J7-strategy

Processed on 2024-11-15

Date	Author	Record
2008-07-29	cJC	gB and fAB met with the J06 team members (pC, cJC, hQ, eA, dH) to decide how to best proceed with J07. It was decided that we would collect only the shape sherds and painted sherds from the q-lots. Additionally, new q-lots would only be assigned when a large zambil is full or when the feature changes. We will change features arbitrarily every 50cm. The idea is that this will roughly follow the strategy laid out by gB in justification for using a backhoe at the site. [Input: S802CJC.j]
2008-08-02	cJC	Originally we planned to go deep in k1, k2 and k3 but because the workmen need more supervision than is available from the people in J6 a new plan will be implemented. Instead of going down further in k1, k2 and k3 these squares will be stopped at 130cm below the surface. The east baulks of the k1 and k2 will be aligned by removing a meter to the east in k2 and then k3 and k4 will also be aligned in the east. This will allow the east section to be drawn with the maximum alignment of the drawing. [Input: S802CJC.j]
2008-08-06	cJC	Today we met with gB and fAB to discuss the strategy for J07. We decided that it would be best to continue down another 50cm (from the 130 cm below surface that the squares are currently at) before removing the baulks or drawing the sections. [Input: S807CJC.j]
2008-08-06	cJC	Baulks will be photographed and have templates made and not drawn in the field. [Input: S807CJC.j]
2008-08-13	cJC	Now that the squares are low enough that it is no longer dangerous to have the edge touching the trench open we will no longer excavate with eastern baulks. The west section will be photographed and templated instead. [Input: S816CJC.j]
2008-08-17	cJC	North baulks were reestablished and will be left in place until the end of excavations. These baulks are important because there remains no east-west baulks across the cut of the German excavation in area C2 (now J6k200), and these baulks, along with those in J6k86 and J6k87, will help bridge this gap by providing an east-west section, albeit broken by the cut of the trench. [Input: S817CJC.j]
2008-08-19	cJC	We will begin excavating without east baulks. This is partly for saving time and also we no longer need them for safety reasons because the squares are low enough now bordering k200. The west baulks will now be drawn and templated, Because the sqauares are relatively narrow this should make little difference. Additionally, the west baulks will be stepped in one meter to make the squares smaller and faster to excavate. [Input: S819CJC.j]
2008-08-20	cJC	gB suggested we step in the western sides of the squares by 1 meter to reduce the excavation area in order to reach to bottom of k200 this season. At the end of the day gB came to J7 and he thinks that even with the 1 meter step we will not reach the bottom of the trench and he proposed another change in the size of the squares to increase the possibility that we will reach our goal. Tomorrow we will put in a line parallel to the original oblique angle extending from m4839 to m4856 but we will extend this oblique angle through to k4. We plan to stop excavations in k1 and k2 for this season. We will finish removing k100 to the same level as k1 and k2 and then stop there as well. [Input: S820CJC.j]
2008-08-21	cJC	It seems unlikely we will be able to reach the bottom of the trench in all the squares so we will concentrate on the northernmost squares closest to the monumental staircase to maximize the view and minimize the amount of dirt to be removed. We put a diagonal line 2 meters in and parallel to the original western cut of squares k1 - k3. The new line also extends inot k4. After a few hours of work this also seemed overly ambitious and so we will cut into k3 and k4 from the eastern edge, removing all the dirt in large sections without the 50cm features. One feature will be assigned to this removal. [Input: S823CJC.j]
2010-08-07	cJC	This excavation was primarily designed to clear a large area over a short period of time. Because we knew that J7 was part of the large open area of the ancient site, or the plaza, we did not expect any floors, structures or other architectural remains. This proved true and the area was almost entirely composed of brickfall from J6. As we did not expect any features we were able to excavate quickly and with arbitrary layers instead of changing features with differences in soil etc. Therefore most features were excavated with the big pick and with little recording. This did not negatively impact our final understanding of the area however this book does not follow the traditional pattern of recording found in some of the other J books. No sections were drawn, instead they were photographed and templates were made. [Input: U807CJC.j]