Çatalhöyük 1998 Archive Report

ÇATALHÖYÜK 1998 ARCHIVE REPORT

The BACH 1 Area

by Mirjana Stevanovic and Ruth Tringham

(Berkeley Archaeologists at Çatalhöyük )

Project Director: Ruth Tringham
Field Directors: Ruth Tringham, Mirjana Stevanovic
Site Assistants: Sonya Suponcic, Katherine Twiss, Steve Archer, Paolo Pelegatti, Barbara Voss, Michael Ashley, Dusan Boric, Vuk Trifkovic, Predrag Dakic, Anne Marie Vandendriessch, Ayse Hortacsu, Sabrina Maras, Jasmina Brinkhuizen,
Site Draftsman: Ivan Butorac
Social Anthropologist/Cultural Heritage: Ayfer Bartu

Introduction

The excavation in the BACH 1 area (in the North part of the East Mound, Figure 2) began on July 18 and finished on September 2 of 1998. The 1998 season was funded by a senior research grant from the National Science Foundation (SBR-9805755). Excavation in the BACH 1 area focused on the main large room, i.e., Building 3 and two smaller rooms south of it that are separated from Building 3 by a double wall.

During our 1997 season six spaces were defined within the BACH area: 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, and 95 (Figure 20). We noted that space 86 is a distinct interior space separate from what seems to be an external space (space 85) that lies between the BACH area and the NORTH area to its west. Space 86 seemed at the surface to be a separate entity from the three smaller "cells" (spaces 87, 88, and 89) to its south. These three cells may be interconnected as a single socio-spatial unit. South of these three small cells in the BACH area is the northern edge of a large complex of rooms (spaces 95, 96, 99, 101). Of these space 95 is highly burned.

Our excavation in 1997 focused on two of these spaces: the large room (space 86) that seemed to comprise entire building (and was designated Building 3) and the small room (space 89) with a bukranium on its surface (Figure 21). We ended the excavation season of 1997 by removing a large portion of the building fill of Building 3 and defining the presence of the collapsed roof of the building and a 'curtain wall' along its western side.

In 1998 we continued work in spaces 86 and 89 and began work in space 88. Our plan at the beginning of the 1998 season was:

to excavate the remains of the roof to enable its scientific sampling in a variety of ways and to get as much information as possible about its construction.
to finish removing the fill from the building east of the 'curtain wall', that is, to reach and to define the top floor level of the building.
to define the floor west of the curtain wall, and to investigate the so-called 'curtain wall' itself, including lifting and preserving the red paint on its wall plaster.
to start the excavation of space 88
to continue the excavation of space 89.

By the end of our 1998 excavation season, some of these aims had been achieved, others had been shifted to a lower priority in favour of other more pressing (and interesting) problems.

Excavation of Spaces 86 and 158

Space 86 is preserved in its entirety in our excavation area. It is ca, 6 x 5.5 m in area. Its walls are covered on their internal surface by 4-5 cm thick layers of white plaster throughout, except for the SW corner. In space 86, we continued to maintain a N-S and E-W control profile, both 30 cm thick, and worked within the grid of 2 x 2 meter cells which we established in 1997. Increasingly, however, our units were defined by feature associations. In addition, by the end of the season, as we neared the floor, we had dismantled the control profile and stopped excavating by the grid. We intend, however, to re-establish these as it becomes necessary.

As we excavated through the fill in space 86 we realized that what seemed to be a single space within Building 3 comprises at least two spaces: space 86 and 158. At this point in our investigation we can say that Building 3 is atypical at Çatalhöyük from several points of view. Firstly, no internal structural walls have yet been found and the only internal division of space (between spaces 86 and 158) is created by two short, thin walls running North-South, and a 'curtain wall' in between the two. These short walls as well as the curtain wall were painted on the eastern surfaces in red and decorated in the central portion with a relief that had collapsed face down.

