.bk A6 .fl H708rk.j .fd Excavation diary for H629 and later, and isolated earlier notes. .ei rk .ed H708 .ri rK .rd H621 f 302 ds Below the sod layer, black. Penetrometer reading, 2.25. Loose material, crumbly, tiny stones and larger stones, sherds present. A number of areas where the top soil penetrates. Transition to pinkish, hard-packed accum. f 303 ds Mud-brick wall. Extends from the E wall, abuts f306. 207cm on N face, 165cm on S face, 68cm & on W face. Extends below stone bench? Relationship to lower mud-brick step above stone bench? f 304 ds W half of excavation area. Loose pockets of soil, penetrometer reading 2.25; other areas hard as rock. .rd H629 -dy Work in both areas of A6 has been proceeding well. In k22, the identification and careful excavation of the floor accumulation has stressed clarification and detail, so, has been proceeding a little slowly, albeit quite satisfactorily. For the greater part of today, only two experienced pickmen worked on that floor. Some questions concerning the relationship of floors have been answered. In k30, the work proceeded at a faster pace than previously, in excavating dirt. We have reached low enough in the locus to require more steps cut in the baulk or a ladder, to facilitate entry and exit. The baulks still remain, but the protective baulk on the S shall be partially removed, perhaps as early as H630. The surface of k30 is more or less flat now--at a level ca. 16cm below the base of the tannur found in it. -sg For the rest of this week: (1) k30-- goals: (a) improve access to the working area in the locus by cutting more steps. (b) Remove the S baulk, leaving only enough t prevent spillage of excavated earth to the floor below. (c) Remove the tannur and the associated red "brick". (d) Complete the physical tagging of features. (e) Straighten out the E section (which is at this point somewhat crooked). (f) Begin the drawing of the E section. (g) Draw the E face of the W section. (h) Lower the floor by 100 cm. (2) k22--Here we will continue removal of the floor surface to reveal any structures or paths of use. Ultimately we want to expose the gypsum floor. f 364 ds Is penetrated by a rodent hole close to the tannur. It seems that the two/three rodent holes seen here may be all parts of the same. In the section of the rodent hole, f374, many ash layer laminations could be seen, but no gypsusm layer. A deep red layer several cms thick also existed below the ash layers. Earlier excavations on the floor showed a deep red thin layer above f364, with an ash surface above it. f 306 tc bo f338 v 106 ds Shows two door sockets/mortars, q763.1 and 763.2, obtained from f329. The picture shows their proximity to the stones of f306. It also shows the stone wall f338, which extends into the E baulk and had bonded with f306 at a right angle, close to the edge of the baulk. .rd H702 -dy Opened up a new locus, k31, paralleling somewhat k30 to the S. We began by leveling the top surface since at the S limit of the locus included a narrow strip of the section left. That was cut down. k 31 --i The top of this area (k31) had been excavated during MZ9 as area A8. The excavated depth was close to the sod layer at the W, but almost a meter below the surface at the E. k 31 dy The top of this area (k31) had been excavated during MZ9 as area A8. The excavated depth was close to the sod layer at the W, but almost a meter below the surface at the E. f 401 ds Its horizontal limits are defined by a narrow strip present as section to the S, because of the realignment of the excavation grid to align witht he orientation of the AK building walls. It was ca. 10cm wide and 80 cm deep at the E and ca. 100cm wide and 10cm deep at the W. All of this earth was removed as a whole and only the more interesting sherds were collected. f 339 nr Along the E limit of the locus, the accumulation is quite hard and brick fragments are present. f 402 ds Elevation @ W, 8615; @ E, 8632. f 401 ds Elevation @ W, 8623; @ E, 8710. k 31 ds The difference in top elevation between f401 and f402 indicate the slope of the uncut S border of the locus vs. the cut area where excavation continued. f 402 ds Ashy loose grey layer with large number of sherds. f 342 nr In the NE of the locus, removal of the hard accumulation revealed a thin ash layer underneath. Presumed to be a floor accum. of ash, although neeeds verification. f 343 nr In the NW of locus k30, scraping the floor below f339 showed a grey accum. against a line of orange-brown. We think this is accumation against a wall. The orange-brown part was given this feature label. pr We checked into the possibility of whether a wall continuing from our locus emerged past the N baulk into the diagonally opposite locus k2 of area A9. In the E section of that square a layer of bricks could be seen at about the level corresponding to f343. But the results from the comparison of absolute elevations were not exactly thrilling. The brick we saw in A9k2 section was at an elevation of 8653. The top of f343, as we identified it, was at 8603, half a meter lower. .rd H708 ds The line of separation that identified f343 ran somewhat from the NW corner of the locus SSEward. It would