.bk J03
.fl U914jW2.j
.fd daily journal for U914
.ei jW
.ed U914
.rd U914
.ri jW

-wk All assigned workmen reported.  We rearranged the tent to provide better coverage as the excavation proceeds westward.  We also removed the railing which protects the excavation during the off-season.  However, for the purposes of excavation, the fence makes work along the baulk-line dangerous and limits access.

q 413
K91 Several large rims recovered, both aligned vertically.  We could not determine the orientation of other smaller sherds contained within chunks of f346 that had been broken off by the small pick.

f 346
;df f1
ar One issue with this feature is whether it is a floor accumulation above f348, or fill added to change the shape the BA temple mound from steps to a slope.  Two observations indicate that it is a fill.<br>  First, pavement f348 is relatively level while the thickness of f346 increases from south to north, matching the shape of the extant mound.<br>  Second, the orientation of sherds we could identify in situ were randomly oriented, the largest being aligned vertically.

-dy Most of the day was spent cleaning the entire surface of the unit.  We did so to prepare for a major photograph looking west which will show the relationship of the pavement, f348, to the three glacis and the three pits which penetrated them.  Another reason for cleaning was to prevent contamination of the excavated material and to assure that the features are kept separate.  At the end of the day we removed more of f346 from the northern third of locus k110.

-su After the unit surface was clean, gB, mKB, fAB and jW met on site to discuss the implications of what we had already found and to review the strategy developed over the past few days.  All ceramics excavated in MZ23 which cover f348 are from the Late Chalcolithic period, indicating that f348 may have been constructed earlier.  We will try to find out when over the next several days.

-sg On U915 we will first remove the rest of f346 from k110, exposing the top of f348.  After cleaning, we will take an important photograph looking westward to encompass f348 and the three glacis.  The surveyor will re-establish the grid for k13 and we will then excavate westward to the level of f348 to see its extent in that direction.  At the same time we will vigorously scrape the area just to the south of k110 where just below the surface there is a continuation of the same reddish material constituting f348.  This way it may be possible to identify both the southern and western extents of f348, as well as its identity and function.  We need to be careful about excavating along the southern edge of k13 because there are several areas where the baqaya seal has been broken, perhaps by a pit.

-sf While cleaning was taking place, jW spent most of the time in the house working on the UGR.