The most striking feature of the collapsed remains of Building 3 and a second atypical element is provided by the remains of its collapsed roof. These covered much of the central and north portion of the building. At the same time, the southern part of the abandoned building was transformed into a midden area (see Figure 22). Consequently, the northern half of the building where the roof collapsed onto the floor, remained 'clean', with its floor features undamaged and 'closed' for further use, whereas the southern half of the building was damaged by a variety of cuts and was used after abandonment as a midden, i.e., it became a 'dirty' area.

The midden in the southern part of Building 3 turned out to be very interesting, showing evidence of careful planning and organization in the disposal activities. In addition, the formation of the 'primary midden deposits' seem to have been carried out in a ritualized context.

There is also wall "tumble" (i.e. in situ wall collapse) (unit 2256) that lies on top of and abuts the roof layers and which is in turn overlain by the midden layers. Thus the southern part of Building 3, in those parts not filled with midden, is characterized by rapidly deposited building debris from the walls of this building and may include later debris from other buildings.

The remains of the roof in the central part of the building feature a cattle skull with short curled horns, and a fire installation; both may have originally been located on the roof top and so may have collapsed with the roof. If this were the case, it would provide a good example of the roof area being used intensively for domestic and other activities.

Five platforms were unearthed in space 86 (Features 154/162; 173; 170; 167; 169) located along the North, East and South walls of Building 3 (see Figure 23). Thus most of the floor space in the building was covered by platforms, which is another atypical feature for the Çatalhöyük houses.

And finally, the unusual feature (F. 171) that was incorporated in the West wall of the building indicates not only that there was more than one phase in this history of Building 3, but that there was also change in the size of the building.

Collapsed Roof

The Northeast part of space 86 was dominated by the series of superimposed layers of plaster and building clay that we have interpreted as the collapsed roof of Building 3. The clay layers are strikingly varied in colour, ranging from red-burned, and black-charred to yellow-brown soil zones. These layers are quite distinct from floors and wall surfaces in their composition (which appears to be the same clay as used in brick- and mortar-construction), and in their thickness (which is about 1+ cm thick).

Most of the 1998 season was invested in cleaning, recording, sampling and removing the preserved roof structure in sections. The excavation of the collapsed roof (Feature 157) could proceed only after the conservation team, led by Frank Matero, arrived on 8 August. After consultation with the various interested specialists (Wendy Matthews, Bill Middleton, Christine Hastorf, Arlene Rosen, and Frank Matero), the eastern part of the roof was excavated layer by layer (in groups of 5-8 layers). Each layer is about 1 cm thick and represents the resurfacing of the roof, so that its different colours and bedding represents the effect of different factors/activities (soothing, burning etc.). The dip was in general towards ca. 70 degrees, varying in its direction, but was recorded in detail. The eastern end of the roof was also excavated and sampled by gross layers. The central part of the roof was removed as three blocks, two of which are destined for micro-excavation, and one of which will be exhibited in the Interpretive Center.

We feel that the possibility of roof collapse in Building 3 offers exciting data for the confirmation of Mellaart's hypothesis of flat roofs at Çatal Höyük as well as the entrance into the interior from the roof. We feel, however, that even more significant is the fact that the data of roof surfaces that are smudged and burned and discoloured draw attention to the use of the roof possibly as the main arena of domestic activities.

The southern part of the roof was characterized by layers of similar thickness to those just described, but whose colour varied through tones of yellow, beige, and grey, and which dipped at a steeper angle (70-90º). These were also sampled and retained for micro-excavation. Because of their lack of evidence of smudging and burning, they were referred to as 'clean' roof, but in fact seem to contain more plant and micro-faunal remains than the burned (so-called 'dirty') parts of the roof.

Roof Units
Dirty roof: 2238
West side clean roof: 2271
East side clean roof: 2273

Midden

We surmise that the latest event in the filling of space 86 in the southern half of Building 3 was the layer of building debris (unit 2228) that was deposited in the midden overlying dark midden layers (unit 2229) that take up much of the south-eastern part of space 86. The dark midden comprises a 20-30 cm thick layer of dark richly organic soil that includes many thin layers of ash, burned earth, charcoal etc. The black midden has produced an interesting array of plant remains including tuber fragments, a pistachio, and wood and reed fragments. Under the dark midden layer was a thick layer of fragmented and eroded building materials (brick, mortar and plaster). At the bottom of the midden were the primary midden deposits (large animal bones). We are surmising that the midden filled up relatively slowly after the collapse and infilling of the space with constructional debris, and presumably originated in a building in the neighbourhood of Building 3.

