J5f241

File: "/MZ/A/J05/D/F/0241.htm".
Processed on 2022-09-11.

1. Overview

Roster Date Author Record
Included in other label 2009-08-11 sE ^esc2 (escr) [Input file: T811SE2.j]
2009-09-17 jW ^sb1 (st-is) [Input file: T917JW.j]
2022-08-21 jW a30 (stone installation) [Input file: ZG821jW.j]
2022-09-22 jW a26 (escarpment) [Input file: ZG822W.j]
Best definition 2009-08-05 sE escarpment [Input file: T901SE.j]
Summary 2012-12-16 jW Upper layer of soil and sherd escarpment in k106 below accumulation f184, above layer f242, and abutting revetment wall f189. [Input file: WZ16JW.j]
Best image 2009-08-23 jN
v182 [Input file: T823JN.j]

2. Identification

Designation

Roster Date Author Record
Description (summary) 2009-08-05 jW A natural accumulation which abuts the south edge of the second escarpment, f184 in k106. [Input file: T805JW.j]

3. Stratigraphy

Recovery/Assignment

Roster Date Author Record
Argument 2009-08-08 jW Many pieces of circumstantial evidence indicate that the revetment wall system was built atop earlier structures which rose to the west and north of J1. Occasional heavy rains produced a water flow along the west and south faces of the wall which eroded the escarpments and forced them to be rebuilt (J1 escarpment 2, f239).
One such area that was constantly subject to erosion was the south wall face near the current juncture of J1 and J5. Although we have not excavated into the wall base, we hypothesize that erosion occurred frequently here. In the first phase of wall use, it was protected by a stone escarpment, f188 and f225. which extended south and down from the south face of the revetment wall, f189. Later, a second escarpment (f184 and perhaps f241). It may have been due to erosion affecting the stone escarpment or for decorative effect.
Based on a J1 section of this escarpment, we expected to see it made of a solid, tapering mass of baqaya. What we have found so far in J5 is a series of layers which alternate between dense, red material and softer gray material. Near the bottom are layers of sherds, f242. Each layer can be clearly seen in N-S and E-W sections of f241 about a meter south of the wall face.
The question is how f241 was formed. [Input file: T801JW1.j]
Procedures 2009-08-08 jW We will determine the nature of the relationship between f241 and 184 by digging a narrow trench from the exposed south face of f241, northward to the revetment wall face. The west face of the section should resolve the issue. If the layers of f241 came from accumulation, then we should encounter a solid baqaya face for f184 before we reach the wall. It the layers resulted from construction, they should extend to the wall face. [Input file: T801JW1.j]
Options (alternatives) 2009-08-07 jW This feature consistes of alternate layers of hard red and softer grayish soil, interspersed at the bottom by layers of sherds, one of which is f242. It could be one of two things: either a series of accumulations which lay against the second escarpment, f184, or the second escarpment itself, comprised of layers instead of a single mass of baqaya. Later we will cut a trench into f241 toward the revetment wall, f189, to see if we can resolve this dilemma. [Input file: T807JW.j]
2009-08-08 jW The first possibility is that for a time, water flow was dammed in the western part of J1 and the layers are the result of accumulation and sherd placement which hardened before the next weather event. The second is that f184 is a continuation of f241 and that it was purposely built in layers over a short period of time.
Regardless of how or why they were built, the first and second escarpment systems (^esc1 and ^esc2)appear to have successfully protected the revetment wall from the Early Dynastic period into the Mittani period (some 1,000 years). In the Mittani period, the second escarpment was damaged. This damage can be seen in the west section of k106. Then, the Mittani builders attempted to protect the wall by building a series of pebble floors (f247, f249) which appear to abut the stones of the stone escarpment, ^esc1, and slope down to the south from it. Eventually, they lost control of the water problem and the lack of maintenance caused debris to fill the plaza and cover the revetment wall, f189. [Input file: T801JW1.j]
Evolution 2009-08-08 jW The staffs from J1 and J5, gB, and fAB have discussed the evolution of wall protection systems from the time that the revetment wall, f189, was built, through the various additions, through the Mittani remodeling, to abandonment. Within a given phase the protections system may also have varied according to its relative position along the wall and what destructive elements were acting on it. The highest part of the earliest extant revetment wall (in J1) is high founded and the base is protected by a baqaya projection (J1 escarpment 1, J1f196) which tapers to the south into the plaza. At the wall base it covers the first row of stones. [Input file: T801JW1.j]

