Unit 23034

Category: Layer    dug in 2017

Area: North 

Interpretive Categories: infill of an obsidian cache 

Data Category Information: Location: cut; Description: scoop; Deposition: homogeneous

Description: obsidian cache infill situated near SW corner of S.504 

Discussion: This unit was identified by the exposure of several obsidian blades by Arek (AK), before calling in Sean (SD) to complete once it was recognized as a cache. At first the cut was not obviously visible, but once more blades were exposed it became apparent that the fill was a homogenous light brown sandy soil that was very different from the surrounding matrix, which was full of ash and burnt chunks of plaster and clay. The fill was very loose and came up easily with just a puffer and brush, with a wooden implement being used for most of it to carefully expose the blades, which were both 3D modelled and lifted in 4 stages. The sides of the cut were easily identified once the ashy surrounding matrix was reached, and the bottom of the cut was also easily identified because it became highly compact and chunks of plaster/clay were reached.

SD - The objects are all thick blades (21 of them) removed from a unifacial blade core via indirect percussion, most of them with triangular cross sections, and no trapezoidal ones that would suggest they came from a controlled prismatic core. All stages of blade removal are represented, including one crested blade (first removal) and the latest stage with at least 4 prior blade scars, and are all from Nenezi Dag, suggesting they may have all come from the same core. 6 of the blades have at least some cortex on the dorsal surface, suggesting the core was not heavily shaped/prepared before beginning blade removal. They are all final stage preforms for large spearheads that show no indication of being retouched via pressure flaking, and all have their edges heavily abraded to make them stronger so they would not break during transport.

Side note for future rectification - one similar blade from floor layer 31703 excavated in 2015, and two more excavated in early May 2017 from floor layer 23000, should also be included in this cache, as they all come from within a few cm of the same coordinates, and all have the same form (ie. Final stage preforms for large spearheads from Nenezi Dag). 

Consistency: loose 

Colour: light brown 

Texture: sandy 

Bedding: massive 

Inclusions: N/A 

Post-depositional Features: N/A 

Basal Boundary: clear 

Unit Stratigraphy (as recorded in the field): above: (Click to view the record) 23033 below: (Click to view the record) 23000 

Dry sieve volume: 0 

Total Deposit Volume: 2 

Number of Samples recorded by excavator: 3

Number of X-Finds recorded by excavator: 21

Number of Related Diary Entries: 1

Settlement Phase:

Associated Mellaart Levels (from Space): Unassigned at present 

Associated Hodder Level (from Space): Unassigned at present 

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 contact us to obtain more information about this Unit.

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