.bk J02
.fl T720cJC
.fd Introduction, strategy, Daily journal 
.ed T721
.ei cJC

.rd T720
.ri cJC

-dy Today we had our first day of work. We will begin with 8 workmen, 2 pickmen, 4 shovelmen and 1 wheelbarrow driver. Today we had 7 workmen as one workman did not come because his son is sick. We spent most of the time before breakfast cleaning the staircase and the apron. After breakfast we removed the backfill dirt and the plastic at the bottom of the apron and cleaned the tops of the sections. Work was slow because all the dirt had to be carried up the cement staircase next to J7. sH and cJC were in the field to supervise the work. When we removed the plastic the area underneath was damp and the layer underneath appeared to have laminations. These are presumably due to the accumulation of water under the plastic during the past 4 inactive years not due to any ancient reasons. We will scrape the whole area tomorrow. 

-sg Today fAB and cJC discussed the placement of the loci for the season. In order to achieve the goals of understanding the chronology of the construction of the apron and the associated walls it is necessary to place one section north-south running up to the the apron and one section north-south hitting the wall (f127) to the west of the apron. These loci will likely not conform to the site-wide grid due to the constraints imposed by our goals as well as the difficulty in reestablishing the squares in this area. We will create new loci numbers for these areas.

.rd T719
.ri cJC

--i This year's excavations in the J2 area are intended to explore questions regarding the chronology of the construction of the staircase, apron and associated walls. In order to achieve this goal we will be excavating immediately to the south of the apron, to expose any layers which might help determine the dates of construction. Due to the detailed nature of this work the excavations will be relatively limited in size. The questions that we hope to answer include finding out if the second staircase was built at the same time as the apron or not and also retrieving data (primarily ceramics) that will help date the earliest levels of construction of the apron. Secondary concerns include understanding the construction of the wall to west of the apron (f127) and its relationship with the small wall (f334) that it is connected with. We will also be exploring the area just south of the revetment wall to try and find the escarpment that was found in J1 and explore if the construction in front of the wall is the same in J2 as J1. 

-sf J2 excavations will take place this year under the supervision of pC, who will be primarily excavating in J6 with much of the day-to-day supervision by cJC. sH and sG will assist. As of the beginning of the excavation only cJC and sH are present. 

-dy Yesterday yM, cJC and sH went to the field to discuss the strategy with fAB for both J02 and J06. The purpose of this year's excavation in J2 is to understand the stratigraphy of the layers immediately in front of the apron. If there is time we also would like to excavate to the west of the apron and the small wall (f127) in order to clarify the relationship of the area west of the apron and the plaza area, perhaps allowing for comparisons with J1. The goals for the season include the clarification of the chronology of the construction of the staircase and the apron as well as exposure of the earliest layers associated with the bottom of the apron. To begin we will open some limited areas, probably 2 loci immediately in front of the apron in order to maintain tight control over the excavation. We plan to leave to baulks running north-south leading up to the apron to clarify the relationship of any floors, etc. that may be recovered. We will work with limited workmen due to the small area and the need for close control.