Phase 6c^AAH within unit A16

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Current version

This page was previously labeled Phase 5a^AAC and was attributed according the AAC strata sequence. In June 2016, C. Chaves Yates revised all strata and phase information to match the updated AAH strata sequence. This page is current as of June 2016.

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Overview

During Khabur period the area became an outdoor space. We do not know exactly the size of the settlement but it was reduced to the only high mound, and probably this open space was a marginal area at the edge of the settlement. Probably few more pits and burial (a16) were excavated between end of phase 5h and phase 6c, but then it became a dumping area. At the bottom of the large dump some Phase 4 sherds were found, showing a direct overposition of the stratigraphy.

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Hollows and Pits

During this period a lot of material was dumped here, mainly ash. At first it seemed that a large pit was excavated because the material was sloping and filling an empty space. Later it was suggested that probably no pit was specifically cut, but the material (a13/a17) was filling a large and quite deep hollow formed above the collapsed walls of the Akkadian Palace in the Palace courtyard. So the material was used to filled the area at the edge of the settlement.

Truly a pit was excavated since part of the courtyard pavement was destroyed, showing the baked bricks underneath. So probably first a pit was excavated and filled by rubbish material and once full, the ash was dumped all over the large and irregular hollow.

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Objects

The objects are all in a secondary deposition, found in this dumped area, except for some objects part of funerary sets of some burials, possibly dating to this period. The funerary sets show different typologies of objects: spearhead (i56), nail (i57), several beads (i55, i61, i65, i66) and ceramic vessels (i58 and i59). Other objects from the filling and typologically distinctive are: animal figurines (q402.1, q449.1, q531.2, q727.2), a fragment of clay plaque with a figure of woman (q638.3), seal (i44) and a painted Khabur bowl (i45). The chronological assignment is based mainly on the large number of painted sherds of Khabur that were found in the linked levels.