Unit 31553

Category: Layer    dug in 2016

Area: North 

Interpretive Categories: infill of post retrieval pit 

Data Category Information: Location: cut; Description: pit; Deposition: heterogeneous

Discussion: Infill allocated as U.31553 was identified within the cut (U.31552). It was cross-sectioned in its middle extent along the E-W axis, and than excavated as first in its N part, in order to define the nature of the filling process that occurred in the past. Then, the N face of the section profile had been recorded on the orthophoto (which was taken on 15.05.2016). The unit itself composed of wide range of sediments material that varied in size and type depending on the elevation that they were accumulated. Upper part of the deposit (ca. 8-15cm) composed of crushed fragments of mortar (mostly made of pure clay) whose diameters were approximately 4-5cm. The middle part of the infill comprised of the same kinds of elements, however their sizes decreased significantly and they were immersed in more sandy surrounding. There were also occasionally found fragments of plastered-floor. Additionally, in the W-part of the unit there was quite thick amass of dark-grey bricks, similar to those recorded in the destroyed walls (F.7878, F7876) . The lowest segment recorded within the cut consist again of bigger pieces of mortar but they were not as frequent in amount as in the most upper part. Together with the latter mentioned chunks of pure clay there was also number of crushed plastered and laminated fragments of floors recorded. Their amount and varied positions imply that they were dumped to the bottom of the open pit after accomplishment of digging activities that most possibly aimed to gain two wooden posts sat within the spot. The latter supposition seems to be clear judging by the same sequences of plasters and make-ups as we identified all around the edges of the cut.
During the excavation appeared that the infill U.31553 in the lower segment had been accumulated within two separated oval cuts both oriented in NS alignment. The Western one was bigger (1,05m x 0,48m) than Eastern one (0,73m x 0,40m).

Considering the nature of the infill from the points of view of artefacts and ecofacts, one may summarize that the number of finds recorded within the presented deposit appeared to be unexpectedly high. Worth noticing is the amount of big fragments of animal bone which were spread all around the pit in its middle segment. However, they were not concentrated in one location neither one elevation, so they were not identified as a cluster. Worth noticing is relatively high quantity of pottery sherds (found only in western part of the infill), that were collected separately in a clean bag in order to facilitate prospect analyzes focused on the residue (of food). It is not clear whether the bones became part of the accumulated sediment in purpose - as “special deposit“, or they were loaded accidentally in the process of back-filling the cut. Worth noticing is that there were also fragments of clay balls identified. The latter may imply that all of the finds were placed in the Southern part of the building at the stage of its abandonment - as components of the dirty floors, united with kitchen activities - and as these materials were left to be taken out later on, during execution of the pit. Nevertheless, the one of the finds seems not to fit to the presented interpretation. The flint tool assigned as X1 that was recorded in the lower eastern part of the cut give the impression of deliberate kind of deposition which may share resembles with other post-retrieval context and knapped tools.
There were several flotation samples taken: S2 – routine sample from the top of the unit; S3 – additional sample of sediment collected in the middle part of the deposit after the decision of prioritizing the unit; S5 – the lowest part of the sediment with fragments of charcoaled piece of wood.
Worth noticing is that the depth of the infill was measured from the level of floor U.31540 ( - 1010,55 a.s.l.) within which the outline of the cut (U.31552) had been identified. However, the edge of the mentioned cut was clearly recorded also in higher elevations e.g. on the bench (F.7879) situated westward (1010,71 a.s.l.). Consequently, the depths / thicknesses of those two units (infill and cut) are not the same within one feature (7872). 

Consistency: firm in the upper part , friable in lower part of the unit 

Colour: dark-brown, mid-orange, mid-grey 

Texture: clay, silty-clay, silty-sand 

Bedding: compound layered 

Inclusions: 40% mortar (clay), 15 % bricks silty-clay, 5 % of plaster (plastered floor) 

Post-depositional Features: animal borrowing in the bottom of the infill, mineral salts accumulated on the Eand S edges of the cutl. 

Basal Boundary: clear 

Unit Stratigraphy (as recorded in the field): above: (Click to view the record) 31552 below: (Click to view the record) 21670 

Dry sieve volume: 375 

Total Deposit Volume: 724 

Number of Samples recorded by excavator: 13

Number of X-Finds recorded by excavator: 2

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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