; File processed on 2025-09-04 ; A16---I -inc 2001-06-07_L630LR.j lR Yesterday we had a short meeting with gB to discuss the overall strategy for A16 during MZ 14. The focus of the excavation this year pertains to three parts: (1) the definition of the post-Palace settlement and its presumed extent to the east, (2) the location of the projected palace walls in AF on both the north and eastern sides, and (3) the excavation of courtyard H3. Initially six loci were proposed for excavation but after fAB measured the northern H1 wall it was suggested that two more squares be added on the eastern side so that the probability of encountering the eastern AF wall is increased if it is assumed that the doorway found in A13 last season is centered in the South wall of the courtyard. The walls of the courtyard are not expected to be walls external to the palace, since in almost all cases courtyards are surrounded by rooms. Often courtyards are not excavated in their entirety; we have decided to excavate H3, however, seeing the two important finds from the area, the Tar'am-Agade seal impressions and the "scorpion vase". Therefore a total of eight squares will be excavated this season, numbered loci 1-4 from west-east on the north, and 4-8 west-east on the south. If the palace projections are correct, then we expect to expose part of the northern wall with a presumed doorway and the eastern AF walls. -inc 2001-06-07_L630LR.j lR It was also suggested that we extend the perimeters of the northern squares another meter to the north in order to be aligned with the palace projections, but it was argued by fAB that if the doorway was found exposing only half of the wall (so leaving the squares 4x4), this would leave a nice section of the doorway. In considering this argument, it was decided to leave the northern squares at 4 meters. Three of the squares were excavated two seasons ago (MZ12) as area A13, and these are now A16 loci 1, 5 and 6. Two small one-room structures were found belonging to the post-Palace phase and most likely the new squares will contain similar structures with a possibility of further defining the boundary of this settlement to the South. We are not expecting to find much under these structures until we reach the palace level, which is approximately 2 meters below these single room structures. The sections created by A13 and A10 from previous seasons will serve as a good reference for what to expect in A16 in the South and West. -inc 2001-07-04_L704FAB.j fAB These past 10 days have seen the removal of most of the baulks in A16. We felt that the sections, once drawn, were only showing brickfall, and therefore could be removed in order to show the 20m N section which would help us link a1 and a5, the house in k5 and the wall with the drain in k4. As things now stand, we have removed most of the brickfall and have pieces of structures in most squares. k1 has what may be the oldest material as yet uncovered in A16, a floor with no walls connected to it. k2 and k3 have a very puzzling structure, a6. This, which we call the 'box' for lack of a clearer understanding of the nature of this structure, seems to be vaulted, as a tomb might be, but with plaster at the base. More excavation will tell what this structure is and what its link to the surrounding area might be. In k4 we have the drain and wall, a5, which seem to be among the latest structures in A16 since the brickfall a4 abuts it but does not cover it. k8 and k7 contain the walls of a3, which we have given to A15 to excavate, since most of the structure lies in their area. k6 contains a2, which we have not touched this season, since it was dug by A13 in MZ12, and is the oldest structure in A16. We are presented now with the problem of linking the several aggregates together into a meaningful stratigraphic sequence. -inc 2001-07-04_L704FAB.j fAB As we understand it now, a2 is the oldest structure that we have, as it sits on the pit in the N section of A13. a2 is clearly below a1, separated by a grey layer. a1 is contemporary with a5 and a3, since all abut but are not covered by brickfall. Questions arise when we look at the differences in elevation: a5 is considerably higher than a1 and a3. This seems to indicate a terracing, which we would expect to result from extended building in the phase of a2. Brick size plays a role in our understanding of the strata sequence: a1, a3, a4 and a5 are all built with bricks that are 10cm in thickness: a2 is built with bricks that are only 8cm thick. It is perhaps interesting to note that the bricks in A11 are all 10cm thick as well. gb prepared a strata assignment (AAsC) in which we can identify the a1, a3, a4, a5 strata as 5c and 5b, while a2 belongs 5a. It is unclear if a6 belongs to any of these phases or if it may even be a tomb that is later than the brickfall that defines the end of 5c. -inc 2001-09-02_L903LR.j lR after discussing with gB, fAB, and jLW, it is evident that we will not reach the goal of excavating to the stone pavement for another week. This poses a problem in completing the record since we only have two weeks to finish documenting A16. We have agreed that we will stop excavations in A16 after a few minor excavations primarily straightening the sections and leveling the area. It is uncertain if we plan to remove the section, since it is approx 50cm thick and uncertain whether it will last through to the next season. ; A16--DY -inc 2001-07-15_-M726-A.j fAB We had a meeting in the field with gB to talk about the strata that we have in A16 and A15. We came to the conclusion that there are 3 sub-phases in phase 5: h5a sees a lot of pit digging by people in structures that we have not seen yet. These can be definitely dated to the Khabur (and so Phase h5) because of the pottery that was found in these pits during the MZ12 and MZ13 seasons. h5b contains the first houses in the area, in particular a2 which sits directly on a pit from h5a. h5c is the latest phase in the area, containing the rebuilding of a8 with the subsequent brickfall, a4. -inc 2002-09-22_-MX12-99.j fAB Today we are continuing to remove the phase 4 red in the entire area f313, f314, and f318. The northern side is mostly exposed to the stones but the western side contains a thicker layer of red material at a higher elevation and will take a few more days to remove it. We have decided to only remove 10 centimeters at a time in case we find structures or seal impressions, however we are under the assumption that this red material is red wall fall of the palace and contains no structures or features below. The red material should sit directly on top of the stone pavement a12. -inc 2002-09-23_-MX12-99.j fAB We continued to expose the stone courtyard by removing the last 10-20 cm of red on top of the pavement. The sections were drawn, photographed, and partially excavated. The pit f250 continues to go down and is currently 1 meter below the stone pavement. -inc 2001-06-17_L617FAB.j fAB We began the second week of excavation today. Today is Sunday, but on Saturday we continued to remove the backfill since the staff could not be present for the whole time. We worked in loci 1-7, coming down quite a bit in k2 k3 and k4. We have several distinct pieces we are working on. k6 contains the earliest structure, a2; work there is limited to scraping the walls and following the floor, which is merely a few centimeters below the level where we stopped work last season. k1 and k5 contain a structure (a1) that is hard to define, a U shaped structure with three walls that do not bond with each other, in fact the rows of bricks with which the walls were created do not even seem to bond with themselves: vertical cracks are visible from the top that go through several courses of bricks. This is the most complex question for the moment in A16: the stratigraphic situation within a1 and the connection to the cut and brickfall that is in k1. k2, k3 and k4 are all in topsoil layers, and we