| Daily |
2009-7-28 | pC |
Today we cleaned k82, starting with topsoil f209, wich is the first 5 cm of soil accumulated in the last 3 years
[Input file: T725PC.J / T725PC.-J]
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2009-8-6 | pC |
Today we removed a small portion of the northern baulk of k82 to see if wall f218 is the same as the wall in k71 f219. It has been assigned one feature number to all this piece of baulk and treated as a topsoil ( f249): we found also a big animal hole full of plastic bags. We then decided to remove all floating stones in front of wall f218 to have a better exposure of the wall which now seems to be the same wall as in k71. All floating stones were photograph before and after their removal to show that they stand above a natural accumulation (see v183 and followings).While they are so high and all concentrated in front of wall f218 we assume that they collapsed in later mittani from f218 or a structure related to it to the north. the foating stones are f212 (which correspond to J2 f93) and we assigned to all the accumulation under the stones f250, which is a soft and dusty soil full of pottery ans some plastic (probably due to the animal hole). We assigned another feature number to the stones located under the small piece of baulk f249 which are f244, but the soil under it is f250 as for stones f212.
[Input file: T804PC.J / T804PC.-J]
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2009-8-8 | pC |
Today we finished to remove all floating stones f212 and now we can see all the southern face of wall f218. Now that the wall has been exposed we can say that f218 is a wall and f219 is the upper part of this wall in k71 building a triangular shape structure, which seems an apron and possibly is later than wall f218. Today we removed all f250, which is the natural accumulation under the floating stones and under it we exposed f257 which is a strip of a natural compacted floor found only in front of wall f218 and which overlays f243. We found an animal hole going under f257. f250 was covering also f243, the pebble lens found in all the northern part of k82. We then removed all f243 and exposed in the north-west corner a series of stones f256 which seems go under the last step of the staircase f255. At the end of the day, after removing all f243, stones f256 seem to build a line running north-south. In the northern part of k82 under f243 was found a reddish layer which seems to be pretty the same red soil with calcite pebbles of f164, but it slopes toward south, therefore we decided still not to remove it
[Input file: T804PC.J / T804PC.-J]
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2009-8-9 | pC |
Today we dig in the southern part of k82 removing f259 which is a natural accumulation: I decided to follow all features from the northern section of k104 to be safe to find the glacis f206, but while excavating it was found in the western part tannur fragments and in the eastern part an ashy accumulation f261: I had a feeling that we were already digging the fill of the pit a8 whithout finding the glacis. I then decided to stop excavating here and dig in all k82 to have a larger exposure of the feature we were digging. At this moment came fAB and gB: I explained them the situation and fAB looked in the eastern section of k82 and found the glacis, which the pickmen probably missed but probably because was in this part very thin and damaged. We then continued excavating in the northern part of k82 and we removed all f243, which should be the latest event in this square. f243 was found some dayes ago and was a lens of pottery and pebbles. Today we removed the last part of it and we could find that this is resting in a channel probaly due to water flowing from the north, were f243 accumulated. We then removed the accumulation next to f243.
[Input file: T804PC.J / T804PC.-J]
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2009-8-10 | pC |
Today was removed the accumulation f265 in the northern half of k82. It is a reddish compact accumulation which overlays the probably red glacis f275. f275 was showing only partly and while we wanted to see the red going against the wall f218, we decided to remove the northern baulk of k82 after drowing the section. The baulk was removed as one feature f274 and defined as topsoil while we have a large animal hole just in the middle of it. Also under fAB's suggestion we treated this feature as a topsoil while in front of the wall the soil is very loose and permits the contamination of pottery. The animal hole was full of plastic bags and we empty it with a spoon. floating stones f254.1 and f254.2 were removed and the soil under it is f272, a natural accumulation. Just under stone f254.1 was found a seal impression i26. On top of accumulation f265 in the center of the locus there was a line of bricks and a stone f270. Other bricks were found in front of wall f218 on top of f274. I suppose those bricks could be associated to the bin a7. After removin the accumulation f272 under stones f254 new stones of wall f256 came out and was possible to see that wall f256 is the same wall as f247
[Input file: T810PC.J / T810PC.-J]
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2009-8-10 | pC |
today I put aKarim and Ali to continue removing the last part of the pit. We removed first accumulation f265 and then the pickman decided to move south and remove first the pit. I looked well and it seemed their strategy was correct while the cut was visible in surface and therefore the pit was the most recent event in this locus. Therefore they started removing the ashy accumulation f261 same as f267 and then I saw that we were in the fill of the pit for the quantity of pottery was coming out and for the characteristics of the soil, which was very loose and ashy. Therefore I put the workmen first removing the small portion of glacis left in the northern baulk of k104, which is not cut by the pit and is f206. Then I changed feature number for all the fill of the pit and I gived the same feature number as for k104 f192 while I could follow it from the northern section. f192 is full of pottery, tannur pieces and lot of unbaked pieces of clay, some of them are sealings whith rope impression and some are jar stopper. We collected in q390 10 of them. One I made an item i25 while I wanted to show the spot where all those were coming from and also because at a first sight seemed to me a seal impression. The northern limit of the pit is still not visible, while on the top are some bricks and a large stone which we will remove tomorrow.
