EXCAVATION IN THE NORTH AREA
Figure 7: The North Area during excavation in 1997
In the North area, excavation of Building 1 was completed except for the removal of the brick walls. A large number of burials were found beneath the northwest platform (F13) of the main room (Space 71) and beneath the north part of the room and beneath the main east platform. In all, about 67 individuals were recovered. The bodies had been placed in pits beneath the platforms, tightly flexed and with flesh. Later addition of bodies disturbed earlier bodies. Amongst the mainly younger bodies beneath the northwest platform several necklaces as well as other ornaments were found. The wall plaster surrounding the northwest platform proved to have 4 to 5 layers of geometric painting, in the form of triangles and lattices (fig 8). The pottery from Building 1 suggests a date comparable to Level VI in the Mellaart sequence.
Figure 8: Details of the wall paintings in Building 1
After removal of the floors in Building 1, sterile packing or foundation layers were excavated in 2m squares. However, within this packing a series of foundation burials were recovered, in particular in front of the doorway between space 70 and 71. Another burial (F211) beneath the northern part of the house consisted of an infant with an adult, with 'figure-of-8' fibre braids surviving as salts or phytoliths.
Beneath the foundation layers, the walls of an earlier building (probably equivalent to Level VII) were found. The main outline of these walls exactly prefigures Building 1. An internal wall exactly underlies the wall between Spaces 70 and 71, with an entrance in the same place. Another internal wall divides off an eastern room. The plasters on the walls of the side rooms are considerably thinner than in the main central room. A test trench dug in the western room came onto floors at 1m below the Building 1 floors.
Further work on the Harris matrix for Building 1 has led Gavin Lucas to redefine the phasing - the new sequence is explained in detail in the archive report.