are coming quickly down to the brickfall that is present in k1 and k6 and seems to continue under these northern loci. Lastly k7: here we have immediately the brickfall we are expecting in k2,k3 and k4, with no topsoil. In the southern portion of the square there is even no brickfall: we see the faces of three walls (a3), beautifully plastered. The rooms open to the south, so A15 can expect to find walls relating to the same structure, but there may be a doorway, so there may be further rooms of the same structure under k7. k7 slopes up to the N sharply: could this be an indication of the Tell rising under a3, or large, well preserved portions of a3? -inc 2001-06-07_L630LR.j lR We have 12 workmen under the supervision of mOmo working on the removal of the berm and backfill from last season; removal of these actually started on L606 afternoon through L607, with pause on L608 because it is Friday and will continue on Saturday (L609). -inc 2001-06-09_L630TR.j MISSING Today we finished removing the backfill in k1 and k5, and exposed the mud bricks/structure (a1) from last season. In k6 most of the backfill has been removed except for the western side and should be finished early tomorrow. We met with gB to discuss the strategy for excavating A16. -inc 2001-06-10_L630TR.j fAB Work continues to focus on cleaning k1 and k6, cleaning section, and more than half of the workmen are still busy removing the berm. We hope it is finished tomorrow by breakfast. -inc 2001-06-10_L630TR.j lR fAB, lR, cC, and sB at the site today-continued to remove backfill in K6, we met briefly with gB this morning to discuss the plan for today. We removed the grasses ontop of the unexcavated squares and along the baulks for safety reasons. The baulks of the excavated squares were also cleaned off with plans to draw sections. gB discussed the argument as to whether we should relate the two structures found in k5 and k6; since they are in line with each other yet have different wall thickness and different elevations. -inc 2001-06-21_L630TR.j sB Discussed with gB the strategy for k5. The plastered floor, f51, is not found everywhere, i.e. not found yet in the south part of the room, but may still be there. It was decided to remove most of the section, leaving a ledge of 40cm against the North wall that is f7. In the section as well as the floor there are still a lot of bricks from the ^bf which is a4. gB thinks that the floor, f51, in k5 is contemporary; or at least at the same level as f29 (floor) in k6. -inc 2001-06-25_L630TR.j lR Today we continued excavating the brickfall found in k2 and k3. In k2 we cut a trench running North-South in the middle of the k to determine the depth of the brickfall. The trench was 35cm below the rest of the k on the East and West sides when ashy pockets started appearing. This could be the mixture of the end of the brickfall with an ashy accumulation or just ashy pockets in the brickfall and the brickfallcontinues down. We stopped at this level and excavated the remainder of the k. In the section in k1 the brickfall measures approximately 170cm in thickness and in k2 it is almost at the bottom of this approximation. The workmen noticed that the brickfall was changing into larger components in the Easatern side. It is possible that this could be the wall found in k6 that is f8. Travis and I took the elevation of the bricky mass and it is 7cm above m2556; which makes it a little higher than the wall(f8) but not much. This seems odd to me since it appears that we are higher in k2 than m2665; but that is what the elevation calculated; double checked. -inc 2001-06-26_L630TR.j fAB Today we focused all of our efforts on removing 3 baulks: k1E, k2E, and k3E. First photos were taken, sections drawn, and only about 8am were we able to begin excavating. -inc 2001-06-26_L630TR.j lR We are taking down the west baulk of k2 and k3; so k1, k2, k3, k4 will be one area with out baulks. We have removed the markers on the baulk. They are removing them(the baulks) in layers first the topsoil and after the brickfall. More men are working in k4 since it is higher. The east sections were all photographed this morning. -inc 2001-07-03_L630TR.j tR This morning we reviewed with gB the strategy for A16. We are finished removing baulks and are now ready to start going down. -inc 2001-06-09_L630TR.j tR Today is our first day of excavation, so we spent most of the day clearing away backfill and the berm. We temporarily strung squares k2 and k3, as bWP will only be able to string our squares tomorrow in the early morning. -inc 2001-06-10_L630TR.j lR fAB, lR, cC, and sb at the site today and continued to remove backfill in k6. We met briefly with gB this morning to discuss the strategy for today. We removed the grasses on top of the unexcavated squares and along the baulks for safety reasons. The baulks of the excavated squares were also cleaned off with plans to draw the sections. gB discussed the argument as to whether we should relate the two structures found in k5 and k6; since they are in line with each other yet have different wall thickness and different elevations. -inc 2001-06-10_L630TR.j lR We began excavating f3 in k5 on the eastern side of a1. This feature contains ashy material mixed with pieces of reddish clay. The sherds encountered were in an oblique position, which suggests that it is an accumulation. Approximately 8-10cm was excavated. We opened up k2 today-the workmen have leveled off the NE section since the Tell has a slope in order to eventually make the whole k one level. We did not collect the pottery from the first 10-15cm since it would most likely be washed out of context. -inc 2001-06-11_L630TR.j lR Today we opened up k3 and the workmen are leveling the square. In k5 cC and abk continued excavating the NE section of a1, f3 going 35cm down at the NE corner and are continuing at another 10cm down since they have not reached a floor or any change in soil type it is still f3 and the same q lot for pottery. -inc 2001-06-12_L630TR.j lR Today we continued to remove the topsoil from k2 and found brickfall underneath which we labeled as f15. One big pick run was done; then we stopped for the day in that locus. In k7, bricks were noticed on the surface and a cleaning was done which exposed three walls and a circular jar located in a doorway, niche, or pit. We are not sure of the wall's (f18) width since we are unable to find the edge in the north; the brickfall makes it difficult to see this. On the southern face of the wall (f18) it is very smooth and appears plastered. A basalt grinding stone was also found next to the wall and is still in place. -inc 2001-06-12_L630TR.j sB Today we started to level the surface that was left quite irregular yesterday. cC was moved to k7 with lR, I am working with another aRK. The Khabur jar i2 is still in place and is very large. The upper part is already at the lab being restored. -inc 2001-06-13_L630TR.j sB Today gB had an excavation lesson in k5 and k6 until 9am. We excavated in k5 to try to find the floor where the jar (i2) should be sitting on, leveled the layer from yesterday, and went down another 10cm. There is another whole Khabur jar in the North corner i4, which we noticed today. We also found some human teeth and bone this morning, and appear that a1 is a burial. -inc 2001-06-17_L630TR.j fAB After three days of backfill removal we are finally returning to the upper squares of A16. Today we are digging only in k3 and k4; removing topsoil to arrive at the brickfall, which is the last sign of occupation in the lower portion of A16. -inc 2001-06-20_L630TR.j fAB Excavations today are concentrated in the following areas: k5, k8, k2, k3, and k4. In k5 we are following the floor f51, to determine its relationship to a3 and to the East we are digging the baulk to find the corner of a3. In k8 we are continuing to articulate the brickfall. In k2 and k3 we are digging trenches along the North baulk of the squares