Unit 2289
Category: layer dug in 1998
Area: North
Interpretive Categories: Room fill,wall collapse
Data Category Information: none
Dimensions: 75cm x 55cm
Discussion: There was supposedly an Xfind from unit 2268 (X.11 - Bos scapula) transfered to this unit, however in this unit there is no evidence of a scapula with those same xyz coords. The fate of this Xfind remains a mystery. Is it still labelled X.11 of unit 2268, or was it transfered to this unit with new coords.? (AMV 6/99)
11/8/98 - After removing plaster yesterday I took samples of the bricky fill that was mainly underneath plaster partly surrounding the concentration of animal bones in this area. Today, I started cleaning and lifting these bones and the groundstone (x10). It seems that the following could explain the present stratigraphic situation: Underneath some of the bones (x4 scapula in south) there is a thin layer of yellowish deposit underneath which is a blackish deposit, with possible burning. While removing the groundstone that was also lying on the blackish deposit, Adnan took a sample of this black burnt soil (unit 2292), uncovering a possible floor a few centimeters underneath. It seems that under the bricky fill, around some of the bones towards the northern wall, there is the same blackish deposit. One of the interpretations might be that after the use life of the space, a platform or bench (Feature 165) was truncated with all this bricky packing and many layers of replastering pushed away above concentrations of animal bones which were orderly and deliberately put over the mentioned "purified" yelowish soil covering the dirty debris of domestic (?) activity on the floor.
After lifting the animal bones from the deposit of this unit, another concentration of smaller grinding stones (fragmented) was noticeable (see unit 3500). After scraping the surface of the area between the western wall and feature 165 some kind of flooring was noted in the corner where Feature 165 (platform, bench?) connects to the northern wall. This floor does not seem to have many layers of plastering, but it is connected to the platform by the smooth edge and certainly looks like a trampled surface - quite solid. Because the floor was possibly reached at this level this whole space, between the western wall, northern wall, Feature 165 and Feature 166, was partitioned into a grid of 60x65 cm. In this way, three quadrants were established and assigned new unit numbers. Also, since in every of these quadrants it was possible to distinguish some kind of stratigraphic relation between yellowish and bricky soil above, and at some places, a quite thin layer of blackish deposit with some charred plant remains (some kind of nuts?) and a sufficient number of animal bones underneath this yellowish soil (which was at first designated a separate unit 2292), 6 new units were assigned to the area of these quadrants, basically representing just two separate stratigraphic units (same as 2289 and 2292).
Recognition: By yellowish-brown colour. Hard in consistency.
Definition: Clear boundary from plaster above it.
Execution: Trowel and leaf trowel.
Condition: Moist
Consistency: Firm
Colour: 10 YR 6/3 (pale brown)
Texture: sandy clay loam
Bedding: layered (fine lenses of plaster)
Inclusions: charred plants and plant imprints
Post-depositional Features: roots and salts
Basal Boundary: anthropogenic (floor surface)
Unit Stratigraphy (as recorded in the field):
Dry sieve volume: 20
Total Deposit Volume: 44
Number of Samples recorded by excavator: 10
Number of X-Finds recorded by excavator: 24
Number of Related Diary Entries: 0
Settlement Phase:
Associated Mellaart Levels (from Space): Unassigned at present
Associated Hodder Level (from Space): Unassigned at present
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 Ceramic Records: No Clay Object Records: No Chipped Stone Records: No Conservation Recorded: No Faunal Records: Yes
Count of records:: 21
Unit description: This unit, and the one above, 2268, in space 88 has an impressive collection of objects and features. A segment of plaster wall in the south end may be the top of a bin, but doesn't yet connect to anything. Just to the north of this along the east wall is a collection that includes three cattle scapulae, a grindstone, several other smaller stone, two antler tines, and a young cattle skull segment connecting both horns. From the middle of the north wall extends a feature that seems to be a truncated platform or bench. A later phase repair of this feature overlays a segment of cattle horn that seems to be part of the deposit noted above. This horn core, the grindstone, and perhaps some of the other bones lie on a black layer that may be on top of the floor. This seems reminiscent of 1873 in Mellaart, where several large cattle elements were spread over an orange coprolite deposit just over the floor. Other bones (X3, X5) were lying on a bed of stones; fire-cracked rocks? To the east of the platform, near the north wall, what seems to be a plaster cast of a horn sheath was removed as part of unit 2268. Might this have been set on the platform/bench? If so, it did not simply fall off, as it has flipped lengthwise. Is the rest dismantled installations? It is worth looking at the unit sheet plan, as one could see two of the scapulae and the antler tines as laid out in facing pairs mirroring the horns on the skull. Phytolith skeletons of scattered reeds were immediately beneath scapulae X9 and X5, and the skull X3, as well as directly on top of a stone slightly lower down below X3 and X5. Field measurements: X4, cattle scapula: M1 SLC 72.4 M2 GLP 88.1 M3 LG 70.4 M4 BG est. 57.5 M6 HS est. 375.0 M7 DHA est. 370.0 M8 Ld est. 240.0 X8 cattle skull, foramen magnum area, basioccipital est. B across occipital condyles 135.0 X9 cattle scapula M1 SLC 65.6 M2 GLP 84.0 M3 LG 61.0 M4 BG 61.9 M5 min H neck est. 60.0 M6 HS est. 390.0 M7 DHA est. 385.0 X3, young Bos skull with both horns, frontal, occipital; facing down, with horns curving up then down; horns somewhat crushed and flattened, so breadth measurements may be exaggerated. Left horn: M1 total length 263.0 M3 L outer curvature 286.0 M4 L inner curvature 234.0 M5 Greatest diameter at base 83.8 Right horn (not quite complete in ground; very tip missing): M2 preserved length 231.0 M3 L outer curvature est. 260.0 M4 L inner curvature est. 220.0 M5 GD at base est. 80.0 intercornual breadth 174.7 X5, complete pathological Bos scapula, youngish; big abscess eroded most of upper half of glenoid SLC est. 59.5 LG est., influenced by pathology 61.0 M5 minimum H of neck est. 44.0 HS est. 320.0 DHA est. 310.0 Ld est. 185.0Figurine 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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