Unit 22194

Category: Layer    dug in 2016

Area: North 

Interpretive Categories: burial infill 

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

Discussion: Unit 22194 fills the cut 22193 of feature 3808, a burial situated in the northern side of platform F 3811 in space 154.
The composition of the infill is quite homogeneous: reddish-grey/brown, silty-clay, with charcoal inclusions, orange and grey clay aggregates, some visible seeds (probably huckleberry) and phytoliths. Its consistency changes according to the depth of the cut: the infill of the upper part is in fact more firm, while the one of the lower part of the cut is more smooth and friable. The reason is probably related both to the presence of recent animals disturbances and plants roots, as well as to the presence of the human remains in the lower part of the burial. The infill is 50 cm thick.
At a depth of almost 20 cm from the top of the cut, the infill contains a selection of bones, east-west oriented, probably belonging to one individial (22195). The bones were covered all over their surface by a high phytholits concentration: this might be interpreted as a textile/matting wrapping the bones or as a chord that tided the bones together. The 3 phytholits samples that have been taken from this phytholits concentration (S3-4 : along western side of burial; S5:phytholits under the bones) will help to understand their origin. This deposition was associated to a stepped cut defining an oval surface (50x34 cm) where the bones were deposited.
1-3 cm under these human remains was a distinct deposition formed by a skull (22196) into an organic container and some grave items inside and outside of it. This deposition was associated to a squarish cut (70x65 cm).
The infill of both depositions is 22194: they most likely represent 2 succesive moments of the same event (burial F3808): first comes the deposition of Sk22196+related items and some times after that of Sk22195 (see 22193 discussion for more details). In the moment t is not possible to say if Sk22195 and 22196 can be refferd to the same individual. Due to some details, like for example the lack of the skull in 22195 and the proximity between the 2 groups of human remains, this hypothesis seems nevertheless plausible.
With reference to 22196, a distinction has been made in the attribution of the items outside the container and those inside the container: the first belong to unit 22194, the second to unit 22196. The reason why the items have been associated to different unit numbers is to maintain the distinction that had been established since the origin of the deposition: between those inside and outside the container.
Items related to the skull deposition (22196) and attributed to 22194 (outside the container): along the western side of the burial were 4 obsidian projectiles lying over a layer (north-south oriented) with a high phytholits concentration (S7-8). One hyphotesis that needs to be verified by the phytholits' experts is if the phytholits traces were related to a weed/reed/other organic bundle over which/inside which (?) the blades were put.Two of them (X2-3) are very close to each other and vertically slipped into the phytholits' layer: X2 points towards north, while X3 points towards south. Two other points lied horizontally a couple of cm lower from them (X4-5): they both point towards south (X4 is associated to S9). The base of X5 has been found inside the organic container of skull 22196. What seems possible to me is that the blades were originally all vertically slipped on the organic material related to the phytholits' presence and that at a certain point 2 of them (X4-5) felt down and occupied a new position. If, on the one hand, the common orientation of X3-5 suggests that they could for example be associated to a handle (and evantually a specific container for handeled obsidian projectiles), the opposite orientation of X2 seems to contradict this hypothesis.
3 cm east from X2 was a groundstone (X1): made of white marble, it has a spherical shape and is decorated with parallel grooves following two distinct circular directions. Its function is unclear (S10= soil with possible organic traces has been taken under X1).
5 cm north from it was a shell (X6), whose inner surface was covered with red brushstrokes. They might probably be related to the red pigment (cinnabar) used to paint Sk22196: the shell seems to be the container of the pigment with which the skull was painted (S11=soil with red pigment traces has been taken under X6).
Some cm east from the obsidian projectiles, some fleeting traces of charcoal together with little fragments of wood have been identified: S11 might eventually help to understand the nature of this traces, that for the moment is undetermined.
For the items related to the skull deposition (22196) and attributed to 22196 (inside the container) see unit sheet 22196. 

Consistency: firm 

Colour: reddish-brown 

Texture: silty-clay 

Bedding: massive 

Inclusions: charcol (most of them flecks, few small), clay aggregates (small and medium), seeds (probably huckleberrys), phytoliths: 2% all of them 

Post-depositional Features:  

Basal Boundary: change in accumulated deposit, gradual, distinct, smooth form and surface, flat 

Unit Stratigraphy (as recorded in the field): above: (Click to view the record) 22195, 22196 below: (Click to view the record) 22192 

Total Deposit Volume: 167 

Number of Samples recorded by excavator: 12

Number of X-Finds recorded by excavator: 6

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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