.bk J03
.fl R716jW.j
.fd Introduction and progress reports for Study Season MZ19 (2007-R)
.fn Reports for week 1, 6 to 14 July, 2007
.ei jW
.ed R716
.rd R706
.ri jW

--i  On 6 July the entire Mozan staff met to organize the work for the next two months.  The main purposes will be to: (1) bring to publication the Urkesh Global Record for as many excavation units as possible, starting with the most recently completed or ones that are almost ready for publication; (2) continue the ceramic analysis with a focus material from pre-Mittani periods; (3) expand the program of wall conservation to include the systematic confirmation of the location of each component.  Personnel resources have been allocated to the publication projects for the following units: A7, A16, J1, J2, J3 (eI, mO, and jW).  Our approach will be to work in a cycle of stages of 3 days each.  For each cycle we will meet on the morning of the first day to cover theory, then concentrate on a particular aspect of record preparation.  Short meetings follow over the next two days to discuss progress and problems.  Again, on the first day of each new cycle we will discuss theory, then proceed as before on a different aspect.  At the end of seven cycles, we will have a large list of completed items and a precise idea of what must be done over the second month to complete the project.  Although the initial effort will be devoted to the material accessed from the right hand side of the web version of the UGR (features, drawings, plots, etc.) the supervisors will also concentrate on developing an overall understanding of the excavated material.  This analysis appears on the left hand side of the UGR.

.rd R707

-sg The first cycle will address views and templates.  As the graphic record of the excavation, it is imperative that we assure that the significance of each photograph is stated in the descriptive part of the view log.  To provide for the links to related material, all elements, referants and incidentals shown in the photograph should be listed.  Templates need to be prepared for all views and, if necessary, subviews as well.

.rd R709
-su We encountered a number of problems during the work on templates and views.  Perhaps the most significant, because it is not resolvable without consulting with wO who has yet to report, is missing photographs.  In some cases, the photos were lost due to problems with the digital camera and its data cards.  In a few cases, the view was listed, but the photograph was not taken.  Unit J3 was divided into an east and west section during excavation to take advatage of the presence for a short period of time of vVE, who supervised the excavation in the east of the apron, f10, f532, f556, to the revetment wall, f11.  mO and eI were part of the "east team" and are working exclusively on that part of the record.  It is the east part that has the most missing photos, some of which may have been taken using west section numbers after vVE departed.

.rd R710

-sg  The second stage of work focused on features.  It was pointed out that a reader of the UGR who was not familiar with the site would have a difficult time sifting through the data without some idea of what was in it.  As a result, a summmary section will now appear as the first entry on each feature page and must be written during this stage.  

-rd The concept of the entry for accidents was clarified and expanded.  The code for accidents will now be used to explain incidents which occur in the field, while a new code for problems will be used to account for discrepancies or omissions in the material related to each element.

-sF  eI missed one day of work due to illness.  mO departed for two days to take an examination.

.rd R715

-dy The time alloted for the feature stage was extended for two days.  There were a number of features in the east section that were missing data entries on types of contact, relays, and strata assignments. (The extent of this was readily tabulated by the program that produces the depositional analysis portion of the UGR.)  All missing relays were re-entered.  Best photos were assigned to all of the east features and about two-thirds of the west features.  Some which are not main views with templates will have to be re-assigned.  No summaries have been written for features in either section.  The elevations presented for a few features were not the same across the entries for relays, feature logs, and section drawings.  These will have to be reconciled in the general work period in August.

-mt Over the scheduled time-off period jW updated the J3 UGR and transferred it to the Hubble server.  He also consolidated the files on that server which are not relevant to this season's work.

.rd R716

-sg The third stage of work, which started today, will focus on aggregates, loci and incidentals.  With respect to aggregates, each will need a summary, list of elements, description and best photo.  If aggregates are nested or otherwise related, this must be explained.  We are also encouraged to point out oddities.  Regarding loci, summaries are required.  An overall view of the loci will be presented on the left hand side of the UGR so no best photo is required here.  The locus description is often the place where most daily journal entries reside.  Just how to deal with the frequent mentions of workmen here will be discussed tomorrow.  As to incidentals, we should review them for content and proper category assignment.  (Note that we may create our own one-word category if none on the list fit.)

-wk In the east section, mO and eI will review the features to see if any form aggregates (e.g. apron for revetment wall.) jW will examine the loci for the east and review the incidentals related to daily progress.

-rd At the daily meeting we expanded the discussion of R710 on several possible changes to the roster codes associated with Recovery/Assignment.  gB proposed that there were several distinct aspects to Problems, assigned a code on R710, which may require additional codes.  They include (1) Harmonization of disparate observations, (2) Discrepancies of form rather than substance, (3) Substantive contradictions, (4) Evolution of understanding, (5) Lack of expected information.  However one should differentiate these aspects of problems from the non-discrepant process of Argument, assigned its own code and reflecting the logic of why one called something what one did.