.bk J02
.fl T809cJC.j
.fd strategy, daily, feature descriptions, loci
.ei cJC
.ed T809
.en Edited by cJC on T901

.ri cJC
.rd T809

-dy Today in the early morning we continued excavating in k4 and k5 along the border of the two loci. We did our best to only remove the brownish feature (f367) while preserving f369 underneath and any remaining portions of the plaster (f370). Because we were excavating using only the small pick and the brush (no trowel) this task took one pickman (Mohammed Kher) the whole day. We also began excavating in k15. We followed f364 across through our section but found that instead of being just f365 underneath as in k4 and k5 we found a more complicated situation. Therefore, we continued very slowly also in k15. 

-wk Saleh returned to work today and Abdee was feeling better so we are operating at full strength. We seem to have to many shovelmen now that we have started excavating with so much detail and using the brushes. I spoke to fAB about possibly adding a pickman and suggested that perhaps I could give a shovelman to another unit in exchange for a pickman. 

-sg Today we found several new features in k15 and it appears it may not be as simple as we thought to follow the features across the west baulk of k5 into k15 so we will slightly alter our strategy from yesterday. Instead of just following the features across we instead will work from the most recent features down in k15 as we find them. For tomorrow that means excavating f372 and f339. We hope that this will allow us to see what relationship f365 (that we see in the west section k5) has to the newly discovered features including the brickfall. Some of the changes we see delimited from east to west may be a result of a combination of the erosion we see in the south section and the possible difference in features that were in front of the apron (f131) and those that are west of the western wall of the apron (f127). We still intend to go down to f359 if possible in k15. After we finish exposing f359 in k15 (or alternatively, exploring its western edge)we will continue with yesterday's strategy which is to continue down in k110. We hope to add another pickman once we move to k110 to ensure we reach the earliest levels by the end of excavations. 

k 4
dy Yesterday at the very end of the day we exposed several features which I described in yesterday's daily. Today we decided to continue removing f367 until we have only f369 and f359 showing. The small isolated plaster patches were assigned f370 and were relayed and photographed and then left in place. Once we removed f367 it became more apparent that f368 and f369 are likely the same as f369 seems to slope up and meet f358 under f367. I decided with fAB and pC that once we finished exposing f369 by removing f367 we should stop excavating temporarily in k4 and k5 and focus our efforts on reaching f359 in k15. Mohammed Kher removed all of f367 with only the small pick and the brush and so it took all day but we achieved a nice result. 

k 15
dy Today we began excavating in k15. Before today we had mostly only cleaned the area and removed the south and west sections to give more room to work. At the beginning of excavation we had what appeared to be several features already showing. We decided the clearest way to excavate would be to follow the west section of k5 across. We were hoping to expose the salmon-colored floor (f359) all the way across the loci in front of the apron f131 and try and follow it around the north turn next to the wall f127 if it turned that way. By following f364 across through the section we found several different features. There is the plate-like accumulation which we is the same as f365 (immediately under f364) which is what we expected based on k5. f365, however, does not continue all the way west. Instead we found a reddish layer which we have not yet really exposed or excavated and some plaster, possibly similar to that found in k5 (f370) or that seen in the west section of k5. I decided we should try and excavate the latest moment in time first and so we removed a small accumulation of f364 in the middle of the northern edge of the square that seemed to possibly be overlaying f372 but when we removed it we found bricky material underneath which is actually overlaid by the gray layer f371. So we decided to stop in that small area and instead to photograph and remove both f339 and f371. We will first remove the flaky structure of f371 and see if it overlays the very hard gray later that is f339 or if it is actually a damaged section of f339. 

f 369
=l f368
ev After removing f367 we found that f369 which is a flakey gray layer, appears to be the same as the gray layer we found abutting the apron stair (f131) which was f368. In the future we will refer to the combination of the features as only f369. 
dy Today we exposed all of this feature that is not covered by f359. 

f 368
ev After removing f367 we found that f369 which is a flakey gray layer, appears to be the same as the gray layer we found abutting the apron stair (f131) which was f368. In the future we will refer to the combination of the features as only f369. 

f 370
ds Very damaged plaster floor. It is only visible in small patches which are very damaged and retain almost no surface. The feature is composed of small pieces of plaster, about 1-2 cm in size that are grouped together on the same plane giving the appearance of a floor.
sg Because we cannot conclusively determine if this is a plaster floor based on the few remaining patches exposed in k4 we hope to examine closely the white/yellow thin line we see in the west section of k5 to see if it is a plaster floor which would allow us to more safely suggest that f370 is indeed a plaster floor.  
ad At first we thought this feature was a plaster floor but it is not positive. It may instead be an eroded portion of something plastered that has washed down and been included in the features immediately in front of the apron (f131). We hope to find the answer to this question by investigating the thin white/yellow layer seen in the west section of k5 to see if it is a plaster floor. 

f 371
ds gray flakey layer on top of f339. The layers are very thin and come apart easily. 
dy At this point it is unclear if this feature is the same as f339 but damaged by water or if it is a series of thin accumulations on top of f339. Today we began excavating this feature but did not recover any pottery so there is no q-lot. 
tc ov f372

f 372
ds Bricky material, possibly brickfall. On the surface we see some partially defined brick pieces of red and gray color. It appears to be the same color brickfall of f338 but it is probably not the same brickfall as they are separated by f339 and f371.