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 19 surfaces excavated comprising 7 percent of the features excavated. There are 5 pavements defined by their composition and 14 floors generally defined by the degree of compaction.

The most significant pavement was f288 which was at the lowest level of the EDIII wall system.

The biggest surprise was that a Mittani pavement, f247, directly covered an EDIII pavement, f249.

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Layering

There were 174 layers comprising 59 percent of the total features excavated.

• Accumulations were the most common either having been deposited as a result of human activity or by weathering.
  
• Volumetric material has no stratigraphic significance and is often material removed en mass from baulks.
  
• Layers, abbreviated versions of accumulations, were designated for about a tenth of the accumulations.
  
• Topsoil covered about half of the excavated loci, mostly those on the western side.
  
• Laminations were most prominent at the bottom of the water channel, indicating that the flow was periodic.
  

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Amorphous amassment

There were 33 examples of features identified as amorphous amassments, (which groups deposits whose orientation is random) comprising 11 percent of the features excavated. Pit fills, a long gulley, and isolated stones constituted the corpus.

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Ordered aggregation

The second largest number of features excavated were walls, their protective systems, and a ceremonial complex (49 or 23%).

• The earliest wall system was dated to the EDIII period. It consisted of high walls that highlighted the temple as well as protective escarpments and glacis.
  
• There were subsequent structures built to protect the wall including a dam.
  
• In the Mittani period the wall was extended to the west.
  
• By the mid-Mittani period the entire EDIII temple, wall, and plaza were covered with accumulation necessitating the construction of a new monumental stair case and revetment wall of reduced size.
  

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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. [This does not address J5. It would be good to have comments about the most significant contacts, covers and abuts, as you did above for the features.]