ÇATALHÖYÜK 2004 ARCHIVE REPORT
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Excavations of the 4040 Area
Building 49, Space 100
Ulrike Krotscheck
Stanford University Field School
Supervised by: Ulrike Krotscheck & Serena Love
Site Assistants: Darin Nee & Stephanie Selover
Abstract
Between July 5th and August 2nd, 2004, Building 49 in the 4040 Area of the East Mound was cleaned, cleared of fill, and excavated down to the latest preserved features. This building had first been excavated in 2003 as Space 100. One of the aims of the 2004 season was to excavate the building to one continuous phase of use, if possible, so it could then be compared to other buildings in the 4040 Area. This goal could not be reached this season, although we did reach the latest preserved set of features within the building. These included floors, platforms, bins, benches, basins, a fire installation, and a possible partition wall, but time constraints at the end of the season prohibited a complete excavation to phase. Only one feature, F.1652, could be excavated in part – all others were documented and left. Their dimensions, functions, and sequences are still largely unclear.
Building 49 differs significantly from its neighbours both in terms of features and finds. The finds from the room fill, in contrast to that of the surrounding buildings (Space 229 and Building 48), were very rich. Some of the most remarkable finds included seven cattle horn cores, a cache of animal figurines, and a concentration of very large animal bones present throughout the fill. It should be noted that the incomplete excavation limits the possible range of archaeological interpretations of the building. At the end of the season, the building was sandbagged and backfilled to await further excavation after the completion of the 4040 Area.
Özet
5 Temmuz ve 2 Ağustos tarihleri arasında, Doğu Tepesi 4040 Alanında bulunan Bina 49 temizlenmiş, dolgu toprağı atılmış ve en son korunmuş tabakalara kadar kazısı yapılmıştır. Bu bina ilk defa 2003 yılında Alan (Space) 100 adı altında kazılmıştı. 2004 yılının amaçlarından biri de bu binayı tek bir kullanım alanı seviyesinde kazmak ve 4040 Alanındaki diğer binalarla karşılaştırma yapabilmek idi. Bu amacımıza bu sezonda ulaşamasak da, en son korunmuş öğelere (feature) ulaşabilmeyi başardık. Bulduğumuz öğelerden(feature) tabanlar, platformlar, ambarlar, çukurlar, ocaklar, ve muhtemel bir perde kazı sezonu tamamlandığından tam olarak kazılmamışlardır. Yanlızca bir öğenin (feature) bir kısmı kazılmış –F. 1652, diğerleri belgelenmiş ve bırakılmıştır. Boyutları, fonksiyonları ve tabakalanmaları bilinmemektedir.
Bina 49 belirgin bir şekilde, bulunan öğeler ve buluntular bakımından diğer binalarla (Alan 229 ve Bina 48) karşılaştırıldığında oldukça zengindir. En göze çarpan buluntular; yedi tane sığır boynuzu, hayvan figürünleri topluluğu ve çok büyük ölçekte bulunan hayvan kemiği topluluklarıdır. Şu göz önünde bulundurulmalıdır ki; kazının tamamlanamamış olması, alanla ilgili yapılabilecek yorumları sınırlandırmaktadır. Kazı sezonunun sonunda 4040 alanındaki gelecekte yapılacak kazılara hazır duruma getirilmiş, bina toprakla doldurulmuş ve kum torbaları ile kapatılmıştır.
Building 49
The north western most structure excavated in the targetted 10 x 40 m sector (see Fig 9), Building 49, Space 100 is a relatively small building (Fig 13), measuring only 4.1m x 3.3m along the inside of its longest walls (the south wall F.1658 and the east wall F.1660, respectively). The shape of the building is roughly square with a corner cut out of the NW.
To the south, B.49 is flanked by Space 229; to the east by Building 48. The relationships to these buildings cannot be determined yet. To date, we have found no direct access points between these spaces and Building 49. All of B.49's walls are ca. 0.3m thick. As excavated in 2004, they are preserved to a height of at least 1.11m (northwest corner of F.1665 and F.1657). But their final height could not be determined this season. All walls except the north wall (F.1661) are alongside the walls of other spaces; the north central wall is the only one that is not apparently part of a double wall. The areas north and west of B.49 have not been excavated to date, although they were scraped as part of the 4040 in 2003. The relationship of the space to these areas can not yet be determined. A possible partition wall (F.1654 and F.1659; see below for fuller discussion) divides the inside of the building into a large, central room in the east and a smaller “subdivision” in the west.
