| Entry: | Building 49
Space 335
Removing wall plaster (16006) from the remnants of a heavily truncated engaged pillar F4004 and external wall F1655 revealed several fragments of wall paintings. Clearly the engaged pillar and the adjoining north wall was repeatedly painted with red and black geometric designs. The earliest of these recorded to date, (16605), consisted of a pattern of black diamonds and red decoration. This was drawn and photographed today but I am not sure yet if we will lift the painted plaster as a block or continue to excavate it on site – it certainly appears that there is at least one earlier phase of painting. Layer (16605) was sealed by white plaster (16608), representing a number of re-plastering events. This was sealed by further layers of red and black painted plaster (16607).
Painted plaster (16605) is contemporary with the floor currently being exposed in the central area of the building, following the removal of floors (14493). Therefore this painting was visible in the current phase of building use. The later phases of painting are therefore associated with the later, now excavated, building phases. It is clear that this decoration was visible, at least intermittently, throughout the buildings use.
During the 2006 excavation season a series of painted plasters were exposed and recorded on the north and northwest walls, around the northern platforms F1651 and F1654. These paintings are all earlier than the current building phase and appear to have been painted and plastered over very early in the building sequence. Certainly during the current phase, which includes several burials cut into the northern platforms, the northern walls F1491 and F 1661 were plastered white with no painted decoration. |
