| Entry: | Thinking regarding space 342 has swung back to the notion that, while unit 18311 (whose deepest extent is defined as its interface with the thus far undefined brown layer underneath, and mentioned in my diary entry yesterday) is not directly overlying a floor - and the brown layer is therefore not a floor - unit 18311 is nevertheless in very close proximity to some sort of surface. The brown layer - exposed but still unexcavated - appears to present an even greater concentration of artefacts protruding up out of it (an observation which indeed makes its identification as a floor seem unlikely) than the layer above it (unit 18311). It could well be, therefore, that unit 18311 is the penultimate layer before a floor, with the brown layer immediately on top of one. OMV and I consequently continued excavation of 18311 with extreme caution; although we decided against re-establishing yesterday's grid for purposes of excavating 18311, we are very much keeping this option open for the removal of the brown layer underneath.
Unit 18311 continues to produce an impressive assemblage of finds. Highlights of the day were a cluster of obsidian blades (recorded as unit 18325) and a set of four articulated sheep/goat vertebrae - the latter reaffirming the rapid speed with which deposition events in space 342 must have occurred.
Excavation of 18311 also revealed a second area of apparent painted plaster lying against the southernmost part of the eastern face of the northern buttress (feature xxxx). xxxxx
Completion of the excavation - and the recording of the bottom layer - of unit 18311 will be the first priority for tomorrow.
(TBC) |