The sandbags covering last year's excavation had been removed before our arrival and cleaning began immediately. The whole quadrant was cleared of debris to confirm the accuracy of last year's plans and to determine the nature of the fill. The unit numbers for the initial cleaning were (7910) and (7911); both were dug as “fast-track” units. The tracking for each unit is recorded in the database, but for Building 49, we generally followed the following strategy: The upper layers of fill and some of the lower layers were “fast-tracked”. Most of the lower layers, however, were excavated “medium track” – a term equivalent to later “full-on”. This means that the volume of each unit was counted in liters, 30 L were sent to flotation, an archive sample was taken, as well as any other samples appropriate for the type of deposit that was being dug: phytolith, micromorphology, paint samples, among others. All floors and platforms were sampled at the end of the season in two places each.
Figure 13:Plan of Building 49, Space 100
Figure 14: Final photo of Building 49, looking NW
Burial F.1650
The first task was to excavate a late, possibly Roman, burial cut which had been located in the 2003 season. The cut (7917) was clearly recognizable in the room fill by colour and texture. It was roughly rectangular in shape and located in the NW corner of Building 49. Part of it may have cut through the east wall (F.1660) at some point in time (Unit (7945) is the fill of this cut), but the cut had been shortened to fit the individual. |
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It contained the remains of a child's supine extended skeleton (7919) oriented E-W with its head in the west. The burial was badly disturbed by rodent activity and many of the bones were displaced or damaged. Grave goods (in fill ( 7918)) included one small glass vessel (7918.x2), not intact; the neck of another small glass jar (7918.x1); a solid cylindrical glass artifact (7918.x3) decorated with incised ribbing and of undetermined function; and a small perforated pottery disk (7918.x4), ca.20mm in diameter and incised with small circles on one side. The burial fill also contained remains of coffin nails, all in very bad condition. The grave goods and orientation suggest a late Roman date.
Room Fill
Following the removal of the grave, the fill in the building was gradually removed with the goal of locating the features inside. Along each wall, a 50mm –0.1m baulk was left to protect the plaster on the walls until the shelter was erected and this baulk was removed in two layers – one corresponding roughly to the upper layer of room fill; the other to the lower level of fill. |
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The soil of the upper levels of fill was mostly of mixed consistency with small mudbrick, charcoal, mortar, and plaster inclusions. Although all the following unit numbers can be considered “room fill”, units were separated based on consistency (plaster or brick concentrations, etc.). Finds in the upper layers of fill include very small amounts of pottery, mostly undiagnostic; a large number of disarticulated animal bones, a few fragments of clay balls, some small pieces of obsidian, and very little shell.
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Deeper into the matrix, the fill became more compact and larger pieces of mudbricks and plaster could be seen. As features began to emerge, we separated the unit numbers according to consistency and proximity or possible relation to the features.
Finds in the lower levels of fill included obsidian, burnt bricks and plaster, and large amounts of large animal bones. An exception to this was found in the west part of the building in units (7954), (7957), and (7921), which will receive fuller treatment below. Pottery was almost nonexistent. Most significant among the finds in the central area of the building were a total of 7 horn cores. The first one found, (7928), 0.61m in length, was covered with a white material (plaster or possibly salt) (Fig 15). It was lying on its side in fill (7926) and still had bits of articulated skull. |
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Unit (7940) was a cluster of horn cores, some plastered, of various sizes contained in room fill near the east wall (Fig. 16). 7940.x1 looked as though it might have been attached to the wall when it was first uncovered, but this turned out not to be the case.
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A pit seems to have been cut through in the southwest corner. The northern part was slightly more clear; one thin surface was located separating the fill (7921) from (7954) (also fill). The thin, grey layer was so ephemeral that it may simply have been a hiatus between two events of filling the space. The lack of surfaces implies that very little heavy activity went on in this area of the house. To add to the complications, this area had also been home to a ridiculous number of rodents; when a surface was finally found (7971) it was riddled with holes. Following this surface (7971) (unexcavated in 2004) brought this area of the building out of phase with the central area. As a result, the entire western part of the building is part of a much earlier phase of the building than the central area. The finds support this interpretation.
Finds from the “Western Subdivision”
The fill/midden units (7954), (7957) from this area were prioritized, and preliminary results from the analyses helped with the dating of this area. A brief summary of some of the results will be presented here, but fuller explanation is contained in the priority reports for these units. The pottery - only two diagnostic sherds – dates approximately to Level VI. The obsidian results from (7957) (the southern part) indicate a much larger percentage of obsidian than is usual – 3-4 times more than is typical in fill. This obsidian debris is used only slightly and seems to come directly from knapping activity. It is typical for obsidian of Level VI and earlier. Based on these results Tristan Carter, suggested that the southern unit (7957) is midden, not room fill. The faunal results for (7954) and (7957) were both very unusual. Small mammals dominated the assemblage. It included two articulated bird wings, lots of eggshell, tortoise, hedgehog, deer, pig, and fish bones large enough to suggest some kind of consumption.
