Introduction

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Principles

For an introduction to the basic principles of emplacement see the Grammar. For a full statistics, see here.

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Horizontal surfaces

There were 49 surfaces excavated comprising 13% of the features excavated. There are 21 pavements defined by their composition and 28 floors generally defined by the degree of compaction and plastering.

• 13 of the floors within the circular portion of the ābi were floor type a, or plastered.
  

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Layering

There were 221 layers comprising 58% of the total features excavated.

• Accumulations were the most common (192) most having been deposited as a result of human activity and only some by weathering.
  
• Topsoil accounted for about 4% of the features yet covered most of the area.
  

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Amorphous amassment

There were 54 examples (14%) of features identified as amorphous amassments, (which groups deposits whose orientation is random) comprising 8% of the features excavated. Pit fills and brick fall constituted the corpus.

• Volumetric material has no stratigraphic significance and is often material removed en mass from baulks or pits.
  

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Ordered aggregation

Walls account for 10% of the features. 59 features in total (15%) are included in this category.

• The walls in A12 are primarily those in the ābi, both in the square and round sections.
  
• Other features in the area are burials (9), tannurs (6) a hearth (1) and stone installations (4%).
  

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Types of contact

Features that are in contact form the basis for identifying strata. There are five major groups that encompass all possibilities. Covers is the most common contact type having 39% of the total while abuts follows with 26 %.

• Except for pit fill, not many features Sit in another. However, items including ceramics universally sit in another feature, usually an accumulation.