to determine brickfall thickness. In k4 we seem to have found a wall, f52, but it is not linked to anything we have found yet, so we continue to work around it. -inc 2001-06-20_L630TR.j fAB we talked with gB about elevations in the AA area: A16 k5 is approximately 8680, A13 stone-paved surface is approximately 8500 and AK floor is approximately 8250. This means that we have 180cm of soil between k5 and the stone pavement. -inc 2001-07-02_L630TR.j tR We continue to excavate baulks k6 N and E, k7 N and E, and k3 E. gB stopped by to check on our progress and give us some suggestions as to how we should proceed in our excavation of the box structure which is aggregate a6, subsuming f72, f73, f74, and f75. Afterwards we began to expose what appears to be a small retaining wall of sorts, which we called f80 in k4. -inc 2001-07-08_L707SVQ.j MISSING continued to remove the remaining brickfall throughout k105, k106, k3 and k5. In a6, the box structure, 80 cms has been excavated inside. The fill of the box contains broken bricks, pottery, and animal bones. The northern face shows clear brick faces with a mud plaster coating. The faces suggest a vaulted shape inside the structure. The brickfall to the west of the structure was also excavated which exposed a clearer view of the platform at the base of the box structure that protrudes one brick and a half west of the box. -inc 2001-07-08_L708LR.j lR continued to remove the remaining brickfall throughout k105, k106, k3 and k5. In a6, the box structure, 80 cms has been excavated inside. The fill of the box contains broken bricks, pottery, and animal bones. The northern face shows clear brick faces with a mud plaster coating. The faces suggest a vaulted shape inside the structure. The brickfall to the west of the structure was also excavated which exposed a clearer view of the platform at the base of the box structure that protrudes one brick and a half west of the box. cI has drawn the north section of k3 and began drawing k4 north section. -inc 2001-07-18_L722LR.j lR Yesterday we finished removing the north baulk of k6 which exposed f10 (wall) in its entirety. The round doorsocket that was found along the northern baulk in k6 is now completely exposed revealing two similar stones in a line next to each other. These three stones run north to south, are touching each other and all have rounded depressions at the center. The stone furthest to the south is the most round with the other two of a more elongated shape. To the immediate west of the stones are two rows of bricks. The first row which abuts the stones has a clay basin embedded between the wall f10, the stones, and a brick to the north and a brick to the west. This clay basin is compacted, reddish brown in color has elevated sides and a smooth inside curving out. There are only sides on the north and south ends. The row which includes this clay basin is completed with two bricks, stopping at the same width as the stones. The next row west of this row has three mudbricks and also has the same width. We made two features: one for the set of bricks that are next to the three stones, this feature is f143, and f138 for the three door sockets. f143 abuts f10 the wall and is located north of the wall. -inc 2001-07-19_L722LR.j lR Today we are removing the bricks of k5 with a strategy to remove them layer by layer to see the layout and construction of the walls that compose a1. This strategy will enable us to see if the walls are bonded with each other and understand the use of these walls since. aBK and gZ have drawn a sketch that shows this layout in four different steps. In k105 the workmen are contininuing to go down on the north side of a3 in the triangular section between the north baulk of k105 and f18 (the wall of a3). The wall continues to go down. In a9, Nicola has drawn the burial inside with the bones to scale since we are removing the bones later today at 4pm. Today we also took a large amount of relays from the new walls that have come out in recent days, a total of 20 were done today and we should be finished with most of the relays for A16 phase 5b and c structures. In k3, between a6 and the east baulk of k3, we continued to excavate in this rectangular area. A group of bricks were noted on the south west area which appear to belong with a6. In k1 and k2, the remainder of the accumulation from the east baulk of k5 has been removed bringing this area at the same elevation as k6. A floor was found in a6, f140 and is 150 cm below the top of the walls. A plumbbob was dropped at the top to see the width of the vault at the base and it was measured that the base is 60 cm vaulted in from the top bricks. In k5 it appears that f5 is now tow walls since one wall appears to be bonded with the larger wall f4 and not bonded with the adjacent paralles wall. In k105, a sherd pavement was found at the end of a3 eastern end which appears to link up with the other sherd pavement running north to south west of f75. In k107 the wall (f?) appears to end since we see gray layers underneath the reddish bricks. Underneath these gray layers we have another set of bricks that jet out from the wall above. These bricks are have a brick in width and are 6 running the same angle as the previous wall, the elevation for the new wall is 8817 -98. -inc 2001-07-21_L722LR.j lR In k105 we continued to remove the accumulation north of a3. Several medium sized stones have been uncovered, a small group of 4-5 stones located directly next to f18 next to the end of the wall and the beginning of the compact mud continuation. Directly east of the stones is a small concentration of dark ash, soft which abuts the stones and the wall f18. In a9 the tomb, the east wall currently has five courses of bricks in view with the bricks positioned so that the lower bricks jet out suggesting that the tomb is vaulted. The line of bricks continue on the east side then form a little outer area where a doorway is located in the east next to a 6. The north wall of this doorway is plastered. -inc 2001-07-22_L722LR.j lR We began excavating the pit seen in the north section of A12. We excavated a 150 cm by 100 cm trench in the center of k6. The interface between the floor from a2 and the beginning of the pit fill was very thin and we immediately began excavating dark gray soft ashy fill. The pit fill contains charcoal inclusions along with pieces of red clay. Organic materials are also present in the soil which include straw-like impressions and white thin roots. The fill is uniform in texture. In k5 we removed the bricks of f4 until the red bricks seen in the east side of f4. We were under the assumption that below these bricks was fill since no clear mortor lines were shown but after the top red bricks were removed it became evident from the top that there were bricks below, gray bricks. These bricks seem to be of a different construction phase than the top bricks belonging to phase b. In k2, we removed 10-15 centimeters in the whole locus which consisted of alternating layers of gray and pink. It it possible that a wall may connect f132 and the stones f118 together in k2. -inc 2001-07-23_L722LR.j lR We extended the trench from yesterday by 50 cm to the west and is located at the center of a2. The floor accumulation at the top is clearly visible which is only 3-5cm in thickness and shows that the pit is directly underneath the floor of a2. 