Overview of Unit A20

Giorgio Buccellati – November 2006

Physiognomy
The pertinent areas
Location
Phases
Beginning of excavations
End of excavations as of 2002
Main results
General statistics

Physiognomy

The physiognomy of A20 is defined by the unique typology of some of the structural finds, by the modifications that these caused in the overall strategy, and by some of items, in particular the glyptics.

Kabur period grave complex

Another significant change came about as a result of the excavations of A20, namely a new insight into the typology and the urban setting of the graves in the Khabur period. Nowhere else do we have evidence as in A20 for the coalescing of mortuary structures into a coherent urban whole, which appears as a small “city of the dead,” each grave resembling a miniature house with its courtyard.

Impact on strategy

A20 was opened with the specific intent to descend to the level of the stone paved courtyard of the Palace, which had been originally been discovered in A13. The discoveries from the upper levels made in the process caused an important shift in overall strategy.

Until this point in time (2002), substantial structures were found primarily in the northern units (from the west, respectively, A7, A2, A9 and A11), and here we stopped excavations at these levels, without continuing to the level of the Palace. In the southwestern portion, instead, we were in an area which I had defined as “scattered occupation,” by which I meant an open area without any definable structural remains (again from the west: A5, A1, A6, A8, A13, A12, A14). In A15 and A20, on the other hand, we began to find regular structures, as in the northern portion of the area. As a result, these two units were the last ones where excavations progressed vertically to the level of the Palace, and even this not for the entire area of the unit. From this point on, the decisino was made to obtain fist an horizontal exposure for each of the later strata before reaching the level of the Palace.

The Palace courtyard

A20 produced the largest exposure of the Palace courtyard to date (a12). Presumably the courtyard extends for the full extent of the unit, but only half of it had been excavated to this level, for the reasons mentioned above. The courtyard has a beautiful stone pavement which gives us a gleam into the monumentality of the formal wing of the building.

Glyptics

A small group of seal impressions was found in the layers above the stone paved courtyard. Their style is distinctive within the corpus of Urkesh glyptics, and sheds light onto yet another aspect of the Urkesh art scene.

The pertinent areas

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Location

Unit A20 is adjacent to units A11 and A13, with which it shares the stratigraphy. A11 started at a higher, and A13 at a lower, elevation than A20. In turn, excavations in A11 stopped at the Khabur levels, while in A13 they were carried down all the way to the level of the Palace.
A15 was started at the same time as A20, while A17 and A18 were started in 2003.

Phases

     Phase 2. At the level of the Palace, A20 covers the southwest corner of the stone paved courtyard (H1). No floor deposit from phase 2 had accumulated, since the pavement was swept clean during the formal occupation of the palace.
     Phase 3. The strata immediately overlaying the stone courtyard belong to phase 3, when the (former) palace was used as a dependance.
     Phase 4. Outdoor use of the area, after the palace has been abandoned.
     Phase 5. Re-occupation of the area in the early second millennium
     Phase 5a. Large pits, that develop into deep hollows.
     Phase 5b. Construction and use of above ground graves.
     Phase 5c. Massive brickfall and abandonment.

Beginning of excavations

Excavations began on June 6, 2001. The photo shows the situation on that day. The eight loci, defined at the beginning and here shown in white, served as the main squares throughout the remainder of the two seasons.
The three squares k1, k5 and k6 had already been opened as part of unit A13 in 1999. The sand bags to the east of k4 and k8 were placed to block the flow of water from a secondary wadi coming from the northeast.

End of excavations as of 2002

     Excavations ended on September 24, 2002. The photo, taken on September 28, shows the situation as of that date.
     The eight main squares defined at the beginning of the excavations have remained the same throughout both seasons.
     In loci k1-2 and k5-6 we reached the level of the Palace floor, and exposed the stone pavement a12. In the other four loci to the east (k3-4 and k7-8), on the other hand, excavations stopped at the level of phase 5b, the Khabur period structures. In future years, we will have to complete the excavations of A20 by continuing the excavtion of the eastern loci to the level of the Palace pavement. Because of our current strategy decision to aim for a full horizontal exposure of the later settlements before proceeding to the Palace levels, it will take several years before excavations in A20 may be completed.

Main results

The main results of the two seasons may be summarized as follows.

The courtyard pavement of the Palace
Abandonment of the Palace
Heavy open area build-up following the abandonment
Long Khabur period sequence, including the burial complex
Large ceramic inventory and attendant statistics
Glyptic finds

General statistics

approximate cubic meters	350
total number of features	347
total number of items	1,112
total number of q-lots	911
total number of sherds	61,082
total number of output files	23,939
total number of records	3,380,690
total number of hyperlinks	1,132,387
total number of photographs	2,939
total number of drawings	[not processed in this version]
total file size (with low resolution graphic files)	336 mB