Unit 1578

Category: layer    dug in 1996

Area: South 

Interpretive Categories: wall 

Data Category Information: In Situ: in situ; Location: wall/blocking; Material: brick&mortar; Deposition: heterogeneous

Dimensions: 3.70(N-S) x 0.44(E-W) x 0.59m height 

Discussion: Wall below (1565). Lower part of wall built of bricks (9) and mortar (8) see section 151 for description. Bricks appeared to be set regularly within the mortar on the top face of the wall (see plan 162). The wall is unusually wide (see dimensions above) and the bricks occupied the full width of the wall. Below this level anomalies in the brick coursing occurred and it is likely that this is the result of the bricks being formed "in situ" from damp/wet clay. The wall is aligned N-S immediately to the west of wall (1515) and divides space 106 from space 105. The north end of the wall continues beyond the limit of excavation and appears at the moment to be overlaid by a wall running W-E on the north side of space 106. to the south the wall forms a corner (not yet investigated) with an E-W wall forming a south side of space 106.
At the time of writing the south wall does not appear to meet wall 1578 and may be cut away by some other feature.

In the N facing section of sample 4 (Evan's block) the west side of the wall appears to have slipped down. This is a localised shift and further up the wall, (Jonathan tells me ) there was slippage on the east side instead. The fact that this part of the wall has slipped and stayed in place could suggest the wall was contained in a cut or within shuttering. To continue the discussion about the n facing section of sample 4. Mira thinks that the slippage is the result of an earthquake - there is another slippage in space 107/8 and a very small slippage of floor plaster in the same area (107/8). I think there would be major cracks in other sections of the site revealed by Mellaart, if an earthquake had taken place.

The general debate about the wall is: is it rebuilt in the upper part? or does the marked change between (1565) and (1578) signify the boundary between above and below ground? If this was the case the foundation cut would be very deep and quite unusual, although the wall to the east (abutting this wall) had a very wide deep foundation cut associated with it (wall 1515, feature 56). I currently prefer the re-build theory - the rather "ad hoc" appearance the upper wall being the result of a rapid rebuilding, maybe at an unseasonal time of year when any materials to hand were used. Jonathan thinks the use of red and white bricks in the upper wall (1562), (1560) was deliberate, significant, and no doubt ritual. I think the builders may have chosen them for their decorative qualities, but did not go out of their way to acquire them. The top level of (1578) appears to have been levelled off. A small depression in the top of the wall (ancient mole rat?) had been filled in with mortar from the wall above the lower an upper wall had been built together the mole rat's hole would not have been filled in because it would have been burrowed out after the whole wall was built. This animal burrow seems to suggest that the lower wall was truncated before the later wall was built over it. 

Execution: pick and trowel 

Condition: hot and sunny 

Consistency:  

Colour:  

Texture:  

Bedding: see description section 151 

Inclusions:  

Post-depositional Features:  

Basal Boundary:  

Unit Stratigraphy (as recorded in the field): above: (Click to view the record) 1589 below: (Click to view the record) 1565 

Dry sieve volume: 890 

Total Deposit Volume: 907 

Number of Samples recorded by excavator: 4

Number of Related Diary Entries: 1

Settlement Phase:

Associated Mellaart Levels (from Space): VII 

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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