.bk A15
.fl N821jw.j
.fd daily journal for N821
.ri jw
.rd N821
.ed N821
.ei jw

-wk all workmen assigned to A15 and those on loan from other units yesterday reported for work.  During the day, eight were temporarily deployed to assist in the removal of the iron frames for the wall covers.

-dy the day was incredibly busy, as we attempted to identify and clarify the locations of stone founded Phase 2 and Phase 3 walls amid the debris from weathering, re-use and pit intrusion. We began to remove platform f214 which is the focus of our attention.  We removed sherd streets which lay to the east and south of the platform.  We excavated the material contained by the north, east and south walls, reaching the level of a floor comprised of several baked bricks laid on crumbly red packing.  We removed the north wall which was made of inferior bricky material overlaid upon sherds.  In the interior, we reached lines of large stones underneath the surface cover on the east and south sides.  Clearly they demark the SE corner of a room and the fact that the baked bricks are at the same elevation as the floor of room a35 probably links the two.  We excavated in the NE corner of k3 to look for wall foundations/stone components.  We found what appears to be the corner stones for f520 and the west end of E-W wall f547, whose deteriorated brick top we had seen in section in the N baulk.  We contined to excavate the accumlation under the wall fall in k2.  Among the significant finds were a fish carved from bone and a tablet containing a floor plan, probably for part of the palace.  We continued to probe the NW corner of k93 to see if the line of stones f537 was founded and if so, what the relationship with the wall system might be.

-sg gb, mkb, fab, ms and jw met several times during the day to revise the excavation strategy.  Tomorrow we must remove the temporary backdirt pile in k4 so that we can continue to explore the organization of the numerous large stones which are lying in the open space created by previous excavations and runoff from the gully above.  We will continue to excavate around and eventually remove the platform f214.  The stones beneath its south wall are large, well cut and arranged in a line, which suggests Phase 2 use.  We will continue to excavate in k2 and continue to look for a major E-W wall which should lie along the north baulk of k93.  As time and resources permit, we will explore the area around the well to determine the phases in which it was used.

k 4
dy We began to remove platform f214 which is the focus of our attention.  We removed sherd streets f490 and f545 which lay to the east and south of the platform.  Underneath was a very hard, smooth accumlation f551 which may have been compacted by earlier use as a street.  We excavated the accumulation f533 contained by the north, east and south walls, reaching the level of a floor comprised of several baked bricks f547 and some hard packed clay laid on crumbly red packing f506.  We removed the north wall which was made of inferior bricky material overlaid upon sherds.  In the interior, we reached lines of large stones underneath the surface cover on the east and south sides.  Clearly they demark the SE corner of a room and the fact that the baked bricks are at the same elevation as the floor of room a35 probably links the two.  We excavated from west to east since the west side had been previously damaged.
nd fab had noticed some yellowish hard chunks  along the northern boundary of the platform, approximately at the elevation of f547, and asked whether it came from the Phase 5 industrial pits which contained similar chunks along with kiln waste, slag and other materials.  As it turns out, the yellow material in the walls of platform f214 is baked brick, a few of which were apparently incorporated into the wall when it was built.

k 3
dy We excavated in the NE corner of k3 to look for wall foundations/stone components.  We found what appears to be the corner stones for wall f520 and the west end of E-W wall f548, whose deteriorated brick top and underlying leveling stones we had seen in section in the N baulk of k13 after we cleared the material from a huge industrial pit.

k 2
dy We contined to excavate the accumlation under the wall fall f489 in k2.  Among the significant finds were a fish carved from bone and a tablet containing a floor plan, probably for part of the palace.  We continued to probe the NW corner of k93 to see if the line of stones f537 was founded and if so, what the relationship with the wall system might be.

f 214
df pf
ds a raised structure, demarked by well-defined lines of stones on the east and south sides, scattered stones along the north side and nothing but the west faces of the N and S stone lines on the west.