First recognized as a filll og the pit containing reddish brown and grey soil with salts and phytoliths; two bone tools and an animal tooth were found in it. The cut was long, elipsoid, with sharp top break, steeply sloping sides and a flat base.
In 2002, when the plaster from the interior face of the east wall was removed and all the floors in the space 201 excavated, it become obvious that this feature comprises a blocked opening in the north half of the east wall og building 3. At the bottom there is a brick that looks like a threshold, placed directly on the midden on which the whole house was sitting. Bricks and mortar used to block the opening are of the same kind as in the rest of the east wall, which means that this event happened at some point in the history of the house. Mortar is brown in colour, made of lumpy clay and is extraordinary strong. The same type of mortar is put in the east wall (4th layer from the bottom of the wall upwards) at the spot where a major change in bricks and mortar begins.
In 2003 a posthole next to the 'opening' was discovered and excavated as unit #8633. It looks as if a wooden post was taken out at the time when the opening was closed. The fill of the post contained bricky materila and the bottom of the hole was covered with fine layer of mudbricks above midden. After the fill of the post was removed, two step-like structures appeared.
In order to enclear F. 633, in 2003 the top soil layer east from F. 762 was scraped and the deliniations of the wall(s) and the space(s) to the E from bldg. 3 were planned (units #8623, 8652). Now the wall (F. 1023) abutting wall F. 762 can be followed. It consists of narrower bricks, cca 0.28-0.30 m wide. It (or part of it) probably existed before bldg. 3 had been constructed.
Within F. 633 several units were opened - #8631, 8633, 8659, 8665. Units #8631, 8650 and 8665 are parts of the packing that closed the opening. It consisted of bricky material and crumbly clay. The bricks were thin, 4-5.5 cm thick. About 4 rows of such bricks and thin layers of crumbly mortar between them could be encountered. It seems that the bricks were put in when they were still wet, so they were stuck together. Their surfaces are discerned only by thin layers of salts.
When this packing was removed, we came to a layer of black midden-like material, which most probably wa sthe walking surface of the opening at the time when it was closed. Under this black surface there were 3 or 4 plastered floors with packing layers that were on top of a 'step', covered with white plaster, which was obviously part of the opening.
There are two more units which are closely related to F. 633, #8652 and #8672. Unit # 8652 revealed the deliniations of the wall abutting the east wall of building 3 (F. 1023). Unit #8672 wa steh fill of a narrow space (N-S=1m, E-W=0.28m) between wall F. 762 and wall F. 1023. It could be regarded as some sort of extension of the fill/packing of the opening.
Within unit #8689 the previously encountered floors were excavated. The excavated area is 1.03x0.60 m and thin layer of plaster (>1 mm thick) cf. central floor area on 5 mm layer of beige sandy packing were removed. All the floors were excavated as one unit. Towards east and north the floors cannot be followed. There are salty layers especially in the northh end, and also a thick plaster (5 cm) at the south end of the step.
Under the "floors" of the treshold entrance of bldg 3, a layer of packing (5 cmm thick) was excavated with unit #8691. A sandstone slab (6 cm long) was found at the bottom of packing. There are thicker bricks in south part and in north part the bricks are more like hard yellow packing.
Photo: 20020807_JPQ_031/035 |