The midden layers slope steeply down towards north and west. By the end of the 1997 season, they had been almost completely excavated and were revealed as being deposited on a layer of white plaster-like material ca. 3 x 3 m in size which we interpreted as possible fallen wall plaster, or - even more likely - the top of a platform that is sinking steeply down towards the NW. On the northern edge of this plaster and abutting the east wall of space 86 was found half of a displaced bukranium.

In this yearís excavation the midden area produced several surprises. Its extent appeared to be much larger in area and much thicker than we had thought in 1997. The entire southern half of space 86 all the way to the centre of the building contained midden deposits. The thickness of the midden deposits in the SW corner of Space 86 reached 80 cm. The midden consisted of thick, variable layers of compacted deposits, which we believe were strategically deposited so that they alternate between soft deposits such as organic materials which are rather typical for middens (charcoal, ash, mixed with faunal and botanical remains - remnants of food, fire making and floor sweeping), on the one hand, and hard deposits, such as building materials and large animal bones, on the other. The reason for such alternation of the deposits we believe was the need to stabilize the terrain for future building in the same spot. This would continue a long tradition in this Neolithic settlement.

The primary layer of the midden was especially interesting for various reasons. The area for the midden was very carefully prepared and part of the domestic area, and the platforms along the southern wall were deliberately dug out. On this surface, many large animal bones were deposited (including 8 cattle scapulae, 1 skull, that was deliberately truncated, a wild boar skull, also deliberately split, 3 cattle horns). The bones were wrapped in vegetal material, grasses such as reed leaves or were placed in baskets made of leafy material, as indicated by the thick deposits of phytoliths on and around the bones.

Midden Units
Yellow midden: 2254, 2214, 2227, 2228
Mix of black and bricky midden: 2239
Bricky midden: 2270, 2281, 2255
Primary midden layers: 2296, 3517

Collapsed "Curtain Wall"

In between the two short internal walls of Building 3, a feature is located, which is currently interpreted as a 'curtain wall/screen wall' (Features 156, 155, 164). The curtain wall consists of:

a roundish shaped structure that may turn out to be a possible large relief sculpture, whose top part has fallen over and collapsed and whose lower part is surviving in situ (F. 155).
a linear structure made of pure plaster and painted at places, which would comprise the possible curtain or screen wall (F. 155).
pillars that stood at each end of the screen wall, supporting it (F. 156, 164).

Features 156 and 164 are interpreted as the pillars for the curtain wall. They were built of horizontally laid mudbrick and mortar layers. They are squarish in plan and originally were probably taller than their remains that have been preserved. Both pillars had their East face plastered with a thin layer of white plaster that, in the case of Feature 156, was painted in a bright red colour. This line of plaster seems to run continuously from Feature 156 to 155 and thence to 164. Where it is painted in red, it is the same nuance of red as that seen on the East face of Feature 160 and the platform in front of it (Feature 154/162). The relationship between the pillars and the short internal walls is not yet clear, but they seem to be abutting. Both pillars were surrounded with a fill that was different from their wider surrounding, comprising rather compact brown-orangish moist clay with a large amount of regularly dispersed small and medium size charcoal fragments. What is interesting is that no ashy deposits were found. In addition, a posthole was found at the meeting point between Features 164 and 155. We believe that this was one of a number of wooden posts that may have stretched between the pillars, and which would have supported the actual curtain wall.

The curtain wall is represented by a 2-3 cm wide strip of white plaster layers. These layers represent multiple re-plastering of the screen wall. According to our interpretation, the screen wall in the beginning would have had only one or a couple of plastered layers. With time more layers would have been added and finally their thickness reached 3 cm. The west face of the replastered layers is often sooty. More than one layer of sooty plaster is visible. The linear part of the feature 155 is surrounded with larger fragments of the same set of replastering layers but they are curved. These might be the fragments of the wall curving around the wooden posts.

