Unit Book A20

A20-introduction

Processed on 2024-10-14

	Date	Author	Record
	2008-09-14	lR	Given the small sizes of the rooms, rectangular shaped stone installation inside a5 (f136), the presence of an adult human tooth lost postmortem (root still attached), fragments of a human skull in a5, and a perforated bronze drinking strainer which have been found in the context of mortuary rituals at Chagar Bazar, Tell Leilan, and Baghauz (from Akkermans and Schwartz 2002;322), and the presence of a small plaque i12 resembling a dead body within a tomb, all lead to the plausibility that these structures are connected to a funerary complex. In upper A18, the structure found dating to ^oc1 contained two neonates inside the structure (above the floor) with evidence that the structure was vaulted and plastered. Immediately south of the structure in A17 a large pit was found containing the remains of 7 individuals found disarticulated and may be the result of clearing out the inside of the mudbrick structure in A18 to reuse the room during a later occupation phase. Similar events may have occurred in area A20 as no complete articulated individuals were found but given how long the Mittani period occupied these structures it is still plausible that the bodies were moved and buried elsewhere. In A16, A15, A18, and A11, during the late Khabur phase there is clear evidence that the mudbrick structures were used as houses or tombs for the dead with the brickfall immediately covering these structures also containing a large quantity of human bones however disarticulated. The massive brickfall of A16 and A18 appears to come from the earliest Mittani occupation s19 that may have reused some of the late Khabur walls which collapsed to the west covering the area with brickfall and disarticulated human bones. If this is the case then s19 and s15 follows the continuity of using this area as a space associated with the dead seen in the late Khabur period that spans deeper in time with the early khabur and URIII period also containing large number of human internments. One difference noted between A20 and the earlier Khabur area is the size of the rooms, which are larger in A20 (for example a5 and the courtyard f108), suggest the possibility that the area was used for other functions. If A20 is indeed a funerary area during s19 and s15 then one must consider its association to area JP and the temple in terms of ritual. This year, area J7 also contained disarticulated human remains from the middle Mittani period found south of the temple staircase that come from structures to the east. This suggests that during the Mittani period internments were also occurring in the east. [Input: S914LR.j]
	2010-09-05	lC	This season was decided to resume the excavation in A20. The excavation will be carried out by the students without the employment of workmen. This is due to the lack of founding, and moreover gB and fAB think it could be a good training for all the students. The excavation should last at least three weeks, and without workmen the time period and the schedule could be very flessible including extra UGR days. gB suggested to excavate in A20 because we hope to gain substantial results, supposing to find a quite big structure not too deep, to which the big wall (^wall1), excavated in 2008 should belong. The structure seems to date to the Mittani period and could be a public building. So we decided to excavate north of ^wall1 in k23 and k24, and then on the base of the discoveries to enlarge the excavation area to the north (k32, k33, k34, k35) or to the west (k22). The staff will be composed by lC as unit director; yM, mM and sE as excavation associates; ms1, lH1, mM1, aMH, Js, bH, bS as excavation assistants. We will all follow both the excavation and the record of the informations in the field and in the house. In the afternoon everybody will work for A20 record and to the other pertinent units. [Input: U905LC.j]