.bk A6 .fl G720RK.J .fd Excavation diary of rk, G714-G720 .ed G720 .ei rK .rd G714 .ri rK .fn original file name G720RK.J-A, changed manually by lC on ZH228 f 29 ds The ash pit had an arc of red dirt, 5-10cm thick, along the W border, about 30 cm down. However there was more ash underneath, so this was completely removed. i 79 ds clay wheel, complete i 80 ds clay bottle cap? has hole going through it at the wide end i 82 ds seal impression q 439.2 ds clay egg (sling shot?) from f29 f 29 c# dark grayish brown 4/2, 10YR below (moist); gray, 5/1 10YR on top ( dry) f 78 dy The top of the wall f78 is now clear of later ac and construction. There was clearly brick layers at the bottom of f122, immediately on top of f78. The upper layers had brick and dirt intermixed. f 159 c# light brownish gray, 6/2 10YR f 158 c# very pale brown 7/3 10YR -dy [A] Excavation in A6 has been progressing well. In k168,169, the stratum removed and the sections cut reaching below them show that we are well above the bottom of the stone walls f123, f133. The exposed strata still accumulate against teh surface of the wall so that what we have removed and at layyers underlying arrre floor ac. The original sub-floor that underlies the walls is yet to be reached in section. [B] The pedestal left on top of f78 for documentation and studyy has been completely removed, exposing the top surface of the brick layer of the original wall. The pedestal itself had 3-4 courses of brick just above f78 but an irregular construction or ac above it. The S face of f78 has now been defined within the square to a depth varying from ca. 50 cm at the W to ca. 5 cm at the E. The N face has been partially defined. We were surprised to find as a result of the excavation on G713 that the faces of the wall jogged in on both N & S, narrowing to ca. 110 cm in width. A potential NS wall joining f78 from the N in this locus awaits clear definition. We have suspended excavation in this square for now. [C] Excavation in k218 has progressed well. The baulks on the W & N have been completely removed as of G713. We cleaned and defined the section on the S limit of k217 and have begun further removal of the deposits by layer following the N section. The ash pit, f29, identified during MZ7, was excavated today. Also, the NW quadrant of the locus seems to have been more disturbed than the rest. This was treated as a separate feature (f159), delimited by surface lines on the floor being excavated. .rd G715 -sg We shall continue to remove the rest of f158. The bottom of pit f299 has not been reached contrary to our surmise yesterday. So it shall be excavated further. Also the sides of f29 shall be checked for brick or other lining. We have been following the section in the N in removing f158. Once this is done over the entirety of the locus, we shall scrape and observe in order to proceed. In k168,169, detailed photographs were taken to show strata and contacts with walls. Any wadi deposit adjacent to the section shall completely removed before proceeding to remove f115. f 29 dy This pit had been excavated to a depth of 50cm on G714. On further digging, the workman reached what appears to be a proper floor at the bottom of this pit. It is white, so not hard to notice and follow. The whiteness does not appear to be plaster but the floor is quite level. f 114 ds The section shows clear demarcation between f114 and f115. The former is grayish whereas the latter is red. f 115 dy The lowest level of f115 is still above the bottom of the stone layers of the the wall f123 at its S face in the (EW) doorway. -wk Since A8 is not excavating today, some of the workmen were assigned to clean up and straighten out the AK area: remove shrubs, stones; cover exposed brick walls with burlap, etc. f 111 ar Is the bottom layer of f111 a floor? The points in favor are the presence of isolated arrangements of bricks whose tops were at this level; the top of f29 reaches to f111, although it could have been higher since the ground sloped sharply here. Isolated stones were also seen in the ac at this level. Below this, the section does not clearly show any level floor, above the level of the walls of the AK building. There is a gray layer visible in section that really undulates. f 160 ds ac below f158 f 158 tc ov f160 v 65 ds view of f161, floor of f29, from SSW (i.e., looking NNE) and down. .rd G720 .ri rK -sf Fieldwork in A6 today was supervised by jO & jM; rK wasn't well and worked part of the time at the house. .rd G717 f 160 dy Consists, approximately, of the NE,SE & SW quadrants, excluding the pit f29. The ac appeared rather sterile; even sherds were few. We began to remove it with the big pick. f 29 dy The radius of this pit was extended by another 10cm yesterday (and the sherds etc. collected as part of a separate feature. There is still plenty of ash in its wall toward the S. f 164 ds ac containing a lense of ash. It contained sherd, bones and an object. It did not extend in any direction beyond the extents observed when