In the fill/midden unit (7957) was a small cache of seven clay animal figurines. The three animal figurines from the wall baulk cleaning in this area – 7938.x1, 7938.x4 and 7935.x1 - may have been associated with this cache, although this is not reconstructable with any degree of certainty as two of these were found in the sieve.
The inconsistency of the finds from this western part of the building support the conclusion - indicated as well by the sequence of features – that this deposit is of a much earlier date than the fill of the central area.
Features
The walls of Building 49 (F.1665, F.1657, F.1658, F.1660, F.1661) are all ca.0.3m thick. The south, north, and west walls were all truncated by later burial cuts (F.1603, F.1650, F.1251). The larger, central space has thick layers of plaster against the interior face of the walls, while the west wall F.1657, F.1665, and the west part of F.1658 – i.e., all the walls within the “western subdivision” – have almost no plaster. Only F.1665 and the northern half of F.1657 display a very thin layer of plaster; the rest of this smaller space seems to have been unplastered. (see graphic 04/606). This confirms the area as one that was not used heavily for living space, as the lack of surfaces indicated above has already suggested. In the larger, main area of the building, the thickness of the plaster ranges from ca.30mm in the south to 70mm in the northern part of the building. The northern and western main wall also have a horizontal moulding (see graphic 04/605) 0.5m above surface level (Fig. 17).
This thick layer of plaster continues around the northern dividing wall F.1654 and the posthole scar in the northwest corner (7976). Only very small bits of red paint are visible directly on the wall, but we have much evidence that the walls may have been painted at one time: the fills (7913) and (7929) on top of platform F.1651 were full of thick pieces of painted plaster layers that may have fallen from the wall. The paint we sampled was both red and a shade of greyish blue 7913.s5-10; 7929.s1. While other areas of fill also contained bits of paint, the highest concentration by far was found above this platform.
Figure 17: North wall F.1661of Building 49
Three post scars are visible in the walls; the two in the centers of the east and north walls have no plaster backing. The scar in the east wall sits on top of and cuts into F.1653, a small, plastered rectangular pedestal or plinth jutting out from the wall. The “post scar” (7976) at the junction of wall F.1655, F.1661 and F.1654 is unusual in that the scar itself seems to be backed with plaster layers as thick as the wall. It was either a post inserted very late or a different sort of feature that the vertical plaster lines, defining a concave recess on this corner, represent. While this unit certainly has a shape that resembles a post scar, it is not clear how the plaster could have been curved in anticipation of a post in front of it.
Sequence and Discussion of the Features:
It is quite difficult to determine with any degree of certainty the relationship of features to each other. Many of the problems with phasing and sequence will not be solved until the features are excavated.
At least four surfaces – floors and platforms – were preserved underneath the room fill. Features F.1651 (raised plastered platform), F.1656 (floor surface), and F.1664 (truncated platform) may share roughly a usage phase, even if they may not have been constructed at exactly the same time. F.1651 and F.1656 show indications of burial cuts by cracks and discoloration of the plastered surface. The higher one, F.1651, slopes down significantly toward its center and has evidence of in-situ burning near the north wall (F.1661). Platform/floor F.1664 was heavily truncated and exhibits a roughly circular area of disturbance next to the east wall. Its rim, toward the south, is still preserved. The floor F.1663 seems to postdate all these platforms – its edges lap up to them. The plinth/ pillar F.1653 also extends down into this floor, suggesting that it was also originally of an earlier phase than F.1663. It is directly underneath and part of the post scar in the east wall. South of the plinth is feature F.1662, currently interpreted as a series of benches or truncated platforms which are cut into by an area of burnt, mudbricky fill (7949), which may perhaps be demolition debris from the fire installation F.1665. The southern part of this deposit was later possibly covered by a hard-packed, grey surface (7953). The excavation of these units revealed a large recess in the south wall – nearly 0.3m deep, it cuts through to the wall of the neighbouring Space 229. The form looks like it may have been intended as an oven niche, but there is no sign of burning anywhere on the plaster of the wall or the floor. The fire installation F.1665 is west of this recess and ca. 0.4m away from the south wall. Its top, as it is preserved, is on the same level as floor F.1663, but the rim which flanks the fire area on all four sides was almost certainly truncated. It is unclear whether this oven may have been used in the latest phases of the house, as it predates many of the features. The possibility also exists that there was no oven associated with the phase of use that platforms F.1656, F.1651, and F.1664 represent.
Feature 1652:
This is the only feature excavated in 2004, and its excavation remains incomplete. What follows is the interpretation of the excavator Stephanie L. Selover from July 29th, 2004 – August 2nd, 2004 (Fig. 18 & plans 04/614, 04/615, 04/616).
