Depositional data for
Unit A6
Accretion

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Introduction

Many accumulations (174) were found in Unit A6, reflecting the use and abandonment of the structures, with layers of ash, hard red or gray soil, and occasionally mixed with pottery sherds, bricks, or bones. Some layers, such as f18, were defined for practical reasons rather than strict stratigraphy and include accumulations resulting from gully wash or brickfall.

Back to top: Depositional data for Unit A6 Accretion

Accumulations

The accumulations include f34, located below f18 and near the western stone wall, consisting of bricky material in the southeast corner and an ash floor in the southwest corner of k169. f51 forms a soft ash layer over a steeply sloping plastered floor, comparable to mid-floor gypsum layers in A1 and A5, including ash, secondary bricky material, a large dressed stone, and an ash pit, with no evidence of a tannur.

f55 consists of fine buff-pink soil to a depth of 70 cm, indicating a very thin topsoil, from which pottery sherds were collected. f63 revealed a flat base with a small peg impression and remains of a tannur above floor f73, 60 cm from the southern wall. f113 represents a soft dark gray floor accumulation with a firm, level surface associated with door socket, excavation revealed a reddish accumulation mixed with gray at mid of k168, indicating that f113 slopes north and partially cut into f114. f122 contained human skeletal remains in the northeast corner of k218, representing the mid occupation phase.

f138 revealed three layers of mudbrick extending east–west within doorway a4, forming platform f142, belonging to the mid occupation (Akkadian period).

Later accumulations reflect palace abandonment, including f158, followed by f159, a looser, darker red soil forming a semicircle, representing the transition from the mid occupation to the Abandonment phase. f160, f166, f169, and f176 are hard red accumulations with isolated gray patches and few sherds, excavation of f166 revealed black soil at its base, dark brown soft layers, and two seal impressions, with careful removal down to the underlying floor. Lower levels, including f167, consist of very hard packed buff and brown soil with brick inclusions, similar to f44 above wall f78, with possible pottery sherds collected as a single lot q490, last cut 40 cm deep. f170 lies beneath a burial, protruding from the eastern baulk, and is associated with the Rebuilding phase.

The accumulations in Unit A6 reflect a complex sequence of occupation, abandonment, and rebuilding, with variations in color, hardness, matrix, and the presence of architectural, ceramic, and organic materials consistent with occupation and post-abandonment processes.