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2006-9-13 | mS |
declared this locus today which is the lower area in the corridor south of k113 and east of k115. This is the lowest area we have excavated to date this season. The accumulation is f231 and =1 184 of MZ18. It is soft brown and full of inclusions. Immediately under this we uncovered a pebble surface, f232. This is very interesting because we did not have this surface to the south next to the wall f72 where we have excavated to a lower elevation. It may have stopped at a line we saw last year in an east-west wall, f188. This was a Mitanni screen wall which had very differented accumulations on either side but was at a higher elevation. We will follow this surface to the south and see if it continues to the unexcavated part of k113.
[Input file: Q912MS.J / Q912MS.-J]
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2006-9-14 | mS |
followed the pebble floor, f232 to the south and it seems to continue. We have decided to come down on it from above and we have about 150 cm or so of accumulation before we reach this level here. We we remove as much of the accumulation immediately above it, f231 without clearing the surface so it is not damaged during the excavations above.
[Input file: Q912MS.J / Q912MS.-J]
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2006-9-15 | mS |
we cut a one meter square area to the west of the pebble surface k232. We are going down in this area, f231 so we can leave a portion of the pebble surface, f232 extant. We presume it does exist to the west because it does go into the unexcavated portion here. We were unable to remove any more and will leave this area for the moment.
[Input file: Q916MS.J / Q916MS.-J]
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2006-9-16 | mS |
straightened out the small meter square excavation from yesterday to the east of the pebble surface, f232.
[Input file: Q916MS.J / Q916MS.-J]
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2006-9-23 | mS |
continued removing f233 down to f231 in the eastern portion of this locus. We will continue following the pebble floor, f232 to the south and see if it continues
[Input file: Q916MS.J / Q916MS.-J]
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2006-9-25 | mS |
had two pickmen following the pebble surface, f232 to the south. It seems to continue somewhat irregularly. We recovered a definite Mitanni sherd from q878, per mKB so we are still in Mitanni deposition. This is consistent with the accumulation from last season although we are at a lower elevation. We did not have as great an area open last year.
[Input file: Q916MS.J / Q916MS.-J]
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2006-9-26 | mS |
we continued removing f231 to expose the full extent of f232 the pebble surface, or as much as possible in our excavation area. It seems to peter out towards the south although there are still patches of stones and sherds. It may continue westward into the unexcavated area of k115. We will take pictures in the morning to get a good picture of this surface and its connection with the wall and the glacis, f196.
[Input file: Q926MS.J / Q926MS.-J]
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2006-9-27 | mS |
we took photos of f232 today and cleaned well. We will excavate tomorrow. This feature contains large quantities of sherds, bones and stones. We will remove this carefully insuring that we recover as many bones as possible for hPU to study next season. hPU gave a presentation on being extremely careful when excavating so we recover the smallest bones which, although small, are extremely important in telling us what fauna are utilized in the area. This would be extremely useful since we believe f232 is either a late Khabur or early Mitanni surface in front of the wall.
[Input file: Q926MS.J / Q926MS.-J]
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2006-9-28 | mS |
began removing f232 the pebble surface which we believe is Khabur because we have had no Mitanni material for a while and the surface seems clearly Khabur. We have left the 2 meters at the northern end at the cut because that is where the major concentration of sherds, bones and stones is. lC suggested that this is the actual surface and further north may just be a washout of the original surface. The inclusions are numerous at this point. Declared f235 which is the material beneath f232. This accumulation is brown and soft but seems to be a denser material than above. There are several Khabur sherds and lots of bones, but no other inclusions or items. We do have some charcoal and have taken samples.
