Unit 4878
Category: layer dug in 1999
Area: South
Interpretive Categories: dump,midden
Data Category Information: Location: external; Deposition: finely bedded
Dimensions: 5.2m+ w-e, 3.0m+ n-s, 0.10 to 0.20m thick
Discussion: General midden / dump layer covering all of space 181.
Recognition: beneath distinct deposit
Definition: limits of excavation / deep sounding
Execution: trowel / mattock
Condition: moist
Consistency: moderate
Colour: mixed, mainly light to mid greyish brown
Texture: silty clay
Bedding: compound layered
Inclusions: moderate small to large bone, moderate charcoal flecks, occasional obsidian / clay ball / burnt material frags. Contains ashy bands.
Post-depositional Features: deep sounding
Basal Boundary: faint, smooth, anthropogenic, flattish
Unit Stratigraphy (as recorded in the field):
Dry sieve volume: 2535
Total Deposit Volume: 2746
Number of Samples recorded by excavator: 16
Number of Related Diary Entries: 0
Settlement Phase:
Associated Mellaart Levels (from Space):
Associated Hodder Level (from Space): Unassigned at present
| Related Photos: 7 (Opens as a group in a new window) | |
| Buildings: none | |
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:: 623
Unit description: F 435 subsampled for ZooMS (DCO 2014) A large midden/dump unit from space 181. Overall it is light to light/medium brown with a small amount of staining. There is a moderate amount of burning, but a lot of that is calcined. There is also a relatively large amount of digestion aand gnawing, but very little polish. Some of the bone has a surface that appears to be exfoliating - perhaps weathered young bone? Taxa represented are sheep/goat, Bos, pig, equid, fox, wildcat, hare and hedgehog. There is a larger than usual amount of bird, inlcuding one very large bird. Sheep/goat dominate, but unlike the units from above the lime burning there is less equid than Bos. The large number of small mammals is unusual, but similar to 4879 as is the rest of the unit composition. Element distribution is fairly broad for the sheep/goat including all body parts. Diagnostic bone for the 07 and 02 size consist mainly of teeth and feet, but there are also significant amounts of long bone and axial fragments. Overall the unit is distinct from the midden layers above the lime burning and appears to be the result of different in situ activities and depositional events. A further five 4mm, 100% sorted, flotation samples were recorded for diagnostics only at a later date. Samples #3 and #4 was very similar, both were dominated by long bone fragments from sheep sized animals. Approximately 10% of the bone was charred black and these tended to be the smaller of the fragments. Almost as much bone again had been calcined white. The diagnostic bone from these samples were mainly lower limb fragments from caprines. Sample #3 also contained a radius of a pig, both contained a few elements from microfauna and in sample #4 there was a second phalanx of a cat and a 1st phalanx of a hare. Sample #5 contained a higher much higher proportion of bones from 07 size animals, but generally showed the same condition of the bone with about 20% burnt at both low and high temperatures and with weathering being minimal. None of the samples had a significant amount of gnawed bone but digested bone was resonably well represented. Sample #5 also contained one worked rib from a 03 sized animal. Flotation sample #6 was very small and just contained 17 undiagnostic flot fragments mainly from sheep-sized animals. The condition of sample #8 was very similar to that of samples #3 and #4 with perhaps a slight increase in the proportion of 07 sized animals. This sample also contained a phalanx and a tooth from hare, one fish vertebra and a small amount of microfauna. Overall, the faunal evidence friom the deposit seems to have low integrity being derived from a number of different sources, with the majority being reasonably well processed material from caprines. The inclusion of bone heated to high temperatures may suggest the inclusion of some material from lime burning episodes. Also microfauna, fish, hare, cat, pig and a number of pieces from large mammal became incorporated into the deposit. Minimal weathering and gnawing may suggest that the material was not exposed for a long period, but the presence of dogs in this area at the time of the accumulation of the deposit is shown by the moderate amount of digested bone. Additionally, the slight variety between the samples shows that the material was not homogeneous and was probably a factor of the nature of the material dumped at the particular location where the samples were taken. One tooth fragment from shell, sent labeled as flotation with no sample number. Last Number = 623Figurine Records: Yes
Count of records::none Ground Stone Records: Yes
Count of records:: 1 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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