Unit 20481
Category: Layer dug in 2012
Area: North
Interpretive Categories: Building infill
Data Category Information: Location: building; Deposition: heterogeneous
Dimensions: 4,60 m N-W, 3,40 m N-S, 0,20-0,60 m deep?
Discussion: This layer was excavated partly during the 2012 season. In space 17 it was removed completely and approximately 0,25 m deep. In space 18 we made a sondage cut and found floor layers 0,25 m further down, but excavation will have to proceed carefully in case there is an eroded floor in the same level as in space 17 that was not visible in the sondage cut. The current level in space 18 is the same as in space 17 or 0.05-0.10 m higher, but no floor is yet visible. U20481 was interpreted as the infill of the interconnected spaces 17 and 18. It contained no complete fallen walls, but a large amount of brick fragments and plaster fragments, the plaster almost exclusively in the bricky parts or on the bricks. The surface of the layer was very compact as it had been exposed for a long time during excavation and run over by wheel barrows. Still it came off the walls rather easily with a bit of trowel pressure on the right spot. We were encouraged to dig quickly, which is why only 1/3 of the material was sieved. As there were many animal bone fragments these were only collected from the sieve and never handpicked. The other finds categories were both handpicked and collected from the sieve.
Added 2013:
Room fill 20481 was further excavated and finally removed in 2013 by means of pick axe and trowel. Beneath was a partly disturbed dirty floor level (20909) as well as a number of features. In S 17 most of 20481 was already removed when we started the season in 2013. Unfortunately some of the floor had been disturbed, as well as hearth F3692 and floor around oven F7101. The relationship between those can now only be seen in the trench wall section. Also the platform F7117 was disturbed. The boundary between room fill (this unit) and that feature was therefore somewhat diffuse. In this part (NE part of S17) however many nice finds were found in the bottom of the room fill while sieving, f.e. a mini greenstone axe fragment and a bone needle. Also in the bottom of the fill, quite possibly on top of F3688, it was found nice obsidian flake and arrowhead.
20481 also constituted the southern part of what was initially (in 2012) interpreted as a wall (F3688). In this part an infant burial was found beneath the room fill (since no cut has been identified). Other elements connected to, but prior to, the deposition of this fill, show that the filling of a house/building or space was actually a quite elaborate event. However, this unit was a massive compound layer deposited to fill the house. Probably this happened relatively quickly, but it is hard for me to say since I did not start excavating this unit in 2012.
Recognition: A mixed layer surrounded by plastered walls
Definition: Clear
Execution: Spade, trowel, pick axe. First 300 l sieved, then 1/3 sieved (every third wheel barrow). Dug 0,10 m down at a time.
Condition: Dry
Consistency: Firm
Colour: Gray, black, orange, brown. Tawny.
Texture: 50 % silt, 50 % clay.
Bedding: Compound, unoriented. A mix of different materials.
Inclusions: Chalk, crushed plaster, stones up to 0,07 m in diameter, mud bricks, crushed mud bricks
Post-depositional Features: Rodent runs, rodent holes, roots
Basal Boundary: Flat, abrupt. Clear, but sometimes hard to tell dirt flecks on the floor below from compact infill.
Unit Stratigraphy (as recorded in the field):
Dry sieve volume: 3404
Total Deposit Volume: 9092
Number of Samples recorded by excavator: 2
Number of X-Finds recorded by excavator: 9
Number of Related Diary Entries: 3
Settlement Phase:
Associated Mellaart Levels (from Space): Unassigned at present
Associated Hodder Level (from Space): Unassigned at present
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Buildings: (Click to view the record)
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Spaces: (Click to view the record)
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| 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 Ceramics Data for 2012 still to be released Clay Object Records: No Chipped Stone Records: No Conservation Recorded: No Faunal Records: Yes
Count of records:: 1 Figurine Records: No GroundStone Records: No 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
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