.bk A12
.fl N819jl.j
.fd journal entries
.ed N819
.ei jl

.ri jl
.rd N819

-dy Today, we continued digging in k29, exploring the area of f445, the sloping face/cut, and f446, the white layer.  We also began digging in k30, but stopped short when we found the edge of another sloping mud face, f447, which turned out to be the top of a shallow pit.  Because we mistook it for a slope, like f445, rather than a full pit, we originally mixed the fill of the pit with the surrounding accumulation, f444.  Once we realized our mistake, we separated out the pit fill as f448.

f 447
ds This is the presumed cut of the small pit a38 along the north edge of the locus.

f 448
ds This is the fill of the small pit a38 along the north edge of the locus.  It consists partly of brown material, similar to the rest of the accumulation within the circle, but also partly of reddish-white material, the same material as the best laminations f405 on the northern edge of k27, and a layer of black seeds at the top.  This material is harder than the brown, slightly grainy in places, and is often laminated.  The question of laminations within the small pit is one that must be discussed, since gb has hypothesized that they were filled as soon as the ritual was completed, not left open to form laminations, nor were the laminations across the whole pit, but were isolated in the northern portion.  It is possible that the black seeds were part of the end of the ritual, the closing of the pit, hence they were on the top layer (see v265, v266).  Before we realized that a38 was a pit, we thought that f448 was simply part of the f444 accumulation on top of it.  Therefore, the earlier sherds from f448 were actually included with f444 material, and could not afterwards be separated.  Only the later material from the pit fill is separated out as f448.

f 423
nd gb observed today that the face of the mud ledge along the northern wall of k30 looks exactly like the thin, hard layer of mud that clearly coats some of the stones around the circle.  This mud face is extremely smooth, but possessing clear vertical striations, as if it were deposited vertically, perhaps by mud pouring down the face of the stones.  In some of the examples, drip marks, like those made by wax candles, are visible on the surfaces.  If the mud ledge face is the same as those, however, it stands to reason that the mud ledge was created by the same process, that is, layers of mud dripping down the face of the stones, rather than the accumulation, as we have previously argued.  It seems to me that such a smooth face could only have developed if there was a space in between the mud layer and the accumulation.  gb has suggested that it was perhaps the face of a cut, if they were cutting pits within the accumulation, but then one wonders why it goes around the whole circle, rather than being limited to areas of small pits, and one wonders how it happened in different layers.  gb's argument is that two different processes can result in very similar appearances, more specifically that the extremely smooth face of the mud ledge is not visible in all locations around the circle.  Therefore, it is possible that the ledge itself built up as we have hypothesized previously, and the mud face along the stones was made as I hypothesized above.  Then, they cut the shallow pits, and this cut face developed the same smooth, runny surface because of the moisture from the wall.  For this to be correct, however, I think that the extremely smooth surface would have to line up with the small pit, which it doesn't exactly do.  On the other hand, the other explanation, that the mud ledge was created by layers of mud running down the stones rather than the accumulation, is equally unsatisfactory, since it cannot explain any of the earlier evidence which led us to our prior conclusion.

f 445
ds This is the smooth, sloping face in k29.  It is probably a cut for one of the small pits which mkb has argued are associated with the ritual in the api.  However, unlike f447, it has shown no sign of a bottom, and stops on both sides, rather than curving around.  If it was a pit, then the fill of the pit has been mixed in with f443, since we have not observed any distinction between the materials; however, it is possible that f434/f435/f441, the black seeds scattered around the locus, were possibly the top layer of the pit fill, sealing the pit and ending the ritual.

f 446
ds This is a white layer, apparently of decayed plant material, under f443 in k29.  It is physically connected with, and equal to, f440 in k31.  As I recall, this white material is similar to that which we found in the small pit f325 in season K.  However, until we have a faunal specialist analyze samples of the two separate features, this is only a conjecture.

f 440
ds This is a white layer, apparently of decayed plant material, under f436 in k31.  It is physically connected with, and equal to, f446 in k29.  As I recall, this white material is similar to that which we found in the small pit f325 in season K.  However, until we have a faunal specialist analyze samples of the two separate features, this is only a conjecture.