Another element of the curtain wall is a disc shaped feature (currently also designated as Feature 155) made of multiple and very fine layers of white plaster, which presumably has a relief on its surface that has collapsed face down and is presently invisible to us. Thus, the top part of it which we can see is actually the interior of the disc. It is made of a very distinct white clay, that is otherwise used for plastering. The clay is in a fragmentary state and occasional fine layered fragments of plastered ëwallí can be noticed. This may indicate that the ëdiscí was originally of a smaller size but that it was made bigger by adding layers of plaster one on top of another.

We believe that it this 'disc' or possible sculpture was attached to the curtain wall, presumably as a decorative element. It seems to be located in the middle of the linear portion of the feature almost as though it was originally sitting on top and in the middle. The edge of the disc has large cracks at places, which the conservation team stabilized by application of typical stabilizer over a cotton cloth.

It was possible to proceed with the excavation of the curtain wall only after the roof had been excavated, which happened rather late in the season. Thus, the final excavation and definition of this feature and its relationship to the rest of Building 3 remain to be solved in 1999.

Platforms

Features 154/162

In the first few weeks of the 1998 season we focused on defining the relationship between the wall plasters and possible platforms across the northern end of the Building 3. At about 50 cm below the ground surface we defined a platform in the NW corner of space 86. The platform (F. 154) is large and squarish in shape with rounded corners. Its edge (F. 162) was built up as a 10-15 cm wide, shallow wall around the platform. This platform is linked to the east side of the short interior wall (F. 160) and went through the same phases of use and replastering as the interior wall itself. At this point it can be said that, in the beginning, the interior wall and the platform surface were finished in white plaster. Later on they were painted in red colour, and even later they were again finished in white plaster.

In this same period, the plastered surface of the North wall of Building 3 was also painted in red. The red paint on the North wall comprises multiple nuances of colour. In the corner where the interior wall (F. 160) meets the North wall the paint is a darker red. Moving towards the East along the North wall the red seems to randomly change from darker into lighter red. In other words, there does not seem to be any deliberately painted design on this wall. However, it is still too early to make any conclusive statement on this issue. There are indications that the North wall, as with the interior wall (F. 160), had more than one plaster layer that was painted in red. This wall needs to be further cleaned and more of the painted plaster exposed in 1999. In addition, more fill remains to be cleaned along the North wall towards the north-east corner of the building. We have not yet established how far along the North wall the painted plaster extends, for example whether it stops at the east edge of the platform (F. 154/162) or whether it extends beyond that line.

The relationship between the platform (F. 154/162) and the curtain wall has not yet been defined. This platform stretches in front of the curtain wall to some extent. There are large slabs of wall-like plasters (of multiple layers) positioned on the platform edge abutting the screen wall that seem to be in situ. If this is confirmed in 1999, then these slabs would mark a later phase in the use of the platform.

Units: 3513, 3518, 3519, 3520

Feature 173 (Unit 3521)

This is a large platform in the north-east corner of Building 3. It runs from the edge of Feature 154/162 to the edge of Feature 170 and all the way to the North and East wall of Building 3. An interesting part of this platform is its western, curving edge which projects from the corner of the north-central platform (F. 154/162), and is the same type of edge as seen in that platform (see Figure 23). The southern edge of this platform (F.173), which we assume is also a meeting point between F. 173 and 170 remains to be defined in the 1999 season. In this area we have first to excavate a bench-like feature oriented E-W, which was possibly a pillar near the East wall that collapsed inwards prior to the collapse of the roof, or may in fact be part of the collapsed roof. In addition, we are not sure if we have excavated down to the latest floor of the platform or if we are still dealing with the room fill that sits on top of it.