[Input file: T810PC.J / T810PC.-J]
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2009-8-12 | pC |
Today we removed the presumed glacis f276 which is located aproximatly at the same elevation as the glacis in k71 f242 and has the same charachteristics: is located above glacis f275 (the red escarpment, ^glaci s3), is very hard and compact in surface, sloping toward south. It seems to be not the same as glacis f206, while in section f206 is lower in elevation and therefore f206 and f276 are two different glacis. f276 overlays the red glacis f275. We removed it all and under it we could expose in the eastern part of k82 an ashy spot. While exposing it it became larger and very ashy and circular in form: this ash is f278 and it goes 5 cm deep. Behind it, in section are two bricks, possibly related to the fire. Under f276 in th southern part of k82 was found the northern limit of the pit cut f199.
[Input file: T810PC.J / T810PC.-J]
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2009-8-13 | pC |
Yesterday we continued to remove te fill of the hollow pit in k82. While removing the northern part of the pit fill was possible to recognize that there is a circular cut inside the cut of the hollow f199. Therefore I decided to give a new feature number to ne circular pit f283 and its fill, even if the fill looks like f192. It is still not clear which pit comes first, whether f283 cuts f199 or f199 cuts f283. Tomorrow I will look better once the fill is completely removed. Once removed f192 was exposed a compact bricky and red surface, not homogeneus and not nice as the glacis f164 ( v200). Looking in the north section of k104 I decided that was the same as f200 and I kept the same feature number. f200 is still fill of f199, while is full of pottery, stones and the soil has patches of softer ones. In the south-west corner of k82 were a concentration of stones (>20 cm) and big sherds. I decided to collect all this pottery in a different q-lot q412. While removing part of f200 was partly exposed stones and big sherds next to wall f227: it could be the stones removed from wall f227.
[Input file: T810PC2.J / T810PC2.-J]
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2009-8-15 | pC |
today was removed a small part left over from the previous days while excavating the pit fill f192. This feature is f288 and is very similar to f192, but was more reddish. Then it was removed f192 in the south-eastern portion of the square. When we had in all the pit f200 aKarim and Ali started to remove it from the south where it was showing a large congentration of pottery on the surface. While excavating it there was lot of pottery, pebbles and small stones and a kilin waster. A large amount of sherds where overfried. I thought it was the disacrd/waste of pottery coming from a kilin. I decided to assign a new feature number to the discard of pottery which is f293 and is located directly above stones f227
[Input file: T810PC2.J / T810PC2.-J]
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2009-8-16 | pC |
Today was removed f200 which as the previous days was full of pottery (7 bags) and continued to be reddish and soft. It covers wall f227 and just in the center of it there was more pottery ( f293). Under f200 came out a very compact sloping south surface which abuts wall f227. This is for sure not the pit cut f199 but is a glacis which slopes down until f227. Therefore the pit fill of f199 is only f192 and f200 is a dump of pottery located under the hollow pit coming from a kilin next to J6 or in J6. It was not possible to recognize a pit cut before f200 and f200 was not cut. In the western section of k82 is possible to see f192 which finishes aproximatly in the center of k82. Above the glacis which is f300, there is an ash spot. In the eastern portion of the square I decided to remove a column of soil left over in the previous days to keep a mudbrick. This feature was excavated at once as f302 and includes f276 and f265, both natural accumulations. aKarim stopped where there is the end of the pit cut, which is located much higher than f200 and at the level of f192. Tomorrow therefore I will take a relay for all the pit. In the westrn portion of the square I removed the western thin baulk left to check the section. It is f295 and is a natural accumulation same as f276. Under it was f298, which is a red accumulation same as f265 which covers stones probably belonging to the northern continuation of f129. While removing the section we were able to see wall f265 which sits on top of stones of probably wall f129. I decided therefore to remove 30 cm of the red accumulation f265, which I always thought was same as f164, but excavating it was mixed with red soil same as for f164 together with a soft dusty accumulation. Therefore I think we still did not reached the same escarpment as f164.
