.bk A20 .fl S805lr.j .fd daily .ed S805 .ei lR .rd S712 .ri lR -dy Met with gB and fAB in the field today to discuss the excavation goals and strategy and layout the squares. Four squares will be laid out with bP adding more over time. Our goals for this season are to link area JP with area A to see the boundary between the Mittani occupation and the plaza to the east. Another goal is for a horizontal exposure of A20, linking it to area A19 and A18. This season we will focus on only excavating to the earliest Mittani level, seen in A18, concentrating on documentation for the UGR. The staff consists of 5 members, lR as primary unit director, lC who will arrive in one week as secondary unit director, and eE, sE, and yM as assistants. .rd S713 -dy Photographed the area this morning before beginning excavations in A20 and started the day by removing the modern berm in k2 and k3. This feature was created to divert water from A18, creating a raised hump in the southern end of the loci. The berm was relayed, then removed. The topsoil level was then removed in k12 and k13. By the end of the day, a hard compact bricky surface was reached in k13. .rd S714 -dy Continued to excavate in k12, opened k2 and k3, removing topsoil. In k12, stones began to surface forming a small installation f11 belonging to the latest occupation on the Tell. .rd S715 -dy Spent the day trying to reach the same compact bricky layer surface in all four loci. K2, k3, and k12 were opened today leaving k13 closed since the compact layer is already present. By the end of the day we exposed this surface. Tomorrow this ly should be completely exposed and photographs expected on S717. .rd S716 -dy Spent the day working in k2, western half of the locus where stones were found. These were defined today and 15 cm from the western area removed. k14 was opened today, reaching the compact bricky layer by the end of the day. .rd S717 -dy Excavating in k2, k12, and opened k15 today. In k2 and k12, we proceeded to excavate in the western half of the locus to reach the same elevation as the east, perhaps finding a continuation of the compact layer that is present in the east but the soil here is turning softer and ashy. .rd S718 -dy Day off from the field .rd S719 -dy k12, k2, k15, k13 are open today. Today we began to remove the east baulks of k12 and k13, providing a continuation of the compact brick melt surface between the adjacent loci. f27 was assigned to refer to this compact brick layer, tell surface at abandonment, that subsumes the four discrete features in each locus. In k12, the latest occupation phase was removed; these include f23 sherd pavement and f11 stone installation. The western area was then excavated down 20 cm, finding patches of f18 compact layer however mixed with ash and different from the east side of the locus. In k2 the western half of the locus was excavated down 10 cm finding patches of compact brick melt but mostly ash. The topsoil was completely removed from k15, with abandonment accumulation containing brick components within a softer matrix was found below. A small cluster of stones surfaced along a piece of an andiron, i3. .rd S725 -dy Day off from the field .rd S724 -dy k13, k14, k15, and k3 open today. We are now removing the compact bricky layer f27, starting with k13. In k14, pavement f33 was removed with another pavement found below, f48. In k15, the day was spent defining the outer surface of the brick structure. In k3, the fill inside the tannur f42 was excavated, along with excavating f31 today, an interface between brick fall and ash, resulting in exposing several vertical bricks. .rd S728 -dy k12, k13, k14, and k15 open today. The western half of k12 was excavated, removing the ash to see if the compact brick material in the west, f52, continues to go down or if the ash and bricky layer abut. f52 continued to go down, perhaps forming a wall. The northeast corner of k13 has several brick faces emerging. Today we spent the morning defining these bricks to see if they continued to run to the east, forming a wall. At the end of the day bricks were found, but still unclear and not as well defined in the east. In k14, we focused on defining a series of vertical bricks found in the southwest corner, f56, to see if they form a wall. Vertical and horizontal bricks were found throughout the entire locus, on the eastern side, perhaps a burial structure. In k15, the last accumulation inside the structure a1 was excavated. Several stone tools were found inside. Stones began to surface west of a1. .rd S731 -dy continued to remove the south sections of k2, k3 and the north section of k2. The east section in k101 was partially removed, this is area A19 and in very poor condition making excavation dangerous. An attempt to remove it in levels will be made, currently we removed the topsoil. .rd S801 -dy Day off from the field .rd S803 -dy finished removing the north baulk of k2, cleaned the west section of k2 and k12, finished removing the east section of k13, started to remove the east section of k14. In k2, the area was leveled again after the sections were removed since the shovels tend to bowl the area after dirt removal. In k4, a patch of brick melt was removed, with a soft gray fill running east to west found in the center of the loci along with more compact surfaces to the north and south. The fill was removed f70, finding a rough pebble and sherd pavement f72, associated with f35 in k3. .rd S805 -dy k2, k3, k4, k15, k14 was open today. A new shade cloth was finally brought in, giving us more shade to excavate. This morning we started removing the accumulated dirt in A19, which was left deep in the square after removing part of the east baulk in A19. The shafat was used for two hours, removing most of the dirt but will continue tomorrow. It is best to remove the dirt in small intervals for lots of dust is produced within a small confined space. The south baulk of k15 and the corner of k14 were excavated, finding a possible corner between a1 and bricks to the south however very unclear at the moment. f50, the cobblestone pavement in k13 was removed today exposing another surface underneath; different from the pavement found under the same cobblestone pavement in k3. In k4, pavement f73 was exposed further indicating a well used space with fragmented animal bones, pottery sherds, and pebbles. The bricks in the south side of k4 were articulating, finding a possible bin f79 with no bricks inside and browner soil than f71 wall. k4 was closed after breakfast and will be photographed tomorrow.