Feature 170 (Unit 3514)

This platform comes out of the East building wall. It seems to be built from where the corner platform (F. 173) stops and it extends towards the south and may abut the northern edge the platform (F. 167)in the south-east corner of Building 3. The East wall of Building 3 above the platform (F. 170) and possibly in its entirety was painted in dark red. On this wall the paint is not as well preserved as on the North wall of Building 3, but its presence is unambiguous. Not all the edges of the platform (F. 170) are entirely defined yet. Its southern edge was cut and damaged by later activities, such as the excavation of the post retrieval pit (F.168) and digging in preparation of depositing the midden. The platform slopes down from its eastern edge towards the centre of the building. Since this part of Building 3 has not been yet excavated down to its floor we have not yet been able to define the western edge of this platform. In the southern edge of the platform, where it has been cut by the post retrieval pit, it is possible to see that the platform has several floor replasterings. This will be investigated in greater detail in 1999.

Feature 167 (Unit 2294, 3516)

This feature comprises a platform located in the south-east corner of Building 3. It shows that originally the platform had a step-like shape. That is, the southern part of the platform that was attached to the South wall of Building 3 was higher, whereas its extension towards the north was lower. This platform was considerably damaged by cuts that were dug in preparation of the midden and by the post retrieval pit (F. 168), so that its original edges can not be determined. On the other hand, this platform was the most solidly built. Its floors are made of very hard and polished clay which were replastered several times. In the southern profile of the post retrieval pit (F. 168), it is possible see that a large scapula was placed under an early floor of this platform.

Feature 169 (Unit 3509)

This platform was located in the corner between the South wall of Building 3 and the small interior wall (feature 161). By its location this platform is the counterpart of the northern platform (F. 154/162). Like the northern platform (F. 154/162), this southern platform (F. 169) is connected both to the interior wall (F. 161) and the perimeter wall (South) of Building 3, and it projects towards the centre of the building. On the plastered surface of the South wall of Building 3, just above the central portion of this platform, the remains of black paint were found. It was possible to distinguish the patches of black paint from the patches of soot on the same wall. Near the black painted plaster are the remains of a crushed horn of small size which are adhering to the wall surface. This horn seems to be of the same kind and size as two very damaged horns that were found in the NE corner of Building 3. This platform is probably the most damaged of all, since it has been damaged on its eastern side by the midden cuts and its uppermost floors have been stripped off before depositing the midden debris. The stripped platform top reveals several events of earlier repairing of the platform floors. The northern edge of the platform has not yet been excavated, since the platform is dipping down from the south towards the centre of space 86.

Other Features

Feature 168 - Post retrieval pit (Unit 2295, 3510)

A pit that has been interpreted as post retrieval pit is located along the southern portion of the East wall of Building 3. Its dimensions are 60 x 55 cm but the actual post hole that sits in the middle is 20cm in diameter. The fill of the pit comprised remains of wall plaster mixed with eroded soil and deposits that were brought in by animal agents. A large fragment of wall plaster in the fill was painted with a black and red geometric design. The plasters from the pit were very moist in comparison with other wall plaster remains from the Building 3. The painted plaster lost most of its paint soon after it was exposed due to the drying process.

The central part of space 86

We continued to excavate the fill of Building 3 in the central area, south of the roof collapse and east of the 'curtain wall. At about 80 cm from the ground surface in the mixed midden and roof deposits we unearthed a red baked clay surface - interpreted as a fire installation floor (F. 159, Unit 2277). The deposits that the fire installation is built on are as yet undefined. The question remains - was the fire installation on the roof and fell with it, or was it located on the midden and thus a result of a temporary activity and was covered by the later midden deposits. Immediately North of the fire installation a possible posthole was located in the deposits which have not yet been fully excavated.

Another important feature, a complete cattle skull with horns (bukranium) (unit 3524), was discovered towards the east of the fire installation. As in the case of feature 159, the context of the skull is awaiting complete clarification in 1999. It seems to have been caught between two fragments of beige-grey roof at the southern edge of the roof collapse. Currently, its interpretation swings from being part of the roof, part of the building interior, or even as a part of the midden. The skull is facing the ground and there seems to be a 2 cm thick layer of red burned clay on its face surface. There is a possibility that these are remains of clay covering of the bukranium. The shape of facial part of the skull has been modified.

The midden and building fill deposits go deeper in the central part of the building than anywhere else. We still have to excavate these deposits in 1999 and come down to the actual floor of this building.

