Unit 5449

Category: Layer    dug in 2002

Area: South 

Interpretive Categories: Midden 

Data Category Information: Location: external; Deposition: finely bedded

Dimensions: top level - c. 1.40m x .90m x c. 0.13m deep (top lens removed) 

Discussion: Top layer of midden (?) mound - see midden sheet for discussion of all midden horizons.

MIDDEN

The midden was excavated for a depth of 1-23m and was excavated through a series of eleven spits. It was cut away to the (?) by a laate disturbance (5471) but its slope was retained as a proud positive feature flowing to west. This is quite an interesting midden. It would appear that a series of events/depositions/deposits of garbage in a row may have been related to the deposition of the same sorts of rubbish. The upper horizons may have been related to house clearance/refurbishing of plaster walls/floors since they contained pieces of mudbrick and daub and plaster.

2) These layers may have been related to cleaning out of hearth/oven/burning activities - many fine ashy layers.

3) More plaster and mudbrick

4) Clay balls and animal bones including many complete clay balls of all shapes and sizes.

5) Animal bone horizon - huge quantities of animal bones including some quite sizeable pieces.

6) Ashy lenses and also huge dumps of hackberries some fragments of soil when peeled back contained literally thousands of fragments of hackbrries. Pland materials too. This was also quite a cessy green horizion.

7) Coprolites, animal dung, clay balls, very cessy, event associated with cleaning (?) yards/stables etc.

Note: the clay balls tend to fall in particular places--the complete ones anyway show a particular concentration for the area around (and this is noted throughout most of the levels) E 930.5 N981.80. This may be to do with the way they rolled and fell into position when thrown out. 

Recognition: Clearly recognizable as very organic, material-culture rich deposit 

Definition: Defined as positive midden like feature sitting proud and sloping down to west + east. Truncated to south by mellaart's trench) 

Execution: Hoe, trowel, mattock 

Condition: Terribly hot + no wind. 

Consistency: Hard and compact - well consolidated 

Colour: Very mixed in colours - varies from orange to grey to brown with black charcoal and white plaster. 

Texture: In general silty clay (50% silt, 40% clay, 10% else, i.e. Plaster frags, daub, mudbrick fragments) 

Bedding: layered by fine tipping layers of various different episodes of midden deposition. 

Inclusions: Most frequent is animal bone w/ one occasion of 2 articulated cow vertebrae, possibly related to a feasting deposit. Also freq is clay ball broken fragments consistent with lower VII horizon. Flecks and plaster, occasional pottery and obsidian. 

Post-depositional Features: n/a 

Basal Boundary: Arbitrary, (?) (?) change in tipping levels (removed (?) arbitrary by spit method) 

Unit Stratigraphy (as recorded in the field): above: (Click to view the record) 5452 below: (Click to view the record) 5450, 5471 

Dry sieve volume: 120 

Total Deposit Volume: 120 

Number of Related Diary Entries: 0

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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