.bk J06
.fl T810
.fd daily and strategy
.ed T810
.ei pC
.rd T810
.ri pC

k 71
dy today we did not excavated in k71 while for this year we will stop to the level of glacis f242 and f260

k 82
dy today I put aKarim and Ali to continue removing the last part of the pit. We removed first accumulation f265 and then the pickman decided to move south and remove first the pit. I looked well and it seemed their strategy was correct while the cut was visible in surface and therefore the pit was the most recent event in this locus. Therefore they started removing the ashy accumulation f261 same as f267 and then I saw that we were in the fill of the pit for the quantity of pottery was coming out and for the characteristics of the soil, which was very loose and ashy. Therefore I put the workmen first removing the small portion of glacis left in the northern baulk of k104, which is not cut by the pit and is f206. Then I changed feature number for all the fill of the pit and I gived the same feature number as for k104 f192 while I could follow it from the northern section. f192 is full of pottery, tannur pieces and lot of unbaked pieces of clay, some of them are sealings whith rope impression and some are jar stopper. We collected in q390 10 of them. One I made an item i25 while I wanted to show the spot where all those were coming from and also because at a first sight seemed to me a seal impression. The northern limit of the pit is still not visible, while on the top are some bricks and a large stone which we will remove tomorrow.

k 84
dy Today I put Hussein and Massuud in k84 removing the natural accumulation f266 which covers the gray brown feature under glacis f164 and also covers a sherd floor which was found in front of obelisks f184 (v114). This accumulation was thinner in the center of the square and in the northen part was not found but only the gray brownish layer under f164 which is f280. At first I thought f280 was the escarpment before f164 but while scraping it with gB and fAB we could say that it is too loose and sandy to be an escarpment but rather an accumulation.

-sg Today we had a brief meeting with gB, fAB jM and pC in the field and we discussed the next steps for k82: we will first finish removing the pit and the floating stones f234. Then we will go down in all the square exposing everywhere the red glacis f164 until the wall f218. We will first draw the north section of k82 and then remove the baulk to expose f164 and see the relationship to wall f218: this will give us a terminus post quem for the wall f218. We will then explore better f256, which is the new wall parallel to staircase f255 and possibly going under it. pC pointed out that if the wall goes under staircase f255 and above it there is accumulation, brick preparation and the stones of the steps, f255 should be later than f256. gB instead told us that it can be also that f255 and f256 are contemporary and the accumulation under the steps is mortar. We will therefore explore more those stones and see if ^glacis3 covers them or abuts and also we will excavate it more. in k84 the goal is to reach the floor surface J2f359 found in J2 in front of the apron J2f131, which we hypothyze is the first floor going with the main building phase of the monumental staircase (ED II). We want therefore reach the same level in all k84 as in k85 and then, due to lack of time, go down only in front of the obelisks to reach the salmon floor seen in section same as J2f359. This will give us a date to the obelisks and give us more pottery for the date of the main construction phase of the temple terrace, since in J2 we are excavating the same features. We will then go down in the southern part of k104 leveling the deep sounding made by J4 to explore and understand better the layers which should be more ancient than wall f129. In J4f160 was found LC pottery mixed with Phase1 (but still to be better analyzed): we want to collect more pottery and if we have time go down to see where the LC is (which should be not so deep).

f 266
ds f266 is a natural accumulation located in k84 covering almost all the locus, overlaying f280 and f184. It is a reddish accumulation with some patches of f164, crumbly and compact while picked. It has some sherds lying flat
ar while f164 was located on top of it, probably mixed up with f266 and gived the reddish coloration

f 268
ds it is the accumulation located under f164. A gray brownish soft layer

f 267
ds same ad f261

f 261
ds is a lens of ash located in the north-esat corner of k82 in the pit f199. Is a very loose and ashy soil full of pottery
tc si f199
tc ov f192

f 269
ds f269 is the water channel located in the eastern portion of k82, filled with f243.
ar the water channel eroded probaböly the glacis f206, which was not possible to find in the northern part of k82, but only to the south. It cuts the eastern part of glacis f275
tc cu f275
nt The water channel is an event to locate after the glacis f206 and also after the bin, while it cuts also the accumulation f265 which was abutting the western bricks of the bin a7

k 82
dy Today was removed the accumulation f265 in the northern half of k82. It is a reddish compact accumulation which overlays the probably red glacis f275. f275 was showing only partly and while we wanted to see the red going against the wall f218, we decided to remove the northern baulk of k82 after drowing the section. The baulk was removed as one feature f274 and defined as topsoil while we have a large animal hole just in the middle of it. Also under fAB's suggestion we treated this feature as a topsoil while in front of the wall the soil is very loose and permits the contamination of pottery. The animal hole was full of plastic bags and we empty it with a spoon. floating stones f254.1 and f254.2 were removed and the soil under it is f272, a natural accumulation. Just under stone f254.1 was found a seal impression i26. On top of accumulation f265 in the center of the locus there was a line of bricks and a stone f270. Other bricks were found in front of wall f218 on top of f274. I suppose those bricks could be associated to the bin a7. After removin the accumulation f272 under stones f254 new stones of wall f256 came out and was possible to see that wall f256 is the same wall as f247

k 84
dy Today was finished to remove natural accumulation f266 and under it was found floor f271 which is the same as f184. f271 is a nice floor with sherds liyng flat and while removing it with the small pick was found another surface very similar to the upper one but with fewer sherds. I give one feature number to all this floor even if has many different layers, but while the soil is all sandy and has the same characteristics I keep the same feature number.