Feature 171 (Unit 3515) in Space 158

This feature is made of clay of an intense orange colour that has been recorded only in one more part of space 158 - further south along the West wall of Building 3. F.171 occurs at a depth of 65-70 cm from the present surface, and is located in the middle of the West wall of Building 3. It is wider than the West wall itself, and slopes down from west to east. It consists of a central surface that is rectangular in plan with roundish segments to its north and south. The surface of the feature is very smooth and well prepared. It is unlike any other feature that we have seen so far in the buildings at Çatalhöyük , and we have left its interpretation open at present until the West wall of Building 3 has been further explored in 1999.

West Wall of Building 3

In the 1998 excavation we established that the West wall of Building 3 was most likely built in the later phases of the history of Building 3. Thus, we are suggesting that spaces 158 and 86 were joined with space 85 as one building until the West wall was inserted to separate them. The main evidence for this is the presence of plaster on the interior surfaces of the North and South walls of Building 3 in the area where they join the West wall. The final evidence will come from the excavation of the wall joints themselves in 1999. At that point, we should be able to determine whether the bricks that belong to these different walls lock or not.

Another peculiarity of this wall is that it was not built as a continuous line. In its central-northern part, the wall bricks stop and Feature 171 continues inside the wall. At the point where feature 171 stops, the West wall continues and runs into the North wall of Building 3. In the current stage of the excavation, the most likely explanation for the 'missing wall segment' and the incorporation of F. 171 into it is that in the earlier phases of the use of Building 3, when the West wall was not in place, feature 171 was in use. Later on, the West wall was constructed in two parts, a southern part and a northern part. The central wall portion where feature 171was located was not built over. It is most likely, therefore, that this feature was still in use when the West wall was constructed, and that it was being used from the both sides of the wall (that is, from space 85 and 158). Eventually, however, the opening in the West wall that was created by feature 171, was blocked off from the west side, that is, from space 85. This event would have comprised a definitive break between Building 3 and next door building (space 85).

The West wall of Building 3 turned out to have a plastered surface only at its northern end. The southern end of the west wall has no plaster, although its severely sloping bricks and mortar can be observed. In the central part of the West wall no bricks are visible.

Excavation of Space 89 (Unit 2224, 2275)

At the beginning of the 1998 season, we continued the excavation of space 89, including cross-sectioning this small (ca. 2.0 x 2.5 m) cell-like space to a depth of ca. 20 cm below the modern surface. The intense burning was noted especially in the southern part (where the bukranium and dagger had been located in 1987). It appeared that the zone of burning encroached into the neighbouring space 88 through a possible passageway (unit 2297). We decided to cross section the black deposits (unit 2210) in space 89 in order to define the shapes and sizes of the pieces of burned wood that were possibly located on the surface of the unit. It was possible to see in the cross-section that the black and ashy deposits did indeed belong to construction wood that had collapsed into the room. However, the distribution of the soft, ashy deposits that were excavated below the layer of burned wood was difficult to define. Their colour and density look similar to the deposits on platforms. Their softness, however, is quite different from platform surfaces. This problem will be further investigated in 1999.

The continued excavation of space 89 was postponed until the 1999 season for two reasons. Firstly, cutting across its eastern side, we discovered and excavated an early Roman grave (Feature 158) (1st cent BC-1st cent AD) dug into its fill. Secondly, there were a number of problems in space 86 that demanded our more immediate attention.

Feature 158 (Units 2263/2264/2265)- Roman Burial

In addition to the five post-Neolithic burials that were unearthed in the BACH area in 1997, we revealed one more burial in 1998 (see Figure 23 and Figure 24). This burial (Burial # 6; Feature 158) is located in at the eastern end of Space 89 close to its East wall. This grave was dug at exactly right-angles (i.e. N-S) to the later Roman (3rd-4th cent AD) graves that were excavated in 1997 and was dated to 1st cent BC-1st cent AD based on the grave goods and the orientation of the grave. Feature 158 was an extended burial of a mature adult male, with whom were buried a ceramic jar, a red terra-cotta bowl, a clay lamp and a small dark brown cup.