90 cm below the top of the trench we came accross a change in color, more reddish compact material and made it into a new feature (f156). Within this layer several large pieces of pottery were found lying flat with a long bone at the side. We thought that this might be a burial but after inspecting the bone closer, it appears to be too large to be human and no other bones were found associated with it. We removed the bone and the pottery pieces were kept together incase they are from the same jar. After scraping the red layer, a thin line of plaster was seen and we decided to quickly excavate this area to see what this line may be. The pottery from this pit contains many diagnostic sherds, some painted and incised. In k107 and k1, we continued to remove the top sherd pavement that covered the entire area and discovered another sherd and pebble floor approx 8 cm below the top sherd pavement that abuts the bricks that protrude in k107, f158. In k2, Ahkmed excavated the fill of the cut and cleaned the east baulk to see the face of the wall associated with the vaulted structure a6. -inc 2001-07-25_L724SV.j lR yesterday we restrung the baulks of k1, k2, k5, and k6 in order to go down in these areas. We are currently the deepest in k6 since we began excavating this locus a few days ago. We are calling the material below a2 a pit, the same pit that we see in A12 North section that extends to the east in A15. This material contained approx 20cm of interface that changed to gray ashy fill. In k5, we have another pit under a1. We have removed all of a1 except for the portion within the north baulk. The material under this aggregate is the interface between accumulation of the structure and the beginning of the pit which is also seen in A12 North section. In k1, we are also excavating and predict that this will be the most time consuming and slowest area since in the east section of A10 we see layers of sherd and pebble floors going down. we are leaving the wall in the North-West corner to see if it continues down. In k2 we are excavating the whole locus West of the wall feature ??. This area contains large amounts of pottery in comparison to k6, k5, and k1 which is within a brown-gray matrix and is most likely the same pit as k6. The sherds contained no pattern and were not positioned in a way to suggest that it was a pavement or floor. -inc 2001-07-26_L728LR.j lR Today we are continuing to remove the two pits seen in A12 North section. In k6, the section has been cleaned and scraped and we can see the interface between house accumulation from a2 and the begginning of the pit which forms a nice clear line. The house accumulation is a reddish brown color which extends about 20cm below the bricks with a thin band of bright orange-red clay under this approx 3cm thick. This band extends through the north baulk into k2 area which leads us to belive that this is the same pit. Under this thin band is a unified gray which we have refered to it as pit fill. In k2, yesterday at the end of the day we defined the area with the large amount of pottery as a seperate pit, a kind of sherd pit since all the pottery was isolated in an area. Currently this pit is located within the south west corner but yesterday it extended throughout the k but was excavated so the pottery from this feature is mixed with the feature above it. The sherd pit is f170 and was completely excavated today. We made a new feature for the accumulation around this pit and it is most likely the same matrix as the fill ontop. It is strange that such a large number of sherds come from this area (which is the smallest) in comparison to k6 if they are the same pit. -inc 2001-07-26_L728LR.j lR In k5 we see a pottery lense which is quite thick in section and this might have been the same case in k2. In k5 we are still excavating the pit and are coming down on the sherd lense which we are using black garbage bags since there is too much pottery. A large stone was left pedestooled in the western area of the locus a few centemiters above the pottery lense. This stone is large and will probably take a while to remove. In the east section of k5 reddish brown bricks are visible but they are too scattered to form a wall, but something seperates the two pits (k6, k5) and is is located within the baulk. In k5, we are removing another 15cm in a reddish brown soil throughout the area. In the eastern side 50cm from the East baulk a change of color is evident. This side is gray and becomes black in the South-East corner. Evidence of some kind of burning was taking place in this area. A large amount of purple and green slag chunks were found yesterday in the North-West area next to the wall f??. The soil was a whittish gray in color with burnt pottery and slag, very soft. It extended 5-10 cm down and underneath was a chunky red layer with blocky peices of clay. -inc 2001-07-28_L728LR.j lR Excavating k1, k2, k5, k6 with dirt continuing to be removed during the afternoon and on Friday. We have alot of dirt accumulating in A12 pavement since both A15 and A16 are throwing are dirt into this area. We are excavating more dirt than we can remove and are trying to devise a faster way to remove this dirt. In k6, we noticed at the end of the day on Thursday that more red was appearing in the western section. We had noticed ealier that the fill material was mixed with small peices of reddish clay. Now the material is completely red clay and after scraping the section, we notices distinct clear brick lines, red bricks with a brown morter. A plaster line is also visible in section. The bricks do not hold together but resembles moist clay, making it difficult to find the faces. It is not until we cut back the section that we could see these brick lines. These bricks are running North-South, East of the West baulk. In the western area a tannur was found. The eastern area contains ash and is probably still pit fill while the weastern area is reddish. In k6 north section the accumulation from a2 is seen very nicely which forms a bowl. The gray underdeath forms bands of lighter gray sloping west to east with the western portion higher. Alternating layers of gray are seen, lightgray, dark, light, dark forming a bowl shape towards the east. If this is a pit, then it is quite large for it must extend the same lenght to the east making the pit almost 10 meters in diameter. -inc 2001-07-29_L728LR.j lR We are drawing the baulks in all the four loci currently being excavated since we plan on removing the baulks tomorrow. In k6, they are still continuing to remove the gray material to the East, and are coming down on red. This is probably the end of the pit as we start a new layer seen in A12 section, a red layer. We met with gB today to discuss phases, and he suggested that the fill we are excavating in k6, k5, and k2 is not a pit but large hallows created by depretions in the palace that conditioned the topography which then was used as dumps: so they weren't cut, but natural in a sense that they occured naturally after the palace collapsed. These hallows provided a ground for dumping which was filled up with Phase 5a material but in the lower end of the hallow we find Phase 4 material underneath. This level may be the strata to which the tannur and the accumulation around it belong to. fAB metioned that the tannur may be related to the tannur found in A12 which was ontop of the palace wall. In k2 we cleaned all the sections to see the pit fill which shows a series of layers of gray, a sterile silty fine powder lense, and granular sandy pink lense with pottery and pebbles which reminds me of material which has been exposed to water for long periods of time where the heavier material, pebbles pottery and granular material sinks to the bottom and the sitly fine powder lense forms at the top. -inc 2001-07-29_L728LR.j lR photograph and draw all baulks, remove k6 north baulk, k5 east and north baulk. Remove stones in k1. -inc 2001-07-28_L728LR.j lR Excavating k1,k2,k5,k6 and we have increased dirt removal to include afternoons and Fridays so we can continue excavating in these areas. We have a lot of dirt accumulating on the stone pavement since both A15 and A16 are piling the dirt from the large pits into this area. We are excavating more than we can remove and are trying to devise a faster way to extract this dirt. -inc 2001-08-01_L801LR.j lR Continuing excavating in the west of k5, extending it to 6 meters. Three new loci were created k108, k109, k110. In k110 removed the foundation stones