Fig 1.
Topographic map of the Tell Zurghul/Nigin site with the indication of surveyed and excavated areas.
Mound A has been investigated in several operations (Area A, D, and E); Mound B has been investigated in one operation named Area B. Reprinted from [46] under a CC BY license.
Fig 2.
Reprinted from [54] under a CC BY license.
Fig 3.
Tell Zurghul/Nigin real climatic conditions, mean values from years 2021-2011-2001.
Data from the WorldClim database at https://worldclim.org/; S1 Fig for further information).
Table 1.
ID samples, provenience, archaeological phasing, and dating.
Fig 4.
Graphic documentation of the excavation areas.
A) Area B: reconstructed section of the excavation at the top of the mound (APs 1–3); B) Area B: reconstructed section of Step Trench excavation in 2021 (APs 4–6); C) Area E: plan of the 2022 excavation season. Reprinted from [46] under a CC BY license.
Fig 5.
Photographic documentation of the excavation areas.
A) Area B: aerial view of the excavation at the top of the mound (APs 1–3); B) Area B: detail of adobe wall remains at the top of the mound (APs 1–3); C) Area B: picture of the Step Trench excavation in 2021 (APs 4–6), from south-west; D) Area E: aerial view of W.458; E) detail of the inner face of W.458 entering the excavation section.
Fig 6.
Adobe brick samples (photos) for each autoptic group (1–6).
Table 2.
Distribution of samples across autoptic groups.
Table 3.
Chemical composition of the 30 studied samples by means of X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF). The oxide content is given in (%).
Fig 7.
Principal Component Analysis (PCA) carried out on the XRF data.
Table 4.
Mineralogical composition of the 30 studied samples obtained by qualitative Powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD).
Fig 8.
X-ray Diffraction patterns of 10 samples with indication of the main mineral phases identified.
Table 5.
Petrographic characteristics of samples from archaeological context based on polarized optical microscopy analysis.
Fig 9.
Selection of the polarised optical microscopy (POM) images.
Three representative samples (nos. 62, 54, 68, respectively) under plane-polarized light (A, B, C) and cross-polarized light (D, E, F).
Fig 10.
Chromatic parameters of the 30 analysed samples.
A) L* (mean); B) a*-b* (mean).
Fig 11.
Surface compactness and strength graphs. A) Scotch Tape test plot; B) Surface Hardness test plot.
Fig 12.
Rain resistance test.ΔM (mass), ΔV (volume) and Δρ (density) modification through cycles.
Fig 13.
Result visualisation.