.bk A15
.fl N824jw.j
.fd daily journal for N824
.ri jw
.rd N824
.ed N824
.ei jw

-wk a variety of extra workmen, in addition to the regularly assigned A15 workforce, reported for duty to carry the extra spoils from an intensive day of excavation.  ms and jw hosted a brief second breakfast to thank everyone for the hard work this season.

-dy today the work focused on clarifying several remaining issues.  First, we cleared several small patches of accumulation from the edges of the brick pavement f558.  Next we excavated west of N-S wall f520 to trace its foundations and determine its relationship with the offset line of stones f539 directly below.  As we moved north, we explored for the next lowest layer of stones on the east side of E-W wall f550, whose top stones had apparently been robbed in antiquity.  We found that the bottom stones of f550 abutted the offset line of stones.  We also needed to find the southern face of wall f550, the north face having already been found during the removal of platform f214.  Careful cleaning revealed that f550 is approximately 180cm wide.  We finished clearing the accumulation f553 from the floor of a41 and explored the eastern extent of wall f528 as seen against the north baulk of k13 and k3.  We also removed two unfounded stone strucures, f568 and f569.  This afternoon Muhammad Omo supervised a crew that removed the large unfounded stones of f537, which were an obvious later Phase addition.

-sg a limited amount of touch-up work is necessary to close the unit for this season.  We need to expose better the south side of wall f550.  It may clarify a construction discontinuity at the west end where baked bricks were roughly laid in about a two meter strip on the north side and the stones here are not cut smooth at the top like the eastern part.  There is a hint that this may be the entrance to this room a42, which was plugged in later Phases.  However, there may not be enough time to explore this possibility in MZ16.  We must contine to clean the SW corner of k94 and clean its south baulk which, although deteriorated, provides protection to the underground structure in A12 directly to the south.  We must also finish searching for the plaster on the west face of wall f568.

f 566
df a
;ds

f 567
df fa
;ds

f 568
df pb
ds Double line of unfounded melon-sized stones running roughly E-W along the S baulk of k94.  Perhaps some late-phase installation whose function is unknown.
tc co f575
P1 N824

f 569
df pb
ds Unfounded stones laid in the shape of an "L" in k4.  It may have served as part of a corner foundation for the thin walls of a late phase room, but there is no way of telling.  Large quantities of pottery were found in the vicinity.

f 550
df w
ar jw and gb discussed why there may be the discontinuity in the construction of the west end of this wall.  The top stones are jumbled and are laid at odd angles, as compared to the component stones of the wall to the east.  jw posited the possibility of an entrance here.  gb offered the better view that although the wall may have been damaged here, one would not penetrate a wall that was over 250cm wide with an entrance door.