[Input file: Q928MS.J / Q928MS.-J]
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2006-9-29 | mS |
declared new feature, f237 to keep control over recording the accumulation. This feature is the same as f235 above it which is hard, compact and moist soil with few sherds and bones and almost no other inclusions. We uncovered stones almost immediately at the northernmost section where we are digging. They are only partially uncovered and we will have to wait until we remove the floor and excavate to this level to see exactly what these stones may be. Directly in front of the stones to the south the accumulation seems to contain a few more inclusions such as carbon and calciferous material. We also uncovered f238 which is another stone and sherd surface although it is not as dense as f232. The stones, or pebbles, are also larger. This floor or surface is at 8655 which is about the same elevation as the animal skull in k118, i42. We documented well the pc f232 and removed the painted sherds one by one and created q items and took photos, views 202 to 208.
[Input file: Q926MS.J / Q926MS.-J]
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2006-9-30 | mS |
began removing the accumulation under f232 which we assumed was f235 as in the southern portion of this locus, but it appears to be different altogether. We immediately uncovered f239 which is an accumulation of what gB thinks are mudflows. There are large laminations and sherds standing on their sides. In section this can be seen over the ashy layer f195 of MZ18 which is the accumulation covering f196 the escarpment. There is a definite cut to this accumulation to the south and it appears, also in section that the accumulation f240 abuts and overlays this. Currently is seems that f240, which is much darker than f239 in color may be the same as f238, the sherd layer. f240 is an accumulation which is packed with sherds and stones. This may also be a surface as f232, but it is a different matrix, much darker and more compact. f240 seems to slope to the south following the slope of the escarpment.
[Input file: Q926MS.J / Q926MS.-J]
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2006-10-2 | mS |
continued excavating f240 and and f239. We began again removing f238 towards the south. This feature is sloping down and we did find it continuing with the slope. It is still less dense than f240 which abuts f239. The current assumption is that this accumulation will continue to the plaza and we will excavate it. gB suggested removing part of f239 to see whether the pebble continued underneath, but they are totally separate. In the north section the ash, f241 is under f239. We removed i43, a large stone. It may have been better to leave it in place for the time being, but we have good photos. We now have the Khabur which is the accumulation on the escarpment. The Khabur material seems to be contained at this point which is why we have Mitanni above. The stones, i43, i44, i45 and i46 may be memory stones of the escarpment.
[Input file: Q926MS.J / Q926MS.-J]
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2006-10-3 | mS |
continued exposing another layer of f238 which continues to slope down to the south and it seems, a little to the west. It remains full of sherds, stones and bones. We don't have any dating info from mKB as yet. The lowest point of f138 in the SW corner is 8617, still a meter above the plaza level and just over half a meter below the bottom of the wall. We looked at f239 and still are not clear on it's extent or function. It may be a leveling at the top of the escarpment in the Khabur period, but we probably will not know it this season.
[Input file: QX03MS.J / QX03MS.-J]
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2006-10-6 | mS |
per gB's suggestion we are removing the sherds and bones from f238 prior to backfilling for the season. This area will be excavated next season so we are removing them to keep the from being damaged over the winter.
[Input file: QX06MS.J / QX06MS.-J]
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2007-7-28 | lC |
today we remove the backfill put at the end of MZ19 to protect f238, f239, f240 and the stones i43, i44, i45, i46, that we weren't able to dig last year.
[Input file: R731LC.J / R731LC.-J]
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2007-8-1 | lC |
Today we finished straightening the west and east section to have a clear reading of the stratigraphy. We also cleaned the entire locus in preparation for kite photos tomorrow
[Input file: R731LC.J / R731LC.-J]
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2007-8-2 | lC |
We cleaned the west section where the shaffat had been. We began to remove f232 so that we can better understand its relationship to the new feature ( f248).
[Input file: R731LC.J / R731LC.-J]
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2007-8-9 | lC |
First we removed f248, taking pictures both during and after its removal. We then removed f232 remaining in the western part of k117. After the photographing the area we then began to remove f235. During the removal of f235 we found a complete animal skull, i48, associated with many other animal bones near f248. The skull was removed whole and relayed. A new feature, f250, was uncovered under f235 in the northern part of the excavated area near f189. sG and cJC drew the east section of k117.
[Input file: R812CJC.J / R812CJC.-J]
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