Work on the citadel mound is proceeding well. Dirk has opened up two new areas of excavation: one on the northern edge of the Bronze Palace and one encompassing the area of the two electrical resistivity anomalies I mentioned in an earlier post.
In the northern grid squares, we were fortunate to find only a few later disturbances (e.g., pits) in the Bronze Palace. The Assyrian levels are immediately below the surface and, in fact, it appears that the floors of the rooms at this point have been truncated by modern erosion. Dirk is an expert at tracing the lines of mudbrick walls or wall foundations, even in such shallow deposits, so we should be able to recover the plan of the northernmost rooms of the palace.
We were also fortunate to find a well preserved Late Assyrian burial, with grave goods, immediately below the surface. The body was originally buried in a pit beneath the floor of the palace. Although the floor that sealed the burial is gone, we were able to discern the edges of the inhumation pit. The photo below shows Chelsea in the process of excavating the body. There is a complete pottery vessel (with only one piece broken off), as well as a metal pin or fibula at the hip, presumably pinned to the garments used in the burial but long since decayed.
In the photograph above, the skull is to the left of the pottery vessel. You can just make out the eye socket at the ground level. The top of the skull is broken. Chelsea is cleaning the long bones of the arm. By late this morning, she had cleared the pelvis, arms, and most of the upper torso. It appears that the legs, however, are missing, having been taken away in the medieval period during the construction of a tannur, or bread oven, which is just to the left of this photograph.
Once Chelsea is done cleaning the bones, the skeleton will be drawn and photographed in place, then the bones will be removed to our human osteology laboratory at the dig house for detailed description and analysis. From human remains we can often determine basic characteristics, such as sex, age, and stature, as well as documenting various pathologies such as diseases, traumas, and the overall health of the individual. Chelsea’s report on the burial will become part of the preliminary and final publications of the project’s activities.
4 replies on “Assyrian burial discovered in Bronze Palace.”
I’d be interested to hear more about this burial – not only the details of age, sex, etc. but also whether you expect other burials in this area and if not, why not. I’d also like to learn where the bones will go after you examine them.
Chelsea has made a quick preliminary study of the bones. The skeleton is a male, at least of middle age. Several features of the skeleton typically used for ageing are intact and will allow us to further refine the age range.
We have found several burials associated with the use of the Bronze Palace, but they are all cremation burials; this is the first inhumation. The practice of cremation is unusual for the Assyrians and perhaps reflects the influence of other traditions out here on the frontier, e.g., other Assyrian cremations are reported from Kavusan, a small site close to Ziyaret Tepe. More typical are inhumations below the floors. It is interesting to find such burials beneath the floors of the palace; we might expect to find further intramural inhumations in the private houses in the lower town, but that will have to wait for the results from Operation T.
At the moment, all human bones are archived in our depot here in Tepe for future study. At the conclusion of the excavation, we hope to transfer the entire collection to a University department, where the skeletal material can be made available to future researchers. We did this with the human bones from my previous excavation at Titris Hoyuk, which are now housed in the physical anthropology department at Hacettepe University in Ankara.
I would also be interested to hear more details, including how taphonomic activity has affected the burial and how that differs from this part of the world. Do they come out of the ground generally in decent shape? The burials I’m currently working on from the mid 19th century AD often look good in the ground but crumble when removed. Great blog by the way.
I am a bit surprised at how well this skeleton is preserved. The burial is very close to the surface, less than 25cm below ground. Human bones preserve pretty well here in southeastern Turkey. It is very dry for much of the year and unless the burials are in active agricultural areas, the bones are in decent shape. They can be lifted and handled without too much damage.
In the area of the citadel mound, the most significant taphonomic process is the extensive medieval pitting and constructions which have severely damaged the Assyrian remains in many places. The burial Chelsea has been digging had his legs removed by a pit cut for a medieval bread oven! Assuming no human intervention, we have very good preservation of bone in the area.