.bk J05
.fl T727jW.j
.fd Daily journal for T727. Feature descriptions and comments
.ei jW
.ed T727
.rd T727
.ri jW

-wk All assigned workmen reported.  Three removal personnel detailed for one hour from J1 to assist in removing excavated soil from k100.  Jamal complained of back soreness. Shifted him to a job that did not require lifting.

-sg We will excavate laminar soil, f209, in k105, down to the ash layer, then follow it carefully, as it seals the soil layer covering the steps (possibly Third Millenium) upon which the late Mitanni revetment wall, f3 was built.  We will excavate f204 in k100 down to the floor J1f313 just to the east.

q 800
nv This lot contains pottery recovered from the shafat.  It comes from two widely separated features; f204 in k100 and f212 in k105.

f 204
dy noticed a few animal bones as we dug lower toward the level of floor J1f313.  However, the soil in f204 was soft, brown, and sandy. The bones were about 24 cm above the north edge of the J1 floor.  The floor surface we are seeking is hard and gray, so we conclude that we did not dig into it.
ac In the process of removing excavated soil adjacent to J1f313, our shovelmen damaged several animal bones there, even though they were covered with plastic.  Somewhat fortunately J1 had already photographed the floor with the bones in situ.

f 212
ds A layer of yellowish brown natural accumulation in the eastern half of k105, under the laminiar sand and silt accumulation, f209, which seals it.  In turn, f212 effectively seals two accumulations below, f213 and f214.  The soil is silted clay and resists the large pick, coming off in large chunks.
;tc co f214
;tc co f215
;tc ov f74

;f 209
;tc co f212
;tc co f215
;tc co f223

f 214
ds An irregularly shaped lens of hard, dense, baqaya-like soil in the eastern half of k105.  More of it to the east had been excavated without recognition in previous seasons; MZ21 as part of J5 and earlier seasons as part of other units.
;tc ab f214
;tc ov f74

f 215
ds A layer of soft, black ashy soil in the eastern half of k105 which abuts lens f213 and overlays floor, f74, for which it provides a good seal.
;tc ov f74

-sg  On T728 we have to resolve two issues.  The easy one is how to excavate the ashy soil, f214, and the hard lens, f213, which it surrounds.  As the soft ash was most likely deposited after the hard lens, we will remove it first, down to the level of floor accumulation, f74 which it covers.  The more difficult issue is in k100.  We removed accumulation, f204 and, at the eastern edge of the locus, found the continuation of the J1f313 floor under f204.  However, about one meter to the west of the J1 and J5 boundary we found plastic, presumably marking the bottom of backfill from a previous season's excavation.  In the vicinity of the westernmost excavated stone of installation, f184, there is a hard, dense soil layer.  This may be silt acted upon by water just atop the plastic.  Or, it could be an accumlation from the time that f184 was in use.  To resolve the issue, we must dig a narrow, N-S strip of the soil layer to see if there is plastic underneath.

-sg  gB and fAB met with the unit staff to discuss the stratigraphic relationship among the monumental staircase, f21; early revetment wall, f41, the stairs which abut that wall, f205, (including their possible continuation to the north); and the area immediately west of these components.  The first step in resolving these issues is to follow the top step of f205 to the north to see its relationship with f21 and f41.