Traces of more burials were observed in the southern edge of the BACH 1 area, that is in space 95. At least one more burial has been seen located in the process of surface brushing in the form of a partially unearthed cranium. The excavation of the burial did not proceed in 1998 since we had no plans to excavate in that part of the site.

Excavation of Space 88

In 1998, we started to excavate space 88, a small 2x2 m cell, and reached a probable floor at about 60 cm depth from the surface. The floor surface occurs in the NW part of space 88 and is rather thin and fragile, without any polished finish on its surface.

The fill of space 88 consisted of mixed deposits but fairly uniform artifact types. The deposits comprised eroded building materials with occasional fragments of burned clay daub. In the upper levels of the fill, the artifacts comprised fragmented or almost complete clay weights that were scattered all across space 88. At deeper levels in the fill a large number of complete and fragmented macrocrystalline stone tools were found. Their concentration was along the North and West walls of space 88. The majority of these tools were for grinding (mano) or grindstones themselves (metate). Large cattle bones were also present in large numbers. In the Northwest corner of space 88 was a mass of shoulder bones (scapulae) of cattle and horse, a cow skull, and red deer antler. In one instance, an imprint in clay of a horn core painted in white was found in the NW corner of space 88. It was concluded that this room shows evidence for some kind of grinding activity, either of pigments or food.

Two features were defined in space 88: feature 165 and 166.

Units: 2266, 2268, 2288, 2289, 2290, 2292, 3500, 3501, 3503, 3504, 3505, 3506

Feature 165 and 166

Feature 165 is a damaged platform or a bench that protrudes from the North wall of Space 88. Originally it was probably of square shape but now its shape is irregular. Its eastern edge is especially damaged. The uppermost floor of the platform has been truncated, but its filling is very hard and compact. The platform would have been rather large for such a small room.

Feature 166 is a long and narrow wall made of dense clay, running in an E-W direction. We must wait until the 1999 season to say whether the wall is in situ or not.

Conservation of the BACH 1 Area

Unlike the 1997 season, we have made in 1998 careful attempts to protect many of the features in the BACH area. First of all, it was concluded that the outside walls of Building 3 need to be covered up and protected from drying. These walls have been stripped of the fill deposits and plasters that have been protecting them for millennia. Protection was achieved by hanging a simple covering of synthetic material on the walls from the top down, keeping it in place by sand bags.

The next challenge was to protect the painted internal surface of the walls and the platform below it. This was done by using a membrane and prelate.

Other features, such as F. 171 on the West wall of Building 3 and parts of the curtain wall were also protected by the same kind of membrane and sand bags.

Special protection was given to the cow skull in the centre of Building 3. At first the bone was treated with chemicals and then it was covered with a membrane and prelate.

Dates on 1997 BACH 1 Samples

The C14 and AMS dates show that Building 3 (comprises Spaces 86 and 158) was occupied between 7800 - 7400 BP. These dates indicate that Building 3 is somewhat later than its neighbour, Building 1.

We have no dates yet for spaces 88 and 89.

Unit No.	Type	Area and building #	Uncorrected Ages BP	Equivalent to Mellaartís Level
2215	seed	BACH-Building 3	7810+/-100	V or VI
2229	seed	BACH-Building 3	7460+/-80(?) 7810+/-70	V or VI
2256	seed	BACH-Building 3	7620+/-100	V or VI
2255	coal	BACH-Building 3	7770+/-90 7790+/-80	V or VI

Units

We have currently a total of 124 units in all the spaces and all of the units are considered closed even though they are not all finished. When we continue the excavation in 1999 the continuing units will be assigned a different unit number, but this will be linked with their previous numbers through 'same as' option on the unit sheet.

Figure 20 General plan of the North Area showing the BACH 1 excavation area.

Figure 21 BACH 1 excavation area showing excavation grid and baulks.

Figure 22 Schematic plan of the BACH 1 area showing the relationship between roof and midden remains.

Figure 23 Schematic plan of BACH 1 area showing all the features.

Figure 24 BACH 1 area: Roman burial #6