.bk A14
.fl O706jw3.j
.fd daily journal O706, descriptions f229-231
.ei jw
.ed O706
.rd O706
.ri jw

-wk 23 reported for work.  Requested 5 additional workmen from gb and fab to expedite dirt removal.  This number will allow 2 shovels per unit that is excavating with large picks and two wheelbarrows to move away the spoils.  They will be hired to report tomorrow.

-eq More wheelbarrows promised after the improvements to the dirt train to allow more cars to travel per hour from A18/A17.  There are no large pottery bags, which means that administrative workload is unnecessarily increased to process more small bags per volume of pottery.

-sf jw worked at home for one hour before breakfast to process markers for the surveyor.  jo departed at 0800 to work on pottery.  jw alone at the site after breakfast, as gm worked at home to enter data in prepartion for the publishing of the preliminary browser edition of the global record.

-dy Most of the heavy tasks were focused on exploring the possible boundaries of the sacral precinct to the west and south.  In k23, we are still digging gully wash after almost one meter of excavation.  From viewing the E baulks of k24 and k25, we may expect that there may be another meter overlaying evidence of occupation and use.  In k25 and k15 we were trying to define the extent and organization of large stones that were found in a general N-S alignment in the middle of both loci.  In k15 we found a horizontal stone and sherd surface at the level of the stones.  We have either not found the same in k25, immediately to the south or we have inadvertantly dug through it.  In k4 we have come down on a very hard surface at the same elevation as the pise floor, f213, along the N edge of the N baulk.

-sn jo began to explore the long, S face of the N baulk of "1 series" squares running E-W from the walls of the AF palace, south of the stone and brick platforms, and along the south side of the Ak wing of the palace.  It has been cut and recut several times, and perhaps drawn, but we need an up-to-date analysis and drawing to guide our excavation of k1, k2, and k3 to understand the use of the sacral precinct, particularly the relationship between the abi and the platforms.

-sg Although gb and fab did not yet see the results of yesterday's excavations, it is clear to jw that we should excavate k24 to the level of the stones and open k35 immediately to the south of k25.  jw would prefer to temporarily stop excavating k4 and explore horizontally the extent of the possible floor, f230, and the links with nearby floors, f224 and f213, particularly if the requested pottery analysis shows that these are a part of Phase 3.

k 15
dy Finished excavating accumulation, f220, on the first pick run.  Due to the proximity of the large stones, f227, we changed the feature of the accumulation to f229, to segregate pottery and to identify the Phase associated with the use of the stones.  On the last pick run of the day we encountered a stone and sherd surface throuthout the locus, f231, which could be associated with the use of the stones or could be a path to the sacral area.

k 23
dy Continued to dig without encountering anything but modern gully wash.  No immediate promise for change.

k 25
dy Began to clear the accumulation from the vicinity of the large stones.  Found several more, but the alignment is not N-S along the centerline of the locus as we had previously thought.  Although we took copious amounts of pottery from the surrounding accumulation, f194, we did not see the same type of stone and sherd surface as is evident in k15 directly to the north.

k 4
dy Encountered hard, horizontal surface, f231, which is at the same elevation as the floor, f213, found in the N edge of the N baulk.  Tagged accumulation above, f226 for pottery analysis to help determine phase of floor.

f 229
df a
ds Accumulation around large cut stones in the entire locus, k15.  Basically the same color and texture as the accumulation overlying, f220, but this accumulation covers an extensive layer of fist-sized stones and sherds.

f 230
df fb
ds Very hard, tamped earth floor in the southern half of k4.  May have been a surface exposed to weather as there are no apparent boundaries.  May be the same floor as f213 along the N edge of the N baulk of k4 and as f224, immediately adjacent along the E baulk of k5.  Pottery from the accumulation covering part of this floor, f226 was tagged for immediate analysis by mkb.  jw's preliminary estimate is that the floor is Phase 3.

f 231
df ly
ds Stone and sherd surface abutting the large cut stones, f227, in most of the locus of k15.  Unclear whether this is a path or a working surface.  We will continue to expose more of it in the coming days.