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43 6 Architectural and Structural Features The work at Capo Alfiere has demonstrated the presence of two kinds of architectural features—walls and cobble pavements—plus pits and one other enigmatic entity. These were the first excavations at a site of this period for this area, so little was known beforehand regarding what might be found. As was noted earlier, our own preconceptions, based on work in a different part of Calabria with distinctly different geological conditions (i.e., sand dunes), proved misleading. Paved Floors Portions of two paved floors have been found at the site. Both appear fairly similar in conception, although different in date. The stone employed in both cases consisted of fragments of the locally available calcareous bedrock, which can, and probably always could, be collected within a few meters of any construction attempted on the site. Very little of the structure in the lowest level (Stratum Ia) has likely survived the recent ravages of the site. Not all of the remaining area of the paving was cleared during the excavation, so an indeterminate , but probably not extensive, amount remains beneath the south baulk (Figs. 6.1–3). Uncovered was 0 1 m Figure 6.1 Looking west. Left, lower pavement; center, Sounding E. Figure 6.2 Lower pavement from Stratum Ia. a short stretch of the western edge of a pavement. Presumably, it was part of a hut floor. The triangular section revealed was approximately 1.5 m in length from north to south and 0.8 m across at the south baulk. The majority of whatever structure this was had undoubtedly been removed by the cutting of the boundary ditch in the early 1980s, and probably by ploughing some time before that. The plough had passed only a few centimeters higher than the top of the paving, removing all subsequent Neolithic deposits, so survival of even this portion of the floor was providential. The flat stones used in this construction were packed irregularly, but quite closely, together. Few were more than 30 cm across in any direction. The stones were the local calcareous material, seemingly unshaped. One piece was a broken 44 Architectural and Structural Features quern fragment reused as floor cobble. Beyond that, it is impossible to say how large the structure represented once was, or what original shape it had.1 The pavement from Stratum IIa was altogether more intact, and preserved over a wider area, so much more can be said about that structure. The pavement edge clearly outlines the shape of a hut (Figs. 6.3–4). Dissected by the boundary ditch, the eastern portion of the building is now gone. Estimates of its original size and shape must be made on the basis of the surviving part. Perhaps half remains. The cobbling survives to indicate the lines of three walls, but, as mentioned, it was sparser in the center of the building. One complete side of the structure is thus clear. This is the western wall line, and it was 4.8 m long. The east-west orientation of the building appears to parallel the northern enclosure wall; the western side is thus approximately perpendicular to that, or 20° west of magnetic north. The maximum length of the other east-west dimension surviving is just over 3 m on the north side. Interestingly, the corners of the structure were rounded, not square. Although the flooring was stone, it appears that the walls were probably wattle and daub.2 Along the west side, the cobbles against the wall line tipped upwards at the very edge. This can be seen as indicating their having been placed immediately against a wall. Despite careful examination, 1 It is not clear why Morter considers this fragment of pavement likely to have been a hut floor. Since 1992, cobbled stone pavements have been excavated at a number of Neolithic sites. While they are occasionally interpreted as hut floors, they are rarely demonstrably related to other components of houses such as walls, foundation ditches or postholes, and more often they are interpreted as openair work surfaces. However, Morter’s interpretation may have been motivated by some observation particular to the Capo Alfiere excavations, which are admittedly unique, for instance, by comparison with the other cobbled pavement which is more securely interpretable as a house floor (JR). 2 “Wattle and daub is a standard British nomenclature for a type of walling made of heavy basketry (wattles) covered with mud plaster (daub). It is usually used as walling within...

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