Houses of the middle and late Neolithic Karanovo I–III and Karanovo III layers at Tell Kazanlak
Keywords:Tell Kazanlak, middle Neolithic, late Neolithic, Karanovo III culture, stratigraphy, houses, ovens
This paper considers the houses of the middle and late Neolithic layers at Tell Kazanlak dating to the Protokaranovo III and Karanovo III periods, respectively. No complete layouts of Neolithic houses excavated at Tell Kazanlak have been published so far. Five houses with completely revealed layouts were excavated in the middle Neolithic layer, and three more in the late Neolithic layer. They usually featured a single room: houses with two or three rooms were exceptions. They were rectangular or square in plan, with a floor area varying from 35 to 50 m², and had wattle and daub construction. The wooden posts were ca. 10–12 cm in diameter. The location of the entrances depended on the alignment and position of the house within the settlement pattern. Most of the houses of the middle Neolithic settlements had solid wooden floors plastered with clay whose remains were comparatively well-preserved thanks to the calcination processes. Nearly every house had a domed oven or a hearth. Only the bases of ovens were usually preserved; they were made from clay and pebbles. Sometimes clay platforms and storage bins located next to the oven were preserved. The excavated middle and late Neolithic settlement remains at Tell Kazanlak reveal the continuity of house construction techniques used in the second half of the sixth millennium BC.