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Neolithic: The houses

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Building clay

Thin section of a sample from an oven’s vault: white spots on the left are vegetal fibres; similar plants remains are fewer in the right part, thus suggesting incomplete kneading of the mixture. Building clay was the main construction material during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. It is a mixture of a more or less argillaceous soil, water, and other vegetable, mineral, or animal components. This mixture was used for, among other purposes, the manufacture of raw bricks or for building walls with the wattle-and-daub technique. In Dikili Tash it is found in all layers for the construction of houses and domestic equipment (ovens, benches, etc.). Macroscopic observations and micromorphologic analysis showed that its composition varied depending on the type of construction or even according to the specific part of one feature. Indeed, both the composition of the soil and the type of mineral or vegetable admixtures are different for the walls of houses than for the vaulted roofs of the ovens or the benches. For example, grain husks are added exclusively in the mixture used for the roofs of ovens.


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Last Update : 7/02/12

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