from a1. In k108 we still have not reached the stone pavement and are deeper than 8500 which is the elevation of the pavement of A13. We decided to pound in a metal shish to see if the stones underneath and found that the shish hit something hard. The metal shish was pounded in at the elevation of 8498 and we believe to hit something by the next 25-30 cm. -inc 2001-07-23_L801LR.j sV The find of Khabur pottery inside the pit in k5 helps us to better understand the situation in terms of chronology of the whole area A16. The Khabur sherds from the pit would belong to the phase 5a which is below the floor f29 of the structure a2. This belongs to the phase 5b (a2) and seems to be the only well preserved structure of this phase. The other structures to the west of a2 shows a more complicated situation. The North wall of this house f7 appears to be on a slint basement which fAB believes to belong to the phase 5b, contemporary to the large stone components f118 aligned with the north wall to the East of it and supposed to be the basement of an earlier wall then destroyed (still in the phase 5b). fAB suggests that the reddish accumulation above the stones of the wall f7, a sort of fill between those and the bricks above, could belong to the following phase 5c similerly to the floor f51 and the accumulations above f50 and f24 within a1. Outside the house, we have to the North a series of three floors whose the upper one shows many inclusions of pebbles and sherds and can be associated to the stone basement of the South side and to the wall f114 on the North side of the locus. The floors are probably associated to an open area as the irregularity and the slope westward of their surface show. Above the wall which represents the North-West boundary of this outside area we can see a 30cm reddish accumulation at the bottom of the wall f114 to be attributed to phase 5c. -inc 2001-07-23_L801LR.j sV To the west a series of accumulations (cut by a pit f149 next to the north east corner of a1) included between the North wall of a2 f10 and the wall f132 appearing in the East part of locus k2, which we supposed to come still from phase 5b since they lie underdeath the ashy layer f22=f33 k6. This layer appears also on the top of the phase 5b east wall of a2. Some questions are not yet solved with regard to the a1 structure. The South wall appears to be consisting of two walls. The external one which we labelled f142 would seem to be bonded with the first wall f4 whereas the interneal one f5 shown a kind of bond with either of next walls. This wall is 70cm ends like one ethier buutress in wall distinguishable next to the north wall f7. At this moment we are removing slowly and accurately the courses of the bricks from each wall to bring to light the actual relationship between those walls and the floors below f50 and f51. -inc 2001-07-30_L801LR.j sV Removed f138 c1,c2,c3. This feature is associated to f136 the wall East-West in k2 and to the basin f137, consisting of three limestone door sockets irregular in shape. C1: northern door socket measuring 33x20x15cm C2: middle door socket measuring 31x22x19cm C3: southern door socket meauring 24x14x16cm -inc 2001-08-02_L815LR.j lr today we are cleaning the area and sections since it is the last day of excavation. In k110 we have quit excavating in this area since it is too large and will not reach the stone pavement and have concentrated all our efforst to exposing the stones in k109 and the northern portion of k108. k109 is two meters in width and at the end of the day we hit stones which extend throughout the entire locus. The elevation of the stones in k109 is 8486. In k108 we removed portions of the western red bricky material since we could not identify any clear brick lines to make the western section straight. A ceramic vessel was found in the north portion of k108 in the western area, black overfired jar in poor state of conservation. The jar was sitting upright in this bricky red material. It was triangulated and removed in pieces since it is so overfired that it fell apart easily. While removing the vessel, small bones were noticed inside which may belong to an infant or a small animal, likely a small animal since the bones are rather small but it has been defined as a burial and treated as one. -inc 2001-08-02_L815LR.j lr For the past few days we have been digging below Phase 5b in the large Khabur hollows that lie underneath the structures a1, a2, and a11 in k1,k2,k5, and k6. We have made three new loci to facilitate digging and q-lot assignment. Locus k108 includes k2, and k6; locus k109 includes the Northern portion of k1; and locus k110 includes the Southern portion of k1, k5 and the Northern baulk of k5. -inc 2001-08-02_L815LR.j lr In the Northern portion of k108 we hit stone pavement at an elevation of 8491. The brick pavement f194 is at 8470 and to the South the stone pavement is at 8503. The stone pavement continues to slope South to North and again down from East to West since k108 is higher than k109. In the Southeast part of k108, the pot smash i48 has been removed but some of the pot extended into the baulk and has been left in place. We decided to remove this pot smash since it sits on top of the stone pavement and would most likely suffer further damaged and lost if left in place until next season when we remove the baulk. -inc 2001-08-02_L815LR.j lr While excavating the large pit a13 we hit baked bricks instead of the anticipated stone courtyard. These bricks lie under the stone courtyard, seen by the cut f189 of the pit a13, which removed the stones, and left exposed the bricks f194 below. -inc 2001-07-23_L818LR.j sV Outside a1 we have to the North a series of three floors. The upper floor shows many inclusions of pebbles and sherds and can be associated to the stone foundation of the South side and to the wall f114 on the North side of the locus. The floors are probably associated to an open area as the irregularity and the slope westward of their surface show. Above the wall which represents the North-West boundary of this outside area we can see a 30cm reddish accumulation at the bottom of the wall f114 to be attributed to phase 5c. To the West a series of accumulations (cut by a pit f149 next to the North-East corner of a1) included between the North wall of a2 f10 and the wall f132 appearing in the east part of locus k2, which we supposed to come still from phase 5b since they lie underneath the ashy layer f22=f33 k6. this layer appears also on the top of the phase 5b east wall of a2. -inc 2001-07-30_L818LR.j lR removed f138 c1,c2,c3. This feature is associated with f136 (the wall running E-W in k2) and to the basin f137. -inc 2002-09-03_M903LR.j lR Today we opened up A16 for season MZ15 and began by removing backfill and scraping the entire area to eliminate the outer coating of soil caused by the winter rains. We met with gB early this morning to discuss the strategy for excavations in A16. We decided to string up new loci for k110 and have included a small square part to the west of k110 that was A10. This small square is now k201 and k110 will include k202, k203, k204, k205, k206, and k207. The East section of k110 will also become new loci k208,k209 and the area that protrudes out of the section k108 next to the tannur f180 will be k210. -inc 2002-09-04_M904LR2.j MISSING Today we continued to excavate the east baulk of k110, which we have assigned k209. We finished excavating it completely to the level of k110, which was a good 90 cm below the top of the baulk. In the afternoon we began to excavate k208 the northern portion of k110 east baulk. We also excavated i83 the burial jar out of the soil since we did not want to leave it overnight. -inc 2002-09-07_M907LR.j MISSING The main concentration today was on the cleaning of the entire A16 lower area. We still do not know when phase 4 begins so we are placing our efforts into cutting back the sections to expose a fresh face to see