Unit 1868
Category: layer dug in 1997
Area: South
Interpretive Categories: dump
Data Category Information: Location: in abandoned building; Deposition: coarsely bedded (dumps)
Dimensions: 4.10m x 3.0m
Discussion: Mixture of building collapse/demolition material and patches or localised dumps of more 'domestic' material. No clear boundaries between what probably are discrete dumps, but part of wider infilling of building 2. The Northwest of the deposit is more ashy with associated clay balls and bone( not enough to qualify as a cluster) Bone and clay balls more abundant along edge of building.
Execution: mattock shovel
Condition: overcast warm
Consistency: firm
Colour: 2.5y 4/3 olive brown
Texture: silty clay
Bedding: massive
Inclusions: <20% building material,mudbrick etc,<2% charcoal, pot, obsidian, clay balls, plaster, shell
Post-depositional Features: animal burrow ants roots
Basal Boundary: N/A
Unit Stratigraphy (as recorded in the field):
Dry sieve volume: 115
Total Deposit Volume: 171
Number of Samples recorded by excavator: 8
Number of X-Finds recorded by excavator: 3
Number of Related Diary Entries: 3
Settlement Phase:
Associated Mellaart Levels (from Space):
Associated Hodder Level (from Space): Unassigned at present
| Related Photos: 7 (Opens as a group in a new window) | |
Buildings: (Click to view the record)
| |
Spaces: (Click to view the record)
| |
| Features:: none |
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 Ceramic Records: No Clay Object Records: No Chipped Stone Records: No Conservation Recorded: No Faunal Records: Yes
Count of records:: 507
Unit description: Large unit, highly fragmented for the most part, with a few big pieces, especially several virtually complete large mammal ribs, minus their heads. In fact, rib heads are almost completely absent; none from large mammals. Large mammal ribs do not have cut marks, in contrast to some other units, e.g., overlying 1668; there are a couple of sheep-size ribs with carving cuts. Not too many vertebrae, and these are chopped. Quite a bit of skull, but very little horn core. Lots of long bone shaft fragments. Relatively few diagnostics, and these are from different individuals; virtually no articulations. The exception is what may have been a complete fetal lamb/kid, which was not eaten. The phalanges are all highly fragmented, and many are digested. There is very little burning, and the bone is not weathered: it was buried fairly quickly. A fair amount of digestion, so dog feces contributed to the deposit, but not in the huge amounts seen in some other Mellaart units. There is some gnawing, but not a great deal, and not on the larger pieces; only some of the bone was worked over by dogs. A few pieces seem water-worn, and a few look worn by trampling. Taxa include a small equid represented by a deciduous tooth, and another digested incisor; plus a somewhat larger radius. There is a distal metacarpal fragment from very large cattle, plus a large maxillary tooth. From smaller individuals, there are a tibia, metatarsal shaft fragment, split first phalanx, malleolus, atlas, youngish zygomatic, a young mandible and loose deciduous teeth. Also a couple of permanent teeth. Pig is represented only by a couple of young teeth and some skull fragments. There is more sheep/goat than any other taxon, distributed fairly evenly through the body. A variety of ages is represented, but none very old. There is one female sheep pelvis. Large deer is represented only by two fragments of antler, one of which is a tool. One of the other bone tools is possibly on a roe deer metapodial. There is one mustelid tooth. Several hare-size fragments indicate the presence of smaller animals. There is a good deal of bird (eight fragments), mostly smallish birds, but one talon from a very large bird. There is one pharyngeal arch that appears to be from our usual fish species, but is larger than most. In addition to the antler tool, which looks like a flat point, but is missing both ends through old breaks, there are two complete points on split sheep-size metapodia (one proximal, one distal). These points have both been resharpened and are rather short, but both have quite sharp and slender tips, and seem still usable. There seem to be differing treatments of the bone here: most very fragmented from marrow and bone grease/broth processing, some relatively complete ribs, some coming from dog feces, some worked over by dogs. There is not much that looks like discard from primary butchery; rather it seems to be mostly dumped after consumption, and after being consumed quite thoroughly. However, there are no carving or rib sectioning cut marks. There is a large mammal (cattle?) hyoid with cut marks indicating tongue removal, and a very few other dismemberment and tendon removal cut marks. This might represent household dumping of daily refuse after large animals have been divided among households, either from one household over a longish period of time, or from several households over a shorter period. Field discussion of this unit indicates that most materials seem to be coming from a variety of places, and appear to be secondarily deposited household debris. There are large amounts of building material mixed in, more than just from the upper parts of the walls. It seems to be deliberate filling of the room with midden/collapsed buildings from elsewhere. This unit is stratigraphically equivalent to 1873, which underlies it. Between the two, but thus really a lens in the middle of this mixed fill, is a large cluFigurine Records: Yes
Count of records::none Ground Stone Records: Yes
Count of records:: 4 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
main sponsors
secondary sponsors
