.bk OH02
.fl I706jLW.j
.fd Daily journal
.ei jW
.ed I706
.rd I705
.ri jW

--i A local farmer with fields north of the tell wants to dig a well to irrigate his cotton crop. The well will be located just outside the outer city walls. We have decided to participate by initiating a sounding in the form of a 4 meter by 4 meter square to be dug by our workmen over the next several days to a depth of about three meters. This is an opportunity to determine if there is evidence of occupation in this sector and, if so, what time period. A 1987 sounding to the west, just inside the outer wall, yielded a layer of pebbles, pottery and clean soil. When the foundations for 15 poles for high-voltage power line passing to the north of the tell were dug, the five nearest the perimeter of the tell yielded pottery andartifacts, while the other ten did not. One of the five is just to the southeast of this sounding. 

-sg A number of workmen will be available over the next week or so until the excavations near the temple by the German archaeological team begin. We plan to deploy 16 of them to rapidly excavate the square under the supervision of Abdul Kareem. The work will be monitored by jW and jL, who will periodically visit the site, evaluate progress, assign feature numbers and examine artifactual material. A separate book (OH2) has been assigned and will be maintained by jW and jL. We expect to reach the 3 meter level in 4 or 5 workdays. 

-wk sixteen workmen have been assigned, consisting of large picks and support.

-dy work began slowly as logistical problems in getting men and equipment to the worksite were resolved. The farmer provided workmen with shelter and cool water, which will be repeated on a daily basis. After the first pick run, the soil changed color and consistency, becoming more moist and darker. A half-bag of pottery and a pieced of a figurine were found at this level. Several of the sherds were preliminarily evaluated to be Ninevite V. After several more pick runs, the soil began to take on a more densely packed consistency, yielding another half-bag of pottery and apart of a flint blade. When cleaned and scraped at the end of the day, there was little sign of human occupation aside from the pottery. For example therewas no ash and only a part of one bone was found near the surface. There were some laminated areas where water had collected and evaporated, and it is possible that the compaction we observed was a result of working the fields. Although the surface soil was Munsell 10YR 6/3 pale brown, it quickly darkened to Munsell 10YR4/4, dark yellowish brown. 

f 2
dy mKB examined the pottery, which contained one decorated sherd. Most of the sherds could tentatively be attributed to the third millennium. There is a third millennium cemetery to the south of where we are now digging, a third millennium house was partially excavated on the main tell, and Ninevite V sherds have been found in excavations for our own well and for a buried power cable. mKB reminds us that Urkesh was an early third millennium city. She showed examples of decorated bowls, large and small cups with pointed bases, and stands with cutouts or painted designs. 

-sg tomorrow (I707) we plan to first clean and straighten the baulk line, particularly on the north side, then accelerate the pace of the digging. We can do this because of the relative sterility of the soil. If evidence of occupation is found we will slow the pace to explore the evidence.