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Geoffrey & Françoise Summers |
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 fig 5 |
Function of the Urban Blocks in the North-West Sector (Fig. 4 - 5) In spite of the excellent state of preservation of all but the southern building, evidence for function is difficult to interpret. Objects from the test trench perhaps provide the best clues. From the northern room came a fine bone tool and an exquisite gilded and inlayed ivory furniture plaque (Fig. 6). The latter indicates both sophisticated artistic taste and considerable status. The trench through the columned hall did not uncover any installations or in situ finds, but a large ivory "handle" from the floor at the north end provides further evidence of status. There was also a considerable number of iron objects, some of which might be parts of a wheeled vehicle. The function of the buildings has not been established, but it is tentatively suggested that the range of rooms above the columned hall were private quarters while the columned hall and loggia served a more communal or utilitarian purpose. It is imprudent to suggest that the three buildings forming the southern limit of the urban block represent dwellings for an expanding population and that the complex as a whole perhaps represents an extended kinship group.
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