it was given a feature number. Thus it was a narrow lense of material not associated with any floor. i 99 ds clay wheel, who position was triangulated from the center of its imprint of its lower hub on the ac; emplacement was flat on one side. f 165 ds is a small narrow pit, resembling a burrow, underneath f 164. .rd G720 f 164 tc co f165 f 160 tc ov f166 f 163 tc ov f166 f 164 tc ov f166 .rd G717 f 166 ds continued the densely packed red ac encountered above it. c# 4/4 7.5 YR co brown f 165 c# 4/3 7.5 YR co brown f 165 ds had one rodent hole opening into it from below the top of f165; also tracks toward f29. Maximum depth below top of f166 = 15cm; any pit shape was max. 40 x 40. A possible path toward f29, 70cm. f 166 sg The floor at the bottom of the pit f29 is 35 cm from the top of f166. It was decided to dig down to this level with bip picks. We will go in 2 stages, 15cm first, 15cm again, and dig more slowly the last 5 cm. f 162 dy The purpose of cutting 10 cm out from the wall of f29 was to view the section from that area of the accumulation. No significant or regular pattern was visible along this section. f 166 ds This ac fits our idea of an abandonment stratum f 166 sg Digging with the large pick yielded 2 seal impressions in the first 5-10 minutes of excavation. So we switched to the small pick to excavate more carefully. .rd G720 f 78 nl The pedestal on top of wall f78 discussed in the notes previously was part of what was originally called the wall, f44y. -dy We checked the elevations of the top of the brick layers of f78, f20 (E of vault a1) and f12 (S of door a4). They were all within 5 cm of each other. The E section of k218 show a cut reaching to a13 from above perhaps as high as f108 (below f102). .rd G718 a 14 A1 a3 -sg [1] Verification of relay accuracy and markers. [2] Excavation of k218: f166--no clear distinction between f160 and f166. Both had packed red dirt. Relatively few objects or features are present in them. The retrieval of 2 nice looking seal impressions from about 30 cm below the top of f166 made us more cautious in the excavation of this accumulation. A 170 x 100 cm section on the N face is being cut at the NW corner of this locus. The limits of this section was triangulated. i 104 ds another seal impression, although partial, from the lower level of f166 now being cut. This might indicate a floor at this level. f 167 ds This feature number has been assigned to the volume being removed to produce the section in the NW corner of k218. It was trianulated at the top. The vertical layers are being separated only in the lots being collected. The section has the second 15 cm of f166 (of the 30 cm that has been removed in the N part of the locus) and goes below it. q 483 ds from the second cut in f167; 25 cm deep f 167 dy The first cut was 5cm and did not indicate any floor. A few bricks were apparent in what was removed in cutting the section. Their course, if any is being traced. These were surrounded by red dirt with sherd inclusions. q 486 ds from 65 cm (EW) wide strip of f166 from f29 to the E baulk, starting at 50 cm N of the S baulk and extending to it. -sg We shall cut the NW section while continuing to excavate f166 in parts of the locus. The main concern is to look for any evidence of floors. The lower level of f166 is close to (but still above) the bottom of f299 which had a floor. If we cannot find a floor in section we shall remove f166 to the current depth cut and then proceed from the floor level of f29. f 162 dy The section still shows ash Northward. On picking this it was possible to remove all of it by cutting 2-3 cms. The bottom of the pit had hard lumpy red ac along the sides, but no clear evidence of bricks. k 168 sg to expose the brick face below the top two layers now in the doorway a4; to continue excavation toward the vault a1; and to begin excavating f134 in k169. f 167 ds Lower levels have very hard packed buff and brown dirt/brick as on the pedestal f44. These were removed. There were what appeared to be sherds of a single pot which were bagged as one lot (q490). The last cut was 40 cm deep. q 490 ds sherds of a single pot? f 166 dy 155 cm W of the E baulk 100cm in from the current N border of the locus, the current level of the lower part of f166 had a layer with significant black accumulation. The top 11cm were first removed and then the next 6. The ac was was soft and a darker brown. f 167 dy Height below the first 15 cm cut of f166--75 cm. .rd G720 .ri rK -sg In k218 we shall remove the lowest level of k166 another 5 cm, till the gray changes to red. This will be advanced S.ward as far as the section cut in the NW corner. Then new feature numbers will be assigned to the strata below and we will cut a uniform section EW to draw. This might require digging on the parts of the current surface of k217 to a uniform level, S of f78. The last 5 cm of f116 are to be removed with the small pick. If this does not yield anything significant, we will remove hard red ac with the large picks.