.bk A14
.fl O624jw1.j
.fd daily journal O622 , descriptions f175-f177&f184, v117, a13
.ei jw
.ed O624
.rd O622
.ri jw

-wk 7 picks and 11 in support reported for work.  After breakfast, Adib (assistant to the surveyor) worked with Musa Ismail and Juan Muhammad to improve their ability to take and record relays.  Noticed immediate improvement in speed and accuracy.

-eq supply of wheelbarrows now adequate.  Trowels are of marginal quality and somewhat impede the work of the good pickmen.  Work after breakfast slowed by the lack of tents to shield the workplace from the heat of the sun.

-dy excavating in 5 loci (k3,k4,k5,k14,k13) and cleaning previously opened loci to the north (k1,k2,k12,k89,k100).

k 14
dy despite having excavated to a depth of 60cm as measured on the E baulk, we are still encountering patches of decayed vegetation, indicating successive cycles of gully wash in the winter and growth of vegetation in the following seasons.  Therefore, the continued use of the topsoil feature, f173 is appropriate.  In the adjacent locus to the north, k4, which is outside the gully, and not excavated to so great a depth, we have encountered evidence of occupation, including pit fill, f175 and the corresponding cut, f184.

k 5
dy removing overlaying topsoil overlaying pit fill, f170, (in a half horse-shoe shape) to expose the very fine, black ashy component.

f 170
df fi
ds very fine-grained ashy material, originally thought to have been a layer, but now recognized as the fill of a large pit, tannur, or kiln.  The extent of the fill to the north and east is sharply delimited, indicating full containment.  Because of its close proximity to and location on a relatively horizontal surface, as well as its large size, we hypothesize that it may have been a Mitanni facility, but that must be tested by the contents, including the ceramics.

v 117
ds the purpose of this view is to show the containment of the ashy layer, f170, by the surrounding harder laminations, f167.

f 175
df fi
ds fill of a small pit along the middle of the E baulk in k4.  It is relatively clean with a few sherds and animal bones.  

f 176
df ts
ds topsoil in k13.  This locus was partially excavated last year, but not covered or backfilled.  Therefore a significant layer of soil accreted back due to the action of the wind and water and a half season of vegetation grew in it.

f 177
df ad
ds loess accumlated over the fall, winter, and spring from an uncovered pit-like locus, f89, to the N of k1.  It will be removed in the next several days in the process of general cleaning.

f 184
df cut
ds cut of pit a13 along the E baulk of  k4.

a 13
ds small pit along the middle of the E baulk of k4. From the cut (designated f184) it is apparent that it was dug late in the tell's occupation cycle.  This locus was partially excavated last year, but it is unclear whether it was recognized at that time.  Half of the pit remains in the baulk with a long bone showing as part of the contents.