.bk J01
.fl Q817cvp.j
.fd journal
;.fn included Q819CVP.j, Q820CVP.j, Q821CVP.j, Q822CVP.j, Q823CVP.j, Q824CVP.j
.ed Q817
.ei cvp

.rd Q817
.ri cvp

-sg gB comes to visit and we comment on the possibility to equate the beginning of the steps not so much to a given total elevation but to set it at the beginning of the next feature. The other units are not going to do steps on the sections as they have not so deep a trench, so we don’t need to be equalized with them. Anyway, we are going to wait until around 2 meters deep, to see if we found first the next feature or the 2 meters, and then we decide.

-dy We draw sections N and E of k3, and the excavation has been going as usual, without opening new squares. We were going to begin today digging the new squares k31 and k41 but fAB forget to hire the workmen, so we will begin Saturday. While cleaning the sections of MZ18 in the “amphitheatre”, lC found a piece of cylinder seal in the section. We relay it and consider it an item.

-sf lJ was feeling sick early in the morning so she stays at home the rest of the day. ml goes with gB fifteen minutes to see the palace with some visitors. gB said it could be interesting for her as she told us she was interested also in conservation.

-wk Part of our team is working with Mohammed Omo laying again the path for the electric cable, away from the rim of our squares. Mamo came nearly an hour late, but I think he had fAB’s permission.

k 2
dy Still digging the E baulk. 

k 3
dy We draw sections N and E, and continue to dig the accumulation under topsoil. But instead of digging the 4x4 m complete we are now working in the western half in order to find more easily the next feature or the 2 meters deep.

k 112
dy Digging again the accumulation under topsoil in all the excavation area.

.rd Q819
.ri cvp

-wk We have a new team of five workmen to dig at k31. So we have 19 workmen in total. 

-dy Today we finally begin the work in the new loci, k31 and k41. We begin to dig in the E half of k31. We are also finishing the E baulk of k2 and we draw the exposed N section. In k112 we are going as usual and at k3 we change feature as it seems to have reach the 2 meters deep. We have taken the elevation of the surface near the marker and the total elevation is 9194, so we could consider it almost 9200. So the first step would be at a total elevation or 9000 (or 8994). We also check the total elevation of the beginning of the multi-layered feature at the section of MZ17 and it gives us a total elevation of 8995, that is to say, almost at 9000. That means that the beginning of the first step and the beginning of the next feature are going to be the same.

-sg gB comes to visit and we discuss the option of letting a straight section at k21 some 2 meters from the outer face of the wall. So, not doing the steps just to touch the walls but some meters before. In that way we will have a straight complete section which will show us the stratigraphy related to the terrace wall. The only problem is that, as we are going to dig k31, it is possible that we wouldn’t have section from the level of the top of the wall above. We will check the possibility to do so as the excavation progress.

-sf lJ and lH at home, sick. bWP takes lC during the first half of the morning to act as helper. 

-mt At k3 we are now too deep to use the usual markers so we have asked bWP to put a new one at the bottom of the section, but today she has been very occupied lying the squares for the geophysical sounding, so she is going to try to put it tomorrow. Meanwhile, to check the depth of the excavation at k3 to reach the first step we have been using meters. At the end it seems that we have just dig some 7 centimetres more than the required depth but we cannot say sure until tomorrow. 

k 31
ds Excavation unit. Next to the section where the terrace wall ends. 
dy We are just digging the Eastern half of the loci, as we are going to try to save effort and our primary goal here is to reach the upper stones of the terrace wall. Depending of the results we will see if we open the rest of the locus or not. We dug the topsoil and the beginning of the accumulation under it. 

f 202
;df ts

f 204
;df ad

k 112
dy Digging again the accumulation under topsoil in all the excavation area.

k 2
dy Finishing digging the E baulk. ml and lH draw the section of the N baulk in the area occupied by the E baulk of k2, in order to have all the N section of these 2 loci (k2 and k3) complete.

k 3
dy Today we consider finished the layer of accumulation under the topsoil and we give a new feature number, f203. This feature is not yet the big multi-layered one, is similar to the previous a little bit more compact and with more pebbles. We are nearing the multi-layered one (that is at a total elevations of 8995 in the section of MZ17), so this seems to be a mixture between the one above and the one below, that is why we are going to consider it as a kind of interface between both. We take elevations and pictures. Then we begin to dig the new feature until we reach the 2 meters deep to lay the first step. We reach the elevation at a small sounding and then we keep digging at the rest of the locus. Unfortunately we have not yet a marker at the bottom of the section(see note in mk) and we are using unreliable measurements. They give us a depth of 8980 that, if confirmed, would means that we have just over-dug some 20 cm. 

f 203
df ad
dy This feature is not yet the big multi-layered one, is similar to the previous a little bit more compact and with more pebbles. We are nearing the multi-layered one, so this seems to be a mixture between the one above and the one below, that is why we are going to consider it as a kind of interface between both. It seems to have been made in places with melted bricks

.rd Q820
.ri cvp

-dy Today we are digging in k2, k3, k112 and k31. In k3 we reach the 9000 meters deep (centimetres more or less) and then we left at this level that would be the first step. At the end of the morning we begin to dig both N baulks of k2 and k3.