the layers and by leveling the upper surface of the area to see if there are any pits in view. These pits are extremely important to remove before excavating the material around it since we are assuming these pits are Khabur and may contaminate the area if not removed. The loci were surveyed in by bp and include relay numbers r307-r325. The burial a18 was also completely articulated and drawn by flp and photographed by gg. -inc 2002-09-18_M919LR.j lR This morning we prepared for the overhead photographs of the entire lower A16 area. These photographs are important for they show the beginning of the red in the area which is phase 4. We spent the morning cleaning the area and used a water bottle to spray down the red areas. A test of this procedure was done the day before and found that the red shows better when when. The overhead camera was used along with the slide camera. A total of 60 photographs were taken of the area. -inc 2002-09-19_M919LR.j lR yesterday a potsmash was uncovered while removing the last 10cm of red material ontop of the stones. We are referring to it as a potsmash since there are several sherds from the same vessel lying right on the stone pavement suggesting they were smashed. The sherds were triangulated today and we will keep them in situ. -inc 2002-09-19_M919LR.j lR yesterday we uncovered an item which we have called a potsmash. This vessel does not contain any base nor rim and consists of large fragments of thick pottery. They were all found lying face (outside) down. We triangulated this item then photographed in relation to the burnt area to the east and the stone pavement to the north. It was removed this morning. -inc 2002-09-19_M919LR.j lR today we continued removing the red layer, which covers the entire area. -inc 2002-09-24_M924LR.j MISSING Yesterday was the last day of full excavations and today we just have a few workmen to excavate the sections that were not finished yesterday. It took all day to remove the east and north sections in 10cm increments but did expose the entire stone courtyard today. The east section revealed a clay installation f328 a few cm above the stone pavement. This first appeared as a tannur but after cleaning the area it was found to have several holes in line inside this feature. It was cleaned and the conservator will consolidate it and remove it. We left a section to show it's relationship to the pavement and the matrix around it, photographed it then removed the section leaving f328 ontop of the pavement. The phase sequence of this installation is still in question and most likely falls into phase 4 similar to the tannur found ontop of the stone pavement in A13. The pit f250 continued to go down with the same black ashy fill as yesterday. It was completely excavated and reached 162 cm below the level of the stone pavement. Inside this pit is an interesting situation with a layer of baked bricks below and some that are vertically placed. The baked bricks are in line, orange in color, and appear to slope downward. The fill of the pit continued to yield a number of interesting items, pottery, and figurines. Taking relays was somewhat problematic since the relay rod is not that long and therefore a long thin wooden board was placed under the rod vertically then measured. It is unclear how accurate these measurements will be, regardless these items are located inside a pit and have no stratigraphic context except for being in a pit. -inc 2002-09-24_M924LR.j MISSING Yesterday was the last day of full excavations and today we just have a few workmen to excavate the sections that were not finished yesterday. It took all day to remove the east and north sections in 10cm increments but did expose the entire stone courtyard today. The east section revealed a clay installation f328 a few cm above the stone pavement. This first appeared as a tannur but after cleaning the area it was found to have several holes in line inside this feature. It was cleaned and the conservator will consolidate it and remove it. We left a section to show it's relationship to the pavement and the matrix around it, photographed it then removed the section leaving f328 on top of the pavement. The phase sequence of this installation is still in question and most likely falls into phase 4 similar to the tannur found on top of the stone pavement in A13. The pit f250 continued to go down with the same black ashy fill as yesterday. It was completely excavated and reached 162 cm below the level of the stone pavement. Inside this pit is an interesting situation with a layer of baked bricks below and some that are vertically placed. The baked bricks are in line, orange in color, and appear to slope downward. The fill of the pit continued to yield a number of interesting items, pottery, and figurines. Taking relays was somewhat problematic since the relay rod is not that long and therefore a long thin wooden board was placed under the rod vertically then measured. It is unclear how accurate these measurements will be, regardless these items are located inside a pit and have no stratigraphic context except for being in a pit. -inc 2002-09-09_N304LR2.j lR Today we continued removing k210, which we have termed "the pillar" since it, is a long column of soil left from last season. We have concentrated the majority of our efforts into removing this pillar, which requires an increase in dirt removal slowing excavations in the other loci. Yesterday the khabur structure that was the highest level was removed and today the entire ashy pit fill was excavated leaving the material that the pit a17, a13 cut as the current elevation. We plan to stop at the red below, which is approx 30 cm leaving a 10cm buffer zone between the two layers. ; A16--EQ -inc 2001-06-07_L630LR.j lR gB wrote a program that displays the data in HTML format, making the archive much more accessible during the season. We hope to be able to run this on a weekly basis so as to keep up to date with the archive and catch any errors on the make. ; A16--LB -inc 2001-06-07_L608LR.j lR A16 will be digging 3 squares that were previously worked on by A13: A13 1,2 and 3, which are now A16 k1, k5 and k6. Some of the features encountered in k1 and k4 will have references to A10 features, since there is a section to the West created by A10 that borders A16 k1 and k5. -inc 2001-07-23_L722LR.j lR we had several problems with the q-lots recently and it was noted that we had several bags with the same q number and where probably a result of misread numbers. q104, q3, q75, q60, q281, q163, and q229 had several inconsistencies and we have decided that the features are correct and will thus not effect the pottery analysis but it should be noted that these q lot may be wrong. ; A16--MK -inc 2002-09-09_-MX12-99.j fAB bWP put in a new marker (m2933) located on the north baulk of k207 on the eastern side. -inc 2001-06-07_L608LR.j lR bWP has been putting in markers for A16, and will string the squares as soon as burm and backfill removal is done. Current marker numbers are m2500 to m2506. -inc 2001-06-09_L630TR.j lR BP completed elevations today for the 6 markers in A16. Once the computers are up we will start plotting the squares. -inc 2001-06-26_L630TR.j lR Removed the following vertical control points: m2533, m2501, m2549; -inc 2001-07-23_L722LR.j lR we had a small meeting about where to put new markers for use with the pit since bWP will be leaving in a few days. It was decided that several markers will be put in the north baulk of A12 and we will leave enough dirt to keep the markers in place. Vertical control points will also be put high and low so we can use them when we get further down. -inc 2001-07-07_L816LR.j lR m2502 removed -inc 2001-08-01_L816LR.j lR removed vertical control point in k5 L731 ; A16--MT -inc 2001-07-23_L722LR.j lR In order to speed up the excavation of the pit fill f153, we are eliminating the removal of dirt by throwing down the dirt into A12 and then