Typology of the built environment in unit A16
Loose elements

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Synopsis

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Discussion

Back to top: Typology of the built environment in unit A16 Loose elements

Accumulations

Several accumulations were found in A16. Some of them (f50, f64, f81, f126) are on top of pavement, so they come from the use of the pavement. The most of accumulations however are natural in formation process. They are found outside the structures, and usually above other accumulations. In the A16 area the accumulations are linked to the life of a an open area, where some activities were carried out. So some accumulations are anthropogenic, other are natural, and they are alternating/mixed. Worth noting is the fact that on top of stone pavement in the courtyard no accumulations were found, while in other sectors of the Palace the walls were raised because the accumulations were growing quickly.

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Layers

About 80 layers were found in A16. This high number reflect a common process taking place in A16, i.e. a casual and generally open air build-up. They are attested mainly between the late brickfall a4 and the bricky collapse inside the courtyard. The layers are also linked to activities taking place in the open area of A16 during phase 5 and phase 6.

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Fills

The A16 fillings can be divided in two categories: fills for packing and fills of pits. Fills for packing were used to level the ground in order to built the Royal Palace and it was used the natural material found in the fields. The fills of pits vary according to the pit typology, trash pit, storage pit, the filling for burial pit for example is compact and very likely it was used the material coming from the excavation of the pit itself. So the fillings are different for texture, hardness, material.

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Collapse

The most important is the collapse of the palace walls inside the courtyard. The area of the courtyard that certainly was one of the most central for the Royal Palace became an open space with pits, burials, installations. The surface was irregular with a hollow in the center and the material rising up towards the borders of the courtyard. The people used the area for their purposes, and in a later moment it became a dumping area for the trash. So the life, changing radically the area use, continued above the remains of the old Royal Palace.

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The great brickfall

The great brickfall a4 covered all the A16 area. It was sharply sloping and it was exposed for a long period forming a layer of brickmelt in its upper part. The brickfall is almost two meters high in some points and it is likely coming from the A16 structures themselves and from other structures not yet found to the North and East. It formed a sort of sealing of the area, even if the upper part does not cover completely the structures and the walls should have been still visible. No other important activities or installations were carried out on top of it, unless they are not preserved because eroded in later times.