-sf lJ at home, sick. 

k 31
dy We are digging the accumulation under the topsoil, f204. It is quite soft and brown.

k 112
dy We are digging the accumulation under the topsoil f175.

k 2
dy After finishing digging the E baulk we excavate the interior of the locus. Here we have the same different feature of the interface type that we found in k3. As we are in the same level and they are in contact, we use the same feature number for both, f203. In this feature we reach the level of the 1st step (9000 more or less) so we stop and flatten the area, then putting the team to dig the N baulk.

k 3
dy digging the interface accumulation f203. In this feature we reach the level of the 1st step (9000 more or less) so we stop and flatten the area, then putting the team to dig the N baulk.

.rd Q821
.ri cvp

-wk 2 new workmen, a pick and a spade. 21 in total.

-dy We open a new locus, the old k13, that is one of the steps of the amphitheatre.

k 13
dy Here we have the first 'false' step of the MZ18 amphitheatre, so we are going to dig it until 9000 elevation (1st step). Then, in this locus we have not topsoil and we dig directly the accumulation under topsoil, keeping the same feature number of last year, f145.

f 145
;df ad
ds Accumulation under topsoil in k13. Rest of the step left from last year, running E-W in the southern part of the square.

k 112
dy We finish digging the accumulation under the topsoil f175, the soil is brown and soft. We reach the next feature, f203.

f 203
dy At some 25 cm to the first step we reach the same interface layer that the one found in k2 and k3, and we are going to keep calling it with the same feature number, f203. Here seems to be more dense, compact, with more stones and sherds, its surface irregular.

k 2
dy Digging the rest of the E baulk.

k 4
dy We come back to this locus again, excavating now the accumulation under topsoil, f205.

f 205
;df ad
ds accumulation under topsoil in k4.

k 3
dy Digging the N baulk, stopping at the level of the step in the south part of k13.

.rd Q822
.ri cvp

-dy We are excavating the accumulation under topsoil in the loci k31 (f204), k112, k13, k4, k2.

k 112
dy Finishing the accumulation under topsoil (f175), and uncovering the next f203, interface layer. We left it half covered because fAB suggested using it as a training field or school in small pick and trowel for beginners. So, we keep digging the rest of the accumulation under topsoil that was left in the northwest part of the locus.

k 31
dy Finished the accumulation under topsoil and appearing the 'interface' layer, called here f206 but the same thing as f203. Excavated after photographed.

k 41
dy While cleaning and photographing k31 the workmen are put to begin to dig the topsoil of square k41, north of k31, that connects our terrace wall with the 'German trench'. Some small stones in middle.

f 207
df ts

f 208
;df ab
ds Accumulation under topsoil in k41.

.rd Q823
.ri cvp

-sf mS is here, visiting the unit. LH is at the house because she has hurt a knee. lC stays at the office after breakfast to draw objects.

-dy We are excavating the accumulation under topsoil in the loci k112, k13, k4, k2 (N baulk).

k 31
dy Under f206 we find the beginning of the deep multi-layered feature. It is cut in the middle of our excavation trench by two lines running more or less E-W, that seems to pertain to a long hole. The northern line seems to be following in some way the outer face of the upper part of the terrace wall. Inside, the soil is brown and quite different of the one in the multi-layered feature. This is made of soil dark red and gritty, quite hard, sandy at times, with patches of pebbles at others, and also patches of brown bricky soil. At the beginning of the feature we have one of this patches of pebbles, so big and deep that we decided to give it another feature number. Cleaned and made photo. Then we dig first the patch of grit f210, then the filling f211 of the hole f213, and later the upper part of both f209 and f212.

f 209
;df ad
ds Deep multi-layered accumulation in k31, located in the area over the terrace wall. The layer continues to the south but, as is cut by f213, we give to that area another feature number, f212.

f 210
;df lb
ds Patch of pebbles and gritty reddish soil at the surface level of f209.

f 211
;df fi
ds Earth filling the hole f213. It is brown and compact, not very hard, with some spots of charcoal.

f 212
;df ad
ds Deep multi-layered accumulation in k31, located in the area south of the possible outer face of the terrace wall. The layer continues in the north part of the trench but, as is cut by f213, we give to that area another feature number, f209.

f 213
;df ho
ds Long hole running E-W cutting the big multi-layered. The cut is like an inverted triangle in shape, not straight but with somehow irregular lines. In the east, touching the E baulk, the lifting of the fill f211 uncovers a big stone, the first one of the terrace wall in this locus.

.rd Q824
.ri cvp

-sf My last day as Unit Supervisor in the field, I change places with mS, who takes charge. lH at home sick and lJ draws objects after breakfast.