removing in during the afternoon. This technique proves to be effective but we must pay closer attention to the fill for it is easier to lose objects since the dirt is immediately thrown off the edge. -inc 2001-07-29_L728LR.j lR we have no usable markers this low to triangulate items and have been using plumb bobs and meter tapes to relay. This method may provide inaccurate measurements. ; A16--NL -inc 2001-07-27_L816LR.j lR f6 not used -inc 2001-07-27_L816LR.j lR q150, q253, q293, q436 not used ; A16--NY -inc 2002-07-30_M730SB.j sB check q97.2: it is described both as wheel and as a la -inc 2002-07-30_M730SB.j sB check q178.50, the df is wd (?) -inc 2002-07-30_M730SB.j sB CV to draw and photograph in MZ15: A16.71 (D only) A16.59 (D&P) A16.58 (P only) A16.68 (D&P) -inc 2002-07-30_M730SB.j sB i51 to i71 are not described -inc 2002-07-30_M730SB.j sB q-items from q608 to q638 are not described, or maybe described but not entered ; A16--PH -inc 2001-06-07_L608LR.j lR The goal of A16 is to work through Phase II to reach the palace. We are presented with two options in overall excavation strategy: should we (as A16 or as mission as a whole) concentrate on a wide exploration of Phase II which is then removed once all uncovered, OR should we consider removing immediately Phase II stratigraphy in some areas in order to uncover the palace to a larger extent. This decision, as regards A16, does not have to be made immediately: we will first uncover all Phase II buildings and then evaluate their importance before deciding to extend horizontally or descend vertically. -inc 2001-07-23_L722LR.j lR Today we met with GB to discuss the strata assignment. In A15, the entire area is of phase 5b construction and they have a C burial that cut b floors, GB suggested that a long period of abandonment must have occured between b and c phases since the walls and floors of b must have been covered and not visible in phase c. This theory is especially visible in k6 where most of the k has been cut away (seen in the north section and the standing ne corner) the eastern walls are higher where the remainder of the structure only contains one brick in height. The entire area was cut by c who then built a1. In k107 the higher wall f117 appears to be of c construction and the wall below could be b or a. ; A16--SF -inc 2001-06-07_L630LR.j lR Initially the staff of A16 consists of fAB and lR; as excavation staff arrives, they will join A16 until approximately the 20th of June, when work in A9, A17 and A12 will begin. A10 starts at the same time as A16 but under the supervision of only rAH. ; A16--SG -inc 2001-07-31_-M726-A.j fAB We are trying to excavate as quickly as possible, since there are so few days before the end of the excavation, and we have yet to reach the goals that we have set out for ourselves. The area in which we are digging is void of structural elements, so our main goal is to recognize lenses and search for possible caps. -inc 2001-06-17_L617FAB.j fAB We are involved now in working through thick topsoil layers in k3 and k4 to reach the brickfall that we assume lies below. Once we have reached brickfall throughout A16, we will clean and perhaps photograph the situation in loci k2, k3, k4, k7, k8. Once documented, we will begin removing the brickfall, slowly in k7 and k8 where walls appear in the south (only of k7 for now, while k8 is still somewhat covered with backfill) and more quickly in k3 and k4 where, due to the sections in k6 and k1, we believe that the brickfall is thick. We hope then to come down on a3 and related features, which must be dug first, since we believe that they are the most recent in A16. Work in k1, k5 and k6 is minimal, mostly staff looking for floors and structural components. -inc 2001-06-09_L630TR.j MISSING In k1 we plan to excavate the SW side of the square at the corner of the wall where f4 & f7 meet in order to find the base of the wall. In k5 and k6 we will excavate inside the structure diagonally (NS) until we reach the first floors; leaving half of it unexcavated. Once we have found the floor then we will excavate the inside of the structure. -inc 2001-06-12_L630TR.j sB we plan to reach the wall and make a flat plan, then we will take a photo. There is a lot of sherds, lots of bones. Traces of burnt charcoal, some brickfall They are left for the photo-found near the jar a piece of tannur. At 15cm from the E wall we found many burnt grain. Collected-they are scattered all along the wall for 150cm. -inc 2001-06-12_L630TR.j lR The next 2-3 days excavators will be very minimal since work needs to be done on the computers. gB is leading a training class with the new students & tomorrow we will collect all the relay points of structures(walls) so we can plot soon. Excavation will still continue in f3; and in k5 to remove the feature in the whole a1; and to reach the floor that the jar (i2) sits on. We will photograph the jar in situ. The workmen will be sent to other areas to remove backfill during these 2-3 days. We will resume digging on Sat(L616). -inc 2001-07-03_L630TR.j tR We have opened a new locus in k7 and k8 labeled k105. Our reason for this is two-fold first, since we have removed the baulks it is difficult to differentiate between squares as far as q lots are concerened; second, we want to get a better idea of what is going on in k3 and k4. In k4 we have an accumulation which is f81 that gB suggested may have been cut due to erosion after a period of abondonment before the brickfall. Our strategy is to go down in k105 and cut a section so we will be able to better understand the deposition. We have tenatively named k3 and k4 as k106, but we will consult with gB or fAB before making it final. -inc 2001-07-08_L708LR.j lR For the box structure a6 we plan to excavate the triangular area f160 between f73 and the North baulk to see if we can find the Northern face of the structure. The remaining brickfall will be completely excavated by L709, which allows time for the final photograph of all Phase 5b structures, which will then be removed in order to expose Phase 5a structures. The wall f52 will remain since it is believed that the base of the wall is actually Phase 5a construction then reused in Phase 5b. The basis for this argument as proposed by fAB is that the Western face of the wall ends but then is continued only indented several centimeters to the East suggesting that the wall below is earlier and could belong to 5a. Bricks found on the North side of f52 suggest that it is a Phase 5a cross wall running North to South. -inc 2001-07-23_L722LR.j lR During the meeting with gB fAB pointed out the large fissure found in the north baulk of k2 close to the western end and disscussed the possibility that this was a indication of a large structure underneath such as a wall. The fissure located in A10 and runs into A11 shows clearly that the stone foundations of the palace walls were the cause of the fissure and can indicate that the palace wall is in fact located under this fissure in k2. We plan to photograph this fissure. Yesterday we began excavating the pit seen in A12 north section (the large pit). -inc 2001-09-02_L903LR.j lR we have scraped and cleaned the area in order to identify any features within k110 especially pits. We have come down in the entire area on a compact reddish brown material and on the north area we were exposing an ashy thin layer. All the pits f216 and f217 have been excavated. -inc 2002-09-03_M903LR.j lR Last season we decided to terminate excavations in A16 premature of our main goal; to uncover the entire stone pavement of the courtyard and understand phase 4 and phase 3 role in A16. The area was too large and instead of trying to finish excavating k110 in MZ14 we decided that it would be best to stop digging and continue in season MZ15. The strategy for this season utilizes the same project goal as last season: to uncover the stone pavement of the courtyard located in area A16. Excavations