and disturbance in the west side
Basal Boundary: somewhat diffuse in places, but flat when clear.
Unit Stratigraphy (as recorded in the field):
Dry sieve volume: 228
Total Deposit Volume: 240
Number of Samples recorded by excavator: 2
Number of X-Finds recorded by excavator: 14
Number of Related Diary Entries: 1
Settlement Phase:
Associated Mellaart Levels (from Space): Unassigned at present
Associated Hodder Level (from Space): Unassigned at present
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Finds Room Information:
All material from site passes through the finds room for washing and separating before it is passed onto the various lab teams. The finds room keeps a basic inventory of what is found. A finds material type list is given here. Further analytical detail maybe provided by the Lab Team data below.
X Finds Material: nothing recorded
Finds Material Stored: nothing recorded
Lab Team Data
Please note the list below does not represent everything that might have been found in this Unit, but represents the datasets we have available on-line. Please ArchaeoBots Sample Recorded: No Ceramics Data for 2012 still to be released Clay Object Records: No Chipped Stone Records: No Conservation Recorded: No Faunal Records: No Figurine Records: No GroundStone Records: No Heavy Residue Records: No Microfaunal Records: No
Sorry not all of this data is available online at present, please contact us if you are particularly interested microfauna recordsPhytolith Sample: No
Sorry not all of this data is available online at present, please contact us if you are particularly interested phytolith samplesDownload this Units Data
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