[Input file: T816PC.J / T816PC.-J]
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2009-8-17 | pC |
Yesterday was removed the top part of f265, which is a reddysh accumulation mixed with soft soil. It abuts wall f218. Under f265 was found f309 which is a brown, wet and soft soil in the northern portion of the square. In f309 was found the seal impression i29 and some roofing pieces. Under f309 was found on the western part of the square f315 which is a gray soft accumulation and in the eastern part of k82 a red accumulation f314. On the surface those two features were good recognizable and the boundary between them was sharp. While scraping f315 was possible to see that it was covering f314 and looking in section I thougt was still the fill of pit f199. The soil was soft and ashy including some pebbles, lot of sherds and some backed bricks. This fill was only 10 cm deep and thinner on the western part. I think it is a part of the fill of the hollow pit, which seems partly be formed by water erosion. f315 covered f314, which then was excavated in all the northern k82 and defined by relays r570 and r571. In the center portion of the square was removed a soft brown accumulation which is f310 with few sherds, probably same as f314. Yesterday we excavated also in the afternoon for 3 hours, removing f315 and then f314
[Input file: T818PC.J / T818PC.-J]
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2009-8-18 | pC |
Yesterday was the last day of excacation. f314 was removed and under it is f300. f314 was not completely removed while it is very deep in the eastern portion of k82: under it is glacis f300 which slopes sharply to the south-east. This slope gives an indication that the revetment wall f227 should change direction under the bin in k73 and goes toward north. The northern section of k82 was drawn and all the rest of the morning was removed the northern baulk of k82 f322 which is a mixed feature. West section of k82 and k104 was fotographed and removed ( f323)
[Input file: T818PC.J / T818PC.-J]
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2009-8-26 | yM |
today are excavating the bricks that we think are a foundation box in north western angle in k82 between wall f129 and wall f218. We started by removing 10cm of these 33 by 8cm oblique bricks f324. then we removed other 10cm, but then we stopped because they might be going deeper then we thought, there for it will be dangerous to proceed without supporting the wall on top f256, and also because its very clear that the bricks goes under wall f218 there for we know now that its not a foundation box but rather a part of an earlier structure. so we decides to excavate a small 80 by 75 square that we enlarged later on to 1.1m square next to the bricks so we can understand the situation better and see how deep the bricks go and if the stone walls f218 and f129 continues down. So we removed f328 which is an accumulation layer that was the stopping point for the season , then we removed f327 below it which is a compact surface that had colored lines in it ranging from yellow to gray to red and that runs west east before changing its cores towards the south. Inside this feature there where some bricks and a lens type a f330that consists of dry crumbly material that we also removed. The stones of wall f218 seems to continue down, but we couldn’t find any more stones continuing down in wall f129. Tomorrow we will continue excavating in this square to understand better the situation.
[Input file: T827YM.J / T827YM.-J]
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2009-8-26 | yM |
today we continued excavating f327 some more, finding more bricks inside. and we also did a nail test to be conclusive about weather it is a foundation box or not. We did not find an empty space behind the bricks, which would have been there if it was a foundation box. So we decided to stop and leave this situation as an open question for next years excavation because In order to understand better we have to excavate a larger area which is not possible this season due to the lake of time.
[Input file: T827YM.J / T827YM.-J]
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| Strategy |
2009-7-28 | pC |
We decided to dig in k82 because we want to see first if glacis J4 f77 is the same as ^glaci s1 found in J6 last year. We want to see if under this glacis is the third millennium glacis f164, wich rises up to the north and should be very high in k82. Therefore the third millennium features are higher to the north then in the south. We found a floor surface in k104 f204 just under the stones f201: we presume this floor is the ^glaci s1. We will then finish to remove the pit f192, but first we have to remove the stones f201, which we thought were the revetment wall: while the pit goes under those stones, now we can assume that there is no wall.
[Input file: T725PC.J / T725PC.-J]
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2009-8-16 | pC |
Today we were able to remove a large part of dump f200 and to expose a glacis f300 which abuts wall f227. On the other hand was exposed more of wall f265 and came out under wall f265 a row of stones which are in line with wall f129 and probably are the same wall. Those stones seems abut f218. While glacis f300 seems to be a nice surface and a good seal to what is underneath, we will reach this level. We then will remove all f200 and also to the north f265, which is the red escarpment phase h33- h33MZA, but still not so clear as f164. We will remove it all and reach everywhere in k82 glacis f300. This will aloud us to see a connection between walls f218, f129 and f227: this will show that in a phase those walls where connected and contemporary used. If there is time we will go down to the east to see if wall f227 continues lower, while glacis f300 seems sloping toward South-East. On the other hand we would like to make a small sounding behind wall f227 and east of wall f129: this will give us more information abouut walls f129 and f227, whether they bound and giving us a date to it: f200 is still mixed mittani with h4-J h4 and f300 should be the seal for the Third Millennium.
[Input file: T816PC.J / T816PC.-J]
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| Argument |
2009-8-26 | yM |
faB assumes that the reason we couldn’t find any stones continuing down in wall f129 is because the wall was built on a slope.
[Input file: T827YM.J / T827YM.-J]
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