f 271
ar f271 is a series of thin floor layers with sherds lying flat alterned by thin layers of accumulations. This is due to the intense use of this area. This floor was found only in front of the obelisks f177 and f100 and to the east in the southern half of the square: 
ar the absence of floor f271 in the eastern portion of the square can be due to f280: f280 slopes toward south and probably was not a space used to walk; another reason is that water flowing from the north, following the slope of the escarpments (f164), did not permit the conservation of floors.
tc ov f280
tc ab f100
tc ab f177

f 164
tc co f280
tc ov f280

f 265
tc co f275

f 274
tc re f275

f 254
tc re f272

f 272
tc ov f256

f 261
=l f267

-sg While today we still did not reached everywhere in k82 the red glacis f275 (which now is better to call it escarpment), tomorrow we will finish to remove the accumulation f265 above it and also look if we can find the second millennium glacis (^glacis1), which we missed in the southern part of k82, probably due to water erosion (a water channel f269 was found in k82 at the elevation of the presumed glacis). We will then be able to find the northern limit of pit cut f199 and then dig it from the top. For the next two days we will have time only to dig the pit. Under fAB's suggestion we are keeping the western section against the walls f129 and f247: this will give us on one hand more information of the stratigraphy in this area, while in the eastern section the situation is different than in the western one, expecially because there is the wall. On the other hand this section hide the view of the walls and the understanding of the relationship between those walls and the red glacis/escarpment. After finishing removing the pit we will draw or photograph the section and then remove it. in k84 we will go down until the elevation of k85 in all the square, whithout keeping the western baulk, in order to collect more pottery at once. Here we have many floor surfaces, a similar situation as in J2, but while we miss the part excavated from the germans right in front of the staircase, we can not see the connection between the two, even if they should be the same floors. After reaching this elevation we will concentrate next week in the southern part of k104 (old deep sounding of J4k100) and go down to see if we find the LC strata. If we will have time we will go back to excavate in front of the obelisks to reach the 'salmon floor' J2f359

.rd T812
.ri pC
.ed T812

k 82
dy Today we removed the presumed glacis f276 which is located aproximatly at the same elevation as the glacis in k71 f242 and has the same charachteristics: is located above glacis f275 (the red escarpment, ^glacis3), is very hard and compact in surface, sloping toward south. It seems to be not the same as glacis f206, while in section f206 is lower in elevation and therefore f206 and f276 are two different glacis. f276 overlays the red glacis f275. We removed it all and under it we could expose in the eastern part of k82 an ashy spot. While exposing it it became larger and very ashy and circular in form: this ash is f278 and it goes 5 cm deep. Behind it, in section are two bricks, possibly related to the fire. Under f276 in th southern part of k82 was found the northern limit of the pit cut f199.

f 276
ar f276 could be the glacis same as f242 in k71 while is located at the same elevation and as f242 overlays the red glacis (in k82 is f275)
tc ov f275
ds a hard and compact surface south of wall f218
tc co f278

f 275
ds a red compact accumulation, friable once exposed for several days it brakes off easily when it dries. It begins directly south of wall f218 and after about 1 meter it slopes down 
ar to me seemed that f275 could be the same of f164 in k83 for the following reasons: 1) the top surface of f275 has a clear shape, beginning south of wall f218 and sloping down after 1 meter; 2) the consistence and coloration is very similar to f164; 3) it is located also directly east of f129, as f164 and if one follows the slope of f275 one reaches f164: if wall f218 is not deep f275 would continue in f164; 4) it could have the same function as f164, as an escarpment to protect walls f129 and f218. Another plausible possibility is that is the same as escarpment f260, which is a reddish friable earth located also directly against wall f219 (which is the same wall as f218) and having the same characteristics and location
ar most probably a series of layers of earth were laied at the base of wall f218 and f219, protecting the base: those layers are f265, f276, f275, f309, f314, f260, f242: they slope toward south and are intentionally layed. They are not wind blown accumulations for the reasons above mentioned
tc ab f218

f 278
ds a lens of ash hard and compact, including tannur fragments, clay lumps, carbon pieces, bones. After removing the ash, was found a reddish soil mixed with dark brown earth
tc in f275

k 84
dy Today we removed all the floor f273 and under it was exposed a nice sherd pavement (is it the same as the german excavation C2-Inst.879-880?). It is located in the southern portion of k84 and goes against the obelisks f100 and f177. It is mostly composed by sherds and some pebbles (>5 cm) and the soil is sandy garysh. On the surface are visible some bones. It stops at the level of the wall f130 and overlays f280, which slopes toward south. Today we were not able do take a nice view of the pavement and therefore we covered it with plastic and moved in k105.

f 277
ar This pavement was visible in the eastern section of k200 (german trench) and is an nice floor connected to the obelisks and for sure with the staircase. The germans found a similar pavement C2-Inst.879-880 (east section C2 A70-A79)

f 273
tc ab f100
tc ab f177
tc co f277
tc ov f280

f 277
tc ab f100
tc ab f177
tc ov f280