.bk A14
.fl O630jw.j
.fd daily journal O630, feature descriptions f198-f202
.ei jw
.ed O630
.rd O630
.ri jw

-wk 23 reported.  9 picks and 12 in support. Musa Ismail excused after breakfast for trip to Qamsihlie.  gb pointed out the need for workmen to cut back baulks to the control points and to continuously clean loose dirt from the baulks to prevent accidents.

-sf gm recovering from illness. Worked in field until breakfast, then at home for the rest of the day.

-eq discussed need for additional wheelbarrows with gb.  Four for here is optimum.  Re-assigned specific tasks to all workmen to bring and return tools and equipment to site from the house.

-sy bp installed and surveyed control points in k4, k5, and k23, where she strang a new square.

-dy excavation activity focused on the west end of the unit. We are seeking surfaces which indicate activity or occupation during individual phases.  In the N edge of the N baulks of k4 and k5 we have exposed an E-W line of large worked stones, f198, similar to those found in the palace walls. Abutting these to the south there is a flat, horizontal surface of compacted bricks, f199.  To the E of the last stone there is a horizontal pise surface upon which rested a Nuzi jar, i116, and a grindstone, i115.  We halted excavating in k24, having reached a horizontal surface below over a 150 cm vertical column of gully wash.  We resumed excavating k15 and immediately encountered copious amounts of conical cups and similar period material, confirmed as Ph2-3 by mkb on-site.  We resumed excavating k14 and immediately came down on a large mass of gray bricky material which may be a late phase floor.  In k13, we have finally reached the end of the deposit containing almost 200 clay objects, as well as baked bricks and raw clay.

-sg we will continue on the basic approach established in a meeting between gb, fab, and jw on O629, which is to seek evidence of occupation and use of this precinct, then identify the Phase.  Logically we expect the lowest levels to be associated with the palace (Ph 2), but the action over the centuries of the gully wash may have obliterated earlier facilites which were replaced at the same elevation by those of later phases.  We are concentrating on the lower, western portion of the unit because it represents the lowest part of the gully which formed after the palace was abandoned and built over in Phases 4, 5, and 6.

-sn vve, on loan from A18 drew E baulks of k24 and k25 and the N baulk of k25.  Elevation for string for E baulk of k25 is m3557+42-147 = 8106.  Elevation for string for E baulk of k24 is m3560+28-147 = 8164.  Elevation for string for N baulk of k25 is m3557+37-147 = 8101.

-mt gb reviewed A14 database, transferred to the main server for backup.  He wants to prepare a preliminary browser edition to illustrate its utility during excavation.  jw and gm must, during O702 and O703 oganize and catalog photos and prepare templates and plots to complete the database prior to running the programs for the browser edition.

f 198
df is
ds E-W line of cut stone blocks with horizontal top surfaces along the far north edge of the N baulks of k5 and k4.  Four large stones are visible as of O630.  These stones are also in line with a "free-standing" ashlar, f190 to the north.

f 199
df pv
ds reddish, hard, flat surface of unbaked brick to the south of the stones, f190.  Unclear at this time whether this is a floor or debris from a wall.

f 200
df a
ds first apparently level surface underneath 150cm of modern and ancient gully wash.  Elevation 8116. Marked transition from loose soil with copious amounts of sherds and stones to relatively clean brownish accumulation. An intermediate stopping point for excavations in locus k24.

f 201
df ly
ds distinct layer of brown soil, including small stones, under the gully wash in k15.
ns mkb inspected ceramics on site, evaluating the considerable amounts of pottery with string-cut bases.  She preliminarily concluded that this possibly indicates this surface was in use in Phase 2 or Phase 3.  No clues as to deposition however.

f 202
df a
ds first truly level surface encountered under gully wash in k14.  Seems to surround to the E and W, a level surface containing large stones and hard-packed material with brick-like surfaces on the south side.