Volumetric Localization

Roster Date Author Record
Locus 2009-08-05 sE k106 [Input file: T901SE.j]
M#/elev @top 2009-08-05 sE m6109 [Input file: T901SE.j]
Height @top 2009-08-05 sE 30 [Input file: T901SE.j]
H-eye @top 2009-08-05 sE 168 [Input file: T901SE.j]
M#/elev @bottom 2009-08-05 sE m6174 [Input file: T901SE.j]
Height @bottom 2009-08-05 sE 84 [Input file: T901SE.j]
H-eye @bottom 2009-08-05 sE 168 [Input file: T901SE.j]

Contact Association

Roster Date Author Record
Type of contact: contemporary events/movable items 2009-08-05 eA q351 (pottery) sits in f241 (escarpment) [Input file: T805SE1.j]
2009-08-08 eA q368 (bones, pottery) sits in f241 (escarpment) [Input file: T810SE2.j]
2009-08-12 eA q406 (pottery) sits in f241 (escarpment) [Input file: T813JN.j]
2009-08-12 jN q401 (bones, pottery) sits in f241 (escarpment) [Input file: T813JN.j]
2009-08-12 jN q403 (pottery) sits in f241 (escarpment) [Input file: T813JN.j]
2009-08-13 sE q414 (bones, pottery) sits in f241 (escarpment) [Input file: T813JN.j]
2009-08-15 jN q424 (pottery) sits in f241 (escarpment) [Input file: T819SE1.j]
2009-08-15 jN q427 (pottery) sits in f241 (escarpment) [Input file: T819SE1.j]
2009-08-17 jN q437 (bones, pottery) sits in f241 (escarpment) [Input file: T820SE.j]
2009-08-17 sE q439 (pottery) sits in f241 (escarpment) [Input file: T820SE.j]
2010-08-26 jW q905 (pottery) sits in f241 (escarpment) [Input file: U826JW.j]
2010-08-26 jW q906 (pottery) sits in f241 (escarpment) [Input file: U826JW.j]
2010-08-26 jW q907 (pottery) sits in f241 (escarpment) [Input file: U826JW.j]
Type of contact: earliest events 2008-09-12 lH f184 (accumulation C) covers f241 (escarpment) [Input file: S915LH.j]
2012-12-31 jW f241 (escarpment) abuts f189 (wall) [Input file: WZ31JW.j]
2012-12-31 jW f241 (escarpment) covers f242 (escarpment) [Input file: WZ31JW.j]

Time Sequencing

Roster Date Author Record
Stratum (to which element belongs) 2012-10-16 jW s630J5B (Construction of Second Escarpment) [Input file: WX16JW.j]
Phase (to which element belongs) 2012-10-16 !! h3pJ5B [Input file: WX16JW.j]

4. Typology

Morphology

Roster Date Author Record
Ware or Material, species 2009-08-05 sE so [Input file: T901SE.j]
Color 2009-08-05 sE pale brown [Input file: T901SE.j]
Color number (Munsell) 2009-08-05 sE 10YR 6/3 [Input file: T901SE.j]
Hardness, compaction 2009-08-05 sE 3.5 [Input file: T901SE.j]
Texture, surface finish 2009-08-05 sE sandy clay [Input file: T901SE.j]

6. Reference

Analogical Record

Roster Date Author Record
View/drawing of features

v179
2009-08-06 jN [Input file: T810SE1.j]

v179a
2009-08-06 jN [Input file: T810SE1.j]

v180
2009-08-08 jN [Input file: T810SE1.j]

v180a
2009-08-08 jN [Input file: T810SE1.j]

v180b
2009-08-08 jN [Input file: T810SE1.j]

v180c
2009-08-08 jN [Input file: T810SE1.j]

v182
2009-08-09 jN [Input file: T810SE1.j]

v182a
2009-08-09 jN [Input file: T810SE1.j]

v183
2009-08-09 jW [Input file: T810SE1.j]

v183a
2009-08-09 jW [Input file: T810SE1.j]

v183b
2009-08-09 jW [Input file: T810SE1.j]

v183c
2009-08-09 jW [Input file: T810SE1.j]

v189
2009-08-10 eA [Input file: T819JN.j]

v189a
2009-08-10 eA [Input file: T819JN.j]

v189b
2009-08-10 eA [Input file: T819JN.j]

v197
2009-08-15 jN [Input file: T819JN.j]

v225
2010-08-12 jW [Input file: U812JW.j]

v226b
2010-08-12 jW [Input file: U812JW.j]

Disposition

Roster Date Author Record
Removed (feature), discarded/missing (item) 2009-08-05 sE T817 [Input file: T901SE.j]