have been offset at an angle from being aligned with the NS wall f210, which is presumed to continue in this locus, a little below the elevation at which f343 was detected. .rd H703 f 379 ds The fill of the ashy pit f378 was removed. It was a shallow pit. The ash was white anad grey. f 378 ds The pit of ash E of the tannur had a maximum of depth of less than 10 cm. f 380 ds Close to the "hearth", f376, the shallow depression in the floor, f364, turned out to be a large depression full of ash. The ash was grey & white. The rodent hole, f374, went through this toward f376. As the ash is being cleared, and the extent of the depression is seen, it becomes clear that f376 sits in t his depression. f 376 tc si f380 f 381 nr a sample was collected--i307. f 403 nr The loose layer on top was followed by accum. characterized by hard lumps (reddish-buff), intermingled with loose accum. There was more ash to the W. The layer also contained brick and tannur fragments. f 404 ds Ash rich area/pit in NW of k31. This most likely reflects the presence of tannur-related work, as shown by the tannur fragments found in f402 and f403. Diameter of pit, 140cm. f 344 ds The top was black/grey, crumbly. Past the first brick level (ca. 10 cm), we found the harder brown accum., found elsewhere in the locus--still pink-brown. c# 5YR4/2 f 346 ds gray accum. abutting S & W baulks in the corner. c# 5YR6/1 f 349 c# 7.5YR6/2 .rd H705 f 376 ar The gypsum floor near the "hearth" did not continue very far. The hearth, f326, rests on abed of accum. and ash. It is only 6-7 cm high. So it goes with f364 and not with f370. .rd H706 k 31 dy We have come to the top of the brick of f210 in k30; although it stands 0.5m higher than the preserved levels of the wall to the N. Henceforth, the floor & other accumulations on either side of the wall will be treated separately. W of the wall, the accum. @ this level is clean of ash. sg We shall remove the protective ca. 40 cm high baulk we have left to the N. This was left to prevent objects from spilling over to k22, several meters below. There is also a baulk to the W, but since is much more likely to disrupt work below, we shall wait regarding it. pr We will remove the protective baulk N of k31 as we did part of the S baulk of k30, previously. We will leave a think wall at the edge while removing the rest with the large pick. The thin wall will then be pulled in as carefully as possible. v 109 ds Shows the two tannurs, f406, 407 in k31. The closeups show respectively, f407 with its wall, white ash and reddish accum./brick (wall f210?) below; f406 with its multiple walls, the plaster on the inside of the inner wall of f406, the floor? that covers the accum. as well as goes over f406, and the relation of this to the section along the E of the locus. f 408 ds fine grey ashy accum below the red (f 405). Existed along the red brick surface/accum. below the tannurs f407, 406. f 409 ds Brick platform. Sits in f402. As excavated, presents a semicircular view from the NE. N & W in the baulk. Consists of deep red brick, ca. 7cm thick. Below this was black ashy accum. found & below that pink-brown hard accum. el 8587 dy We continued excavating to the N. The accum. @ the N end of locus began to become red, and brick appeared. The acc. mid-locus was free of brick and had considerably more ash. f 410 ds Accum. to the W of the locus. k 31 dy We began removal of the N baulk by strata. The upper ashy layer, f402, was removed from most of the baulk. f 402 nr Removal of f402 from the N baulk revealed the profile and the walls of two partially intact tannurs. .rd H708 f 406 ds This was on the N baulk, in contact with the E limit of the locus.Its partially extant interior contained fragments of the walls, sherds, ash, dust, etc. What is unusual about this tannur is the fact that its walls seem to have been refurbised (from the outside) so that four separate layers, not counting the plaster on the inside, are present. pr The tannur and its section have been photographed. The diameters for the various walls have also been recorded. f 407 ds This tannur existed alongside f406. Much less of its walls were preserved. The inside contained white ash. .rd H706 s 1 ds topsoil. This is the first stratum and although a disturbed upper layer, it serves a valuable function of sealing what is beneath it. s 2 ds Present only in k30; a crumbly black accum. containing sherds and large stones. This would have been part of the lower accum., (f304), but was affected by roots etc. It covered the wall, f303, but itself was not bounded by any architecture. In addition to the sherds, one seal impression from this stratum contribute to the evidence of living occupation. s 3 ds Has walls, but no floors. Consists entirely of accummulation against the upper levels of the walls of the entire stratum. The walls could have been used, but not was walls per se. No evidence of floors or other occupation of these levels beyond sherds, bones and one seal impression. .rd H708 f 345 tc ab f341 f 339 tc co f341 f 340 tc ov f343 f 345 tc ab f343 f 349 tc ab f343 f 346 tc ab f345 f 345 tc co f347 f 347 tc cu f350 f 345 tc co f346 f 346 tc ab f349 f 350 tc ab f343