| Entry: | 15 August 2006
So the season is coming to an end for most of us and building 49 is still with us. The last week has been spent removing floors and make up layers. A series of deposits 14416, 14403, 14412, 14411, 14407,14406, 14405 and 14401 represent a number floors and heath bases associated with an earlier phase of hearth F1665. The later hearth largely truncates this earlier phase.
An extension to the north of platform F1666 13670 was removed to reveal a plaster basin recorded as F1497. The latest plaster 13683 and make up 13687 were removed to reveal what appears to be an earlier phase of basin with a large number of re-plastering. As the basin was excavated it became clear a slightly concave area of wall to the south represented an earlier basin and was recorded as F1498.
What was originally recorded as post retrieval pit F1495 in the NW corner of building 49 was found, upon further investigation, to be slightly unusual. Vertical wall plaster 13698, 13676 and 13675 obviously enclosed the feature however the inside of the feature, where a post should have stood, was also plastered. This presents two possibilities, firstly an earlier basin was reused as the base for a plastered upright post, however the post was not dug in and left no scar on the back wall. It is more likely the feature was in fact some kind of tall thin bin. Possible uses for such a feature include storage or the feature may have held a lamp or candle. The plaster behind the feature is covered in a thin black greasy residue, this is currently unexcavated but may allow the function of the feature to be identified next season.
Overall building 49 continues to be an interesting structure. The depth and complexity of the stratigraphy within space 100 contrasts sharply with the diminutive size of the building. The building was obviously occupied for a considerable period of time and the patchy worn floors across the centre of the building suggest heavy and regular use. The typical pattern of dirtier floors in the south of the building, associated with hearths and ovens, and cleaner white floors in the north appears to replicated here. The central floor are of the building appears to represent more mixed use with both clean and dirty floors.
The stratigraphy of building 49 is particularly complex and represents the constant alteration and modification of the space with what appears to be puzzling frequency. As well as the addition of new floors and features there is also a constant cutting back and re-modelling of earlier features, as if the occupants are never quite happy with their living environment.
A niche in the southern wall of the building almost certainly represents a blocked of oven and is probably associated with the very dirty floors we were beginning to see in this area of the building. A line of vertical wall plaster was observed directly behind this niche, sandwiched between two walls, appeared to be on the outside of building 49. Whether this represents an external plaster surface or an earlier blocked in niche is unclear.
Both the building infill of building 49 and the fill of post retrieval pit [13641] contained horn cores and other interesting animal bones. The material recovered from the post retrieval pit this season was not deliberately placed but dumped within a mixed demolition fill. It is far from clear to me whether this material was deliberately included within the fill or simply dumped material it was not considered worth salvaging during the demolition of the building.
Burial F1492, which cut through the construction layer of platform F1656, was undoubtedly curious. The burial consisted of the limbless torso of an older male with the legs, arms and shoulder blades all removed prior to burial. The ribs and sternum were in place indicating the body was at least partially fleshed at the time of burial. If the initial analysis of the bones is correct, and no cut marks are present, this suggests the body must have been heavily de-fleshed prior to the removal of the limbs and its subsequent burial.
The plaster was removed from sections of the northern and western walls of building 49, directly above the NW platform F1651. Several layers of painted plaster were encountered. On the northern later layer of paint appeared to consist of a solid red colour. Earlier layers 13669 contained geometric designs in red and black paint. Similarly on the western wall a series of overlying designs 13676, in red and black paint, were recorded. The paintings appear to have been plastered over relatively quickly and then repainted, an identical design was repainted in exactly the same location each time. The designs on the different layers match so closely it is at times difficult to tell them apart.
On the western wall the painting appears to be very early in the sequence, a micro-morphology sample taken from the wall will allow the number of layers of plaster to be counted. Initial examination with the naked eye suggest and initial thick foundation layer was put on the wall, the first few layers of plaster contain the painted designs, these are then sealed by a second thick make up layer and then a series of typically thin re-plastering events.
The paintings are very close to the surface and building has been open for three seasons now. As a result the preservation of the wall paintings was very poor and any conclusive interpretation of the original design is almost impossible. A central area of the northern wall was consolidated and lifted by the conservation team. Hopefully further work in the conservation lab will be able to separate some of the layers of plaster and allow the designs to be better understood.
As more paintings are uncovered in coming seasons it will be increasingly important to have a well-designed protocol for excavating and recording them. This will have to consider questions such as how best to record the number of layers of plaster, an impossible task with the naked eye, how to separate different layers of painting and how much of a painting can be exposed or conserved without losing important stratagraphic relationships.
Next season work will hopefully continue where we left off in building 49. A series of dirty floors at the eastern end of platform F1666 can be removed, these probably relate to an oven against the south wall. A series of make up deposits on platform F1651 can also be removed to reveal the earlier lipped platform visible in section, the considerable dip in the middle of this platform suggests a number of burials may also be encountered. Internal wall F1654, like so much of space 100, consists of a number of rebuilds and modifications and as the last floor deposits sealing it are removed the wall can be removed to reveal an earlier feature. At this point the western area of building 49 will hopefully be in phase with the rest of the building.Entered By: DE |