F.1652 is a large, roughly rectangular feature, located against the southern wall of the building. The latest preserved height was 0.3m. It was first interpreted as a possible stepping platform or a bin, built in a later phase of the building than the floors, as indicated by the profile visible underneath the feature. The north wall of this feature, of which 1 ½ phases are preserved, is plastered all the way to the bottom of the feature and ends in a rim at the top. The east side of this wall is cut down nearly to the floor.
Upon excavation, this feature was revealed to be a possible bin, with earlier and later phases. The stratigraphy of this feature is rather complicated. The feature extends from the edge of feature F.1659 in the west and from the western edge of unit (7943) in the east. The southern edge is the southern wall of Building 49 (F.1658), and the northern edge is the bin wall, unit (7963). The feature contains the entirety of a bin, as well as two possible other bins as well as a possible unplastered surface or platform.
The earliest phase is represented by unit (7968), which is preserved only in the profile under the units (7966) and (7965). This profile shows a series of unplastered surfaces or possibly platforms under F.1666 and above floor (1656). The elevation of surface (7960) is lower than the elevation of (7968), but on the southern wall of the building behind unit (7960), there is scarring in the plaster showing that the surfaces went into the wall. Because other features are on top of this surface, it was not excavated and cannot be well understood.
The second phase is represented by unit (7966), which is a single plaster block. This block may have been an earlier bin, but the rest of the bin is now missing or not yet excavated. This has been interpreted as the second phase as it is above the phase apparent in (7968). The north and south sides of this unit have been cut by units (7965) and (7964). It is clear that it is not a part of the later bin, as the ends of the unit are cut by the bin and the construction of the plaster block is quite different than that of the other, later bin to be discussed below. The western wall of the later bin may have rested on this unit as well.
The third phase is the main bin of feature F.1652. This consists of units (7952), (7955) and (7961) as the fill of the bin, and (7959), (7960), (7963) and (7964) as the remaining floors and walls of the bin. Units (7963) and (7964) are the walls of the unit, but were cut perhaps in the subsequent phase, discussed below. The eastern end of (7963) was truncated down to the level of the surface (7959). It is possible that the wall originally went all around the entire bin at the same elevation and has since been truncated. However, there is no scar in the southern wall of Building 49 where (7963) would have hit the southern wall to indicate its absence, so it is also possible that the eastern end of the bin was in fact a small plastered platform or surface abutting the bin. Surface (7959) is a nicely plastered surface, while the surface of (7960) has a much thinner plastered surface and is 20-30mm below that of (7959). In excavation, these two surfaces were divided by a thin plaster line, which may have been the eastern wall of the bin, or maybe a dividing wall of the bin. The line was removed during excavation to discover the relationship between the two surfaces better. There was again no scarring in the southern wall to indicate its absence, so the purpose of the line is still somewhat unclear.
The fourth and final visible phase in feature F.1652 is represented by unit (7965). This unit is a dividing wall, possibly the wall of the bin in F.1666. This unit cuts the northern end of unit (7966), as well as the eastern end of (7963). The remainder of this feature is unclear and can only be investigated by further excavation.
Other Features:
Abutting F.1652 and pre-dating the southern partition wall (F.1659) is a three-sided “basin” with plastered rims, ca. 0.12m high, on the north, west, and south sides (F.1666). Its function is unclear. It postdates platform F.1656, as it sits on top of another 0.1m layer of floors or surfaces on top of F.1656. This surface, although badly truncated and only preserved in the profiles under F.1666, F.1652, and F.1654, probably represents the remnants of the last visible floor surface of the building. Not only basin F.1666, but both partition walls F.1659 and F.1654 are built on top of this surface. The basin, despite the fact that F.1659 is built on top of its rim, may still have been in use at the time the walls were constructed – the F.1659 only cuts across its corner, and a line in the plaster along the west side of the basin may have indicated the further trajectory of this wall. Therefore, the basin's use would not have been compromised by the construction of subsequent walls. As discussed above, the identification of F.1659 and F.1654 as “partition walls” is far from certain. These two features seem to have had a very long life span, postdating even the latest floor surface. The northern structure, F.1654, has thick layers of plaster along its eastern face which show many sequential events of plastering and re-plastering. Therefore, any floors or other features related to these walls are no longer preserved in the building. In a conversation on 07/08/04, illustrator John Swogger suggested that the latest phase of the building was lost long before excavation and may have been deliberately removed.
Conclusion:
Excavations were completed by August 2nd, 2004; final photos taken, the floors, platforms, and some walls were sampled in strategic locations, and the building closed. Building 49 remains poorly understood until further excavation takes place when some of the other anomalies of this building may come to light: its tiny size, its long life, the huge concentration of horn cores, the strange assemblages of animal bones found within it.
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© Çatalhöyük Research Project and individual authors, 2004