are planned for 3 weeks until September 19 followed by a 3 week study period. This should be ample time to excavate k110 which measures 8.4 x 6.4 meters with a depth of 1 meter until the stone pavement. The area forms a square excavated on all four sides which shows the stone pavement on 3 of the 4 sides with the western portion missing in the area of A10 (however there are a few stones in the southern end). The east baulk of k110 was left from last season because we did not fully understand the stratigraphy to remove it. Inside the baulk there appears to be two walls a few courses deep but are in poor shape and difficult to identify. This season we plan to remove this baulk by making it two separate loci and level it out with the rest of k110. -inc 2002-09-03_M903LR.j lR Last season we decided to terminate excavations in A16 premature of our main goal; to uncover the entire stone pavement of the courtyard and understand phase 4 and phase 3 role in A16. The area was too large and instead of trying to finish excavating k110 in MZ14 we decided that it would be best to stop digging and continue in season MZ15. The strategy for this season utilizes the same project goal as last season: to uncover the stone pavement of the courtyard located in area A16. Excavations are planned for 3 weeks until September 19 followed by a 3 week study period. This should be ample time to excavate k110, which measures 8.4 x 6.4 meters with a depth of 1 meter until the stone pavement a12. The area forms a square excavated on all four sides which shows the stone pavement on 3 of the 4 sides with the western portion missing in the area of A10 (however there are a few stones in the southern end). The east baulk of k110 was left from last season because we did not fully understand the stratigraphy to remove it. Inside the baulk there appears to be two walls f215 and f214 a few courses deep but are in poor shape and difficult to identify. This season we plan to remove this baulk by making it two separate loci and level it out with the rest of k110. -inc 2002-09-04_M904LR2.j MISSING While excavating k208 a few questions arose as to the phases of the material being excavated. We are uncertain whether the material left in k110 is phase 3 or 4 therefore careful excavation of the material in k208 is needed. We were using the big pick since we planned to excavate this quickly but after reviewing the situation decided that it was best to use the small pick in order to understand clearer this situation. We are hoping that the pottery can help in answering our questions. Tomorrow we plan to remove the rest of k208 with a small pick and also remove the tannur f180 and the burial a18. ; A16--SN -inc 2002-09-19_-MX12-99.j fAB Portions of the east section k208, k209 are being removed today -inc 2002-09-23_-MX12-99.j fAB The north section of k205, k206, and k207 was drawn, photographed, and a portion of it has been removed. The east section k209 was also drawn and photographed. This section shows gray and red bricks on the lower side. They appear to lie flat but are too irregular in shape to be a wall. Likely they are part of the re-use of the stone pavement. To the south of these gray and red bricks lays f259, a possible red wall 4 courses in height. -inc 2001-07-01_L701LR.j MISSING A16 has utilized A13 sections drawn in MZ12 for the North and East baulk in k1, and the North and East sections in k6. However these drawings were missing a few details, which were added to the old sections and re-inked. -inc 2001-07-08_L708LR.j lR cI has drawn the north section of k3 and began drawing k4 north section. -inc 2001-07-23_L722LR.j lR the north section of k105, east section of k3, and east section of k2 have been drawn by Castro. -inc 2001-07-07_L816LR.j lR removed baulk between k5 and k6 (east section) -inc 2001-08-22_L822LR.j lR we are cleaning all the sections to complete the final section drawings in all a16. ; A16--SU -inc 2001-08-02_L815LR.j lr (first part) for the past few days we have been digging below strata 5b in the large khabur hallows that lie underneath the structures a1, a2, and a11 in k1, k2, k5, and k6. We have made three new loci to facilitate digging and q-lot assignment in these loci. k108 includes k2, and k6, k109 inlcudes the northern portion of k1, and k110 includes the southern portion of k1, k5 and the northern baulk of k5. The baulk seperating k2, and k6 was removed on L731 and we have assigned k108 to this whole area. A few features from a2 an a11 have not been removed and these are all located on the eastern portion of k108. f132 the wall running North-South in former k2, and f8 wall running North-South in former k6, and the southern portion of f9 wall running East-West have not been removed and defines the eastern perimeter of k108. These walls in k108 make the locus somewhat narrow. In the western portion of k108 we have left the red material which protudes approximately 60 cm east of the western baulk, which we have interpreted as bricks since a few morter lines and a few white plaster lines have been identified. This red bricky material is difficult to define due to its poor state of preservation and we have left this material to the West in case it is a phase 3 wall. We have also pedastooled the tannur f180 located in the south east corner of k108 and currenlty are 260 cm down from the beginning of the pit. While excavating inside k108 we noticed a clear line forming a circular pattern that we have defined as the cut of the pit/hallow. This cut links all the material in former k2 and k6 below a11, and a2 together since it all belongs to the same pit. This cut is marked very well by a hard compacted reddish brown material that froms no brick shapes just a massive accumulation measuring approximately 50 cm down. The material inside the circle (the fill) peels away easily from the red material and also curves slightly in at the base. -inc 2001-08-02_L815LR.j lr (second part) The fill inside the circle is gray and brown, softer and full of pottery and bones. We proceeded to excavate the fill first. After 15 cm down the material became browner and 35 cm down we came down on a hard layer of clay, almost fired which was only 5-6 cm in thickness. This material chunked off with the brown material making it difficult to expose the area in its entirety with this clay. We excavated the area in some cases mixing both the brown and the clay together and underneath we hit something hard which we first interpreted as stone since this was the prediction of the courtyard. After cleaning the area we noticed that the material was not stone but fired bricks. The bricks are a pink and yellow collor and cover the bottom of the circle with a drack chunky clay material running North-South in the east. This may be a possible damaged area by the pit cut. After excavating the circle in its entirety we notices large stones forming the same shape as the cut, circular. We then decided to excavate in the southern portion of k105 since we can follow the stones from the pavement in the courtyard to better understand the relationship between the fired bricks and the stone pavement. What we found was that the stones sit ontop of the bricks and we have hypothesized that the stones were cut by the pit since the stones from the pavement form a circular shape and the bricks are below. We have two possible situations, one that the fired bricks are an earlier phase, a pavement under the palace or that the fired bricks are part of a drainage system since it is in line with the drain found in A13, and may continue underneath the eastern portion of the stone pavement. ; A16--SY -inc 2001-08-02_-M726-A.j lR r244 and r245 did not run were deleted from file ; A16--Sg -inc 2001-09-02_L903LR.j lR A section was strung across k110 to separate the locus since the area is too large to refer to it as one locus. k111 refers to the new locus on the north side of the section, and k112 is the southern portion.