Unit J6 structures

Patrizia Camatta – August 2010, April 2025

TEXT TO BE WRITTEN

Overview

The Temple Terrace and Plaza have been extensively exposed in J6, J2, J3, J1, J5, B6. For a comprehensive description of the whole structure see JP. In this section, the structural elements described in emplacement are analyzed within a typological and functional analysis of the architecture.
See Structures for an explanation of this term in the grammar.

Walls

The walls found in J6 can be structurally and functionally defined as:
1. Staircase flank wall.
2. Retaining wall.
3. Courtain walls.
4. Memory stones.
5. Walls of unclear function.

The staircase flank wall and the revetment wall are part of a larger structure, mainly the Temple Terrace, which extends east-west for about 70 meters during the Third Millennium, built in function of the Temple on the top of the Temple Terrace. These walls define an open space to the south and east, differently used over the time. During the centuries this open space changed its morphology and function (see also deposition).

Retaining wall

^wall12 is the eastern portion of the third millennium terrace wall delimiting to the south the temple terrace BT. We were not able to uncover the whole wall but for following reason I define it a retaining wall:
1. The wall is about 2m wide and 3.25m high.
2. The wall is in section slighly convex to the outside and solidly built.
3. The wall is protected in the lower courses by the ^glacis8 and ^glacis9.
4. A mudbrick structure covering a portion of the mound was exposed immediatly north of J6 in Unit B6 and J2. The mudbrick structure recorded in Unit B6 as B6 Inst 26 (Bianchi et al. 2014 [to be added in MEL - ZJ416 pC], 91 and Beilage 1) and in unit J2 as J2f74 is delimited and retained to the south by ^wall12. The wall takes the pressure of the mudbrick structure and releas it into the ground.

The wall has in some extent also the function of revetment wall marking the edge of the Terrace mound fronting the plaza. A wider function of the wall is of a temenos.

A second retaining wall is ^wall11. The wall is exposed for the first two courses and only for a small segment, but certainly dated before the Early EDIII period. It runs at about 4 meters parallel to ^wall12, following the same direction. The function of the wall is:
1. To frame ^glacis9 to the north.
2. To the south are layied ^glacis3 and ^glacis6, therefore we have to see the glacis also related to this wall.
3. To make a boundary to the south where the Plaza is.

Staircase flank wall

The monumental staircase is flanked to its western and eastern sides by walls. The eastern wall is ^wall6 running all along the eastern side of the staircase.
The wall is built on top of the slope of the earlier mound (v242) and therefore it does not have the same height for all its length. The eastern face of the wall, even if is very regular, was not visible. A series of thick layers named glacis were laied to the backside, protecting the wall face from erosion. The topmost course of the wall memory stones is a later construction phase of the wall.
The function of the walls is:
1. to define the staircase as a sacred space where people ascended from the plaza to the terrace.
2. to protect the side of the staircase from erosion.
3. ^wall6 retains the substurcture above the staircase is built (unknown construction, possibly mudbricks).
4. The two betili f100 and f177 mark the beginning of the wall and of the staircase. The buttress in the southwestern end is also part of the entrance to the staircase.

Courtain walls

Stone walls of 1-3 courses high and only one stone wide were found all over the JP area, in the plaza during the Second Millennium (dated by layers covering it). The function of these walls was to block debris rising in the plaza, so that the revetment wall and stairacse would not be covered. We found similar walls also in J6. The definition “courtain wall” is due to the function of framing and block something.
1. f299 (^wall15) is the earliest courtain wall in terms of deposition. Is embedded in ^glacis6, and probaly part of it.
2. f201 (^wall10) is a row of stones with East-West orientation
3. f152 (^wall4)

Memory stones

Walls of unclear function

Glacis

A series of glacis were found to the south of wall f227 and to the east of wall f129. Their characteristic is a strong inclination to the south, south-east. Their different coloration, soil consistency and inclusions are due to the source of the soil. These layers were deliberately placed to protect the eastern face of the f129 wall from water damage and erosion. They follow the slope of the underlying layers. The f129 wall is also built on a slope. The definition glacis for these layers was the better to define the function.

J6

The Eastern End of the Plaza and the Betili (Version 1a)

J6 Synthetic View / Typology / Built Environment