| Entry: | In space 156 work with the walls have continued. About the western wall (F227) and the inner support (3298) I got some feed back from the specialists during the priority tour today. I made the picture more complicated I'm afraid. The question is how the little animal bones close to the wall but in the fill got there. I don't think it's the contents of an animal hole where many little rodents died in place. The bones are all fragmented in a way that suggests they are digested by another animal. This will have to be looked at by a specialist. Anyway, on the tour today we spoke about what had come out of the flotation samples in addition to the mass of little bones. The botanical evidence shows a low density as is common inside buildings. This suggests that the material next to the wall (3298) is not taken outside in a midden, so the small animal bones might not have come in this way in material collected outside to be used as a fill. Well, the animal bones people gave another impression. They think the bone material is very heterogeneous as collected from different areas with different activities and different effects on the bones. Some were burnt, in different temperatures, others were not, some were weathered others not, etc. This suggests it is not the residue from one event or one kind of activity that has been swept away. It is rather like the material which would be found in a midden. So this is a bit confusing. An expert on little animal bones might be able to say what it is and that might give us an idea of how the bones got there.
About the support (3810) of the southern wall (F231) it was prioritised as well as 3298 during the last tour, but has not been looked at yet, so we will discuss it later.
The two walls (F227 and F231) in the south-west corner of the room seem to have been supported (by 3296/98 and 3810) as part of the same event. The supports are on the same floor, protecting pieces of plaster on the floor under them. This is not so surprising. But the blocking (F249) of the entrance to the room also seems to be a part of the same event. This will be excavated tomorrow so this interpretation may change. But if it doesn't, why would they support the walls in a room they were sealing off? Maybe to make sure the walls would be stable in the future when there would be no access to the room? Or was it still accessible?
About the so called oven in the northern wall (F226) I have now decided it is not an oven in situ, and there is no cut from the outside. This makes us loose the relationship with the neighbours, unfortunately. I have taken the block out which was left in the sounding from '97 and behind it there were more bricks (3276)of the same kind. It is clearly the bricks of an oven, but this is secondary use. It might be a support for this wall as well. I think the wall is still behind this addition to the wall, but it does not seem plastered. The floor with a thin layer of plaster is protected under this bricks etc. (The support or whatever it is consists of 3276, 3283 and 3284 with 3268 over it all.)
I have now removed the baulks in the room and as a strange coincidence I found the plant remains (phytolith) of two baskets or little mats. One of them had more phytolith on top with a small deposit with some charcoal in it. This has now been prioritised for next tour. The basket is X-find 2 of unit 3228. There was also a clay ball under the baulk of 3228 on the surface.
The two baskets have been consolidated by a conservator and will be lifted when I dig the floor. They are both in good shape and show most of what looks like the extent of the mat. They are both coiled in a spiral.
A comment on filming the videos: I have to remember to say everything in the beginning, even the details about everything, as the explaining done during pointing out the small things doesn't make it in to the video clip. I found some of the details I wanted in the video cut out just because I said them at the wrong time. Next time I will go over what I'm planning to say more carefully before the shoot.
We were recently told all the priority units discussed during the priority tour have to be filmed on video. This was the first I heard about it, so I haven't spoken about those on film, yet.Entered By: Åsa Berggren |
