Unit 2833
Category: layer dug in 1997
Area: South
Interpretive Categories: accumulation,dump
Data Category Information: Location: between walls; Deposition: heterogeneous
Dimensions: 1.25m w-e, 0.2m n-s, 0.3 to 0.4m thick
Discussion: X1 = 0.30m of which 0.14m = horn.
Block of accumulated material under wall F266 and between walls F52 and F75. A very mixed deposit with frequent lenses and objects such as bones. Two of the finds [X1 and X2] look like they may be intrusive. It looks like this deposit accumulated gradually in-situ between walls F52 and F75, possibly made up of material which came off roots. The intrusive material could have come down mole rat holes from Mellaart's excavations but X3 could be genuine.
Execution: mattock and trowel
Condition: overcast
Consistency: moderatelt firm
Colour: mainly 10YR 6/4 light yellowish brown
Texture: variable - clay loam predominates
Bedding: compound layered
Inclusions: charcoal - 2%, bone <2%, plaster flecks - 2%
Post-depositional Features: mole rat holes
Basal Boundary: unclear
Unit Stratigraphy (as recorded in the field):
Dry sieve volume: 60
Total Deposit Volume: 96
Number of Samples recorded by excavator: 3
Number of X-Finds recorded by excavator: 3
Number of Related Diary Entries: 0
Settlement Phase:
Associated Mellaart Levels (from Space): VII
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:: 75
Unit description: Fill between walls, dug in 1997. This is a small-to-medium unit, with very very many fresh breaks. After thorough mending there were still many missing pieces, which suggests that sieving recovery was not very good for this unit. The body part representation is very interesting. There are no feet: carpals are very rare (one cattle accessory carpal) no tarsals, no metapodials, no phalanges. There are no teeth, not even fragments, although there is a cattle mandible. Vertebrae and ribs are also markedly under-represented. There are two pig bones (one large pelvis and one distal radius). Other animals in the unit are cattle (long bone, skull and horn core fragments, calcaneus, mandible, possible scapula fragments) and at least two sheep, one of which is large and might be wild; there is a wild sheep horn core as well, and an articulated 'ankle' (calcaneus, astragalus, malleolus, and distal tibia) from large/wild sheep. The sheep bones are young (most epiphyses unfused or just fused). Surface condition is absolutely uniform, except for two or three small pieces which appear intrusive (the excavator noted the possibility of intrusive elements and the abundant burrow disturbance in this unit). The bones are quite fresh and unweathered, and there is no gnawing, burning, or digestion at all. Most of them have a golden colour (does this mean they were preserved in a damp environment?) with 'black pepper' accretions, and they are somewhat soft and chalky inside. Despite the many fresh breaks, they were deposited surprisingly intact: several sheep long bones are whole, and the fragile scapulae are relatively undamaged. It is interesting to compare this deposit to the standard midden bones; it shows how much trampling, mixing, and breakage happens to post-consumption bones when they are discarded in a midden as opposed to this more protected location between the walls. We might think of this when looking at "feasting" deposits found between walls. It looks like the waste from the main processing of the carcasses was deposited elsewhere (feet etc.) and this is primary post-consumption debris that was well-preserved due to being placed between walls. The 4mm flotation sample was quite different from the dry sieved material. There was a phalange and a metapodial, more mixed surface conditions, more burning, smaller fragment sizes (the dry-sieved material was in small pieces, but these were all modern breaks), and one tooth fragment. This makes me think that the dry sieving was not very carefully done, and so the dry sieved assemblage may not be a true indication of the original nature of the unit. This should be taken into account in any secondary analysis of the unit. The 4mm flotation was mostly unidentifiable scrap, except for the phalange, metapodial fragment, and tooth fragment, which were all from sheep-sized animals. NR 2003: X1 is a chunk of cattle frontal with the base of a youngish horn core. It is a larger piece than usual, but does not otherwise seem particularly special. Last number = 74
F13-16 pulled for 14C RAM/AB 2015Figurine Records: No Ground Stone Records: Yes
Count of records:: 2 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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