.bk J02 .fl P815mh.j .fd daily journal .rd P815 .ri mH .ed P815 .ei mH -eq We had serious problems with the elevators located in k14 and k100. Both elevators were used to take out very moist soil, which tended the clog the machine. In k100 the result was that we really could not use the machine but had to pile the dirt next to it hoping that it will dry enough to be removed by elevator tomorrow. With the elevator located in k14 (dirt coming from k101 and k13) the problem was quite not that severe since the angle of the elevator is much better. These problems, however, slowed us down significantly. -sf I, mH, was at the house plotting relays for about 2.5 hours after breakfast. aL supervises the work in k100 and is also responsible for writing the daily journal for that locus. aL also supervised excavations in k102 in the last few days. -lb We made a mistake labeling the qlots. The last qlot of the day yesterday was q467 and today we started accidentally from q478 instead of q468 like we were supposed to. Thus no. 468-477 have not been used and thus q-lots with those numbers do not exist. k 100 sg Because at the end of the day yesterday it was not certain we would find more steps below the last step we had exposed (f130), we (gB, mKB, fAB, mH) decided upon a new strategy. According to this we would push a long metal rod into the soil in several places in front of the steps. In case we would not feel stones below, we would stop excavations here and wait until we reached the same level with the apron (f131) steps k4. These apron steps might gives us clues of whether the steps in k100 (f130) do continue. Based on excavations in k4 we would then decided how to proceed in k100. If, however, we would feel stones in front of the steps, we would continue excavations here. dy At the start of the morning aL looked for additional steps with a long metal rod in front of the last steps exposed. After trying in three places we came to the conclusion that the steps do indeed continue, but but unexpectedly deep down (approximately 25 cm below the bottom of the last step exposed). Thus we decided to continue excavations here and not wait for excavations in k4 to expose apron steps (f131) at this same level. ar gB suggested that the reason for the unexpectedly high difference between the last step exposed and the stones found with the metal rod might indicate the presence of another building phase. k 13 dy We continued excavating in f171, which contains heavy and discreet concentrations of ash. At the start of the day, the ash was concentrated mainly south of the stone and next to f127 (v86c). At the end of the day we found a heavy ash concentration more towards the middle of the unit (v87d and v87e). In the morning we also took a picture of the doorsocket (i9, v86b) before removing it and starting to excavate q480 with a small pick. Near the wall the deposit was harder but it consisted of the same material as the rest of the unit. The ash concentrations were very strong and quite large, and it and the deposition around it have very distinct colors ranging from very pale grey/ash white to strong brown (7.5YR5/6), very dark grayish brown (10YR3/2), light brownish gray (10YR6/2), and yellowish brown (10YR5/4). We continued excavating with a small pick still in search of a possible floor surface (q487), but did not find one. After q487 we switched into a big pick and continued down (q491). Below the this last qlot we found yet another large ash concentration this time located more in the center of the unit (v87d and v87e). This ash concentration forms a semicircal around an area where there is not ash, but there is a animal hole in the middle of this. This animal hole influences q-lots q487 and q491. ar Excavation here progressed very slowly because we were excavating mostly with small pick. I chose this approach because I suspected that we might be near some sort of a floor as this feature must be a use area. The tannur fragments, ash, charcoal, bone, and also the doorsocket suggest such an interpretation. k 101 dy We continued with the strategy adopted yesterday: one pick run has one q-lot bag below for the pickman and one above by the sifter. We started with the q-lot pair q482 and q483 with the latter being by the sifter. q482 had laminations near the oval wall (f128). The next pair was q485 and q486 with the latter being by the sifter. Although f174, which we are currently excavating, resembles f171 in k13 in the brown color and in conistency, f174 has had much less ash and charcoal in it. This changed, however, at the end of the day, when we discovered two large concentrations of ash. One was located to the north, near the oval wall, and the other was located to the south. Near the southern ash deposit we also found a white deposit and as of the end of the day we were not sure what that was. In between the ash concetrations we also found a very heavy concentration of charcoal pieces, which we collected as a sample (i10). We start with the excavation of q494 yet, but will begin with it tomorrow morning. The last q-lot excavated (q485) contained very little pottery, which is puzzling. We took pictures of the the ash deposit (v87d and v87e), the white deposit (v87b), and the charcoal deposit (i10). ar jO suggested that we might be close to a floor surface since this unit and k13 is clearly some sort of a use area. I am puzzled, however, by the fact that we have had very finds from f174 (and from f171 in k13) and even pottery was scarse during the last q-lot of the day (q485). k 15 dy We continued going down in the whole unit (q478). The northwest corner of the unit was especially contaminated. This was due to an earlier German trench in this location. q 468 nl This number was not used by mistake and in order to keep the q-lot number sequence in chronological order we decided not to use it even after discovering the mistake. q 469 nl This number was not used by mistake and in order to keep the q-lot number sequence in chronological order we decided not to use it even after discovering the mistake. q 470 nl This number was not used by mistake and in order to keep the q-lot number sequence in chronological order we decided not to use it even after discovering the mistake. q 471 nl This number was not used by mistake and in order to keep the q-lot number sequence in chronological order we decided not to use it even after discovering the mistake. q 472 nl This number was not used by mistake and in order to keep the q-lot number sequence in chronological order we decided not to use it even after discovering the mistake. q 473 nl This number was not used by mistake and in order to keep the q-lot number sequence in chronological order we decided not to use it even after discovering the mistake. q 474 nl This number was not used by mistake and in order to keep the q-lot number sequence in chronological order we decided not to use it even after discovering the mistake. q 475 nl This number was not used by mistake and in order to keep the q-lot number sequence in chronological order we decided not to use it even after discovering the mistake. q 476 nl This number was not used by mistake and in order to keep the q-lot number sequence in chronological order we decided not to use it even after discovering the mistake. q 477 nl This number was not used by mistake and in order to keep the q-lot number sequence in chronological order we decided not to use it even after discovering the mistake. .ed P816 k 5 dy We removed the norther baulk of the unit (q479) and brought it level with the southern part of k4 left higher during last year's excavations. We also worked just east of the NE corner of the whole locus (f178 q488) in order to make our excavation area visually nicer. We also removed the corner formed by the northern and eastern baulks of k5 (f180 q493). sg Whereas most of k5 will remain at the 90 m level, the northern baulk will be excavated until the 88 m level thus it will first be brought level with the southern part of k4 and then we will continued together in these two areas. The joint area will be labeled under k4. nl Whereas most of k5 will remain at the 90 m level, the northern baulk will be excavated until the 88 m level thus it will first be brought level with the southern part of k4 and then we will continued together in these two areas. The joint area will be labeled under k4.