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Introduction
Two large collapse episodes are recorded in A16. Both are coming from mud brick structures. The first is the collapse of the Palace walls inside the courtyard, the second is the collapse coming from the different Khabur period structures such as rooms, built-up graves and houses in the upper levels.
Back to top: Depositional data for Unit A16 Disaggregation
Palace Collapse
At the end of Phase 4 the Palace was abandoned, and during the next phase it started to collapse. Right above the courtyard stone pavement was found this irregular and bricky material, no accumulations were recorded except for some ash f341 linked to tannur f328 and belonging to phase 4, so the pavement was kept clean. This large collapsed material is probably coming from the northern, eastern and southern wall of the courtyard, very likely the western wall collapsed to the West, where there was a deep step between the service and the formal wing of the Palace. The material formed a big mass of bricky material, eroded by sun, wind and rain. It is constituted of ashy patches and mixed red and few gray mud bricks. In some points even some pieces of broken wall were found. In fact it was exposed for some time, before to become a dumping area. In the meantime some accumulations and some pits dating to phase 5 happened in the area.
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Khabur Brickfall
The large Khabur brickfall was covering all the A16 excavation area. It was sloping from North to South and from East to West. The brickfall in some points was about one meter thick, and it was completely covering the earlier structures (a2, a11) and abutting all the other ones. It is probably coming from the Khabur structures themselves and from other structures further North and East. The inclination of the brickfall and the level of the different structures show the tell was stepped during Khabur Period. So, since the brickfall follows the direction of the slope, each portion of it is hypothetically referable to a structure ranging right between North and East to it. It probably happened not in a single episode, but each structure collapsed by itself in different moments, but in a single (presumably relatively short) period, at the end of Khabur period. We do know the Mittani settlement was reduced in size (at least in this portion of Tell) and they did not settle above this area.
Back to top: Depositional data for Unit A16 Disaggregation