Unit 22641

Category: Layer    dug in 2015

Area: North 

Interpretive Categories: burial fill 

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

Discussion: This is the burial fill for F. 7956, the extremely heat-affected young adult female sk. 22661 buried in platform F. 7950. It was extremely dark in color, though at the very top it was recognized as an orange circle apparent in plan view within the surrounding u. 22638 (the plaster of platform F. 7950). The fill and the skeleton contained therein were essentially baked within the platform as the fire burned in the building above, thereby allowing objects and materials to be preserved that ordinarily would have decomposed. One such item was a wooden bowl buried with sk. 22661, which was treated and lifted by conservation after a sample was taken for chemical study if someone desires. A smooth piece of limestone was also collected as an X-find, though groundstone specialist Christina Tsoraki determined it was natural and not analytically significant.

Due to time restrictions, the entirety of the fill was not excavated in 2015, though all skeletal elements and organic materials were collected. The sides and bottom of the cut should be identified in 2016.

Re-assessment at thebeginning of the 2016 season, and consultation with osteoarchaeologisl BJB revealed that burial F.7956 had been incompletely excavated in 2015. The cut was fully defined and the basal deposit removed. 22641 changed in both colou r and compaction towards the base. Immediately below Skeleton 22661 the soil was soft, dark red brown clay silt with occasional charcoal changing to a firm light yellow brown silt clay. The lower 22641 had 5% inclusions of small charcoal fragments. It way be explained by trampling as the skeleton22661 was placed into cut 22662. The Basal boundary was diffuse, which may supportthe trampling hypothesis. 

Consistency: friable, damp 

Colour: very dark brown/grey 

Texture: silty clay loam 

Bedding: massive 

Inclusions: charcoal 

Post-depositional Features: baking within platform 

Basal Boundary: Diffuse 

Unit Stratigraphy (as recorded in the field): above: (Click to view the record) 22661 below: (Click to view the record) 22635 

Total Deposit Volume: 147 

Number of Samples recorded by excavator: 10

Number of X-Finds recorded by excavator: 4

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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