| Entry: | On Thursday afternoon, I gave the Templeton group a tour to trench 5 which developed into a lively discussion on the nature of our deposits, especially in space 449 which is currently the most impressive, as excavation of unit 15730 by EMM is still going on. As in our team, some made a strong point for the deposit being a primary context, whereas others (including myself) favour a secondary deposit as in all other spaces. For space 342 for instance, the best understood so far, I cannot figure an event that can encompass all the stuff we find in the fill. It would imply a feasting on sheep and goat taking place in the upper storey of space 342, including the smashing of large amounts of vessels. This event was occasionally interrupted by the burial of neonates and lighting a fire and heating something on it using potstands. While this would be easy to imagine, I find it absolutely hard to imagine how unfired pottery and the whole array of IF's châine opératoire de poterie could make is way into the same deposit then. In my opinion, we are dealing with secondary deposits that were formed during the abandonement (or "closing" as they would call it on the East Mound) of the buildings here.
Under the wall 3333 and buttress 5057 in space 449 I spotted something today which looked like mortar lines and mudbricks - is this an older phase of the space coming up? Does is coincide with the level when the deposit with the rich finds (unit 15160) started? It is also worth noting that it roughly coincides with the base level of bench (?) 3334. Also DKK came to clayballs in space 340 now with unit 15386, and I am looking forward to seeing how this will all finally connect with BOD's 15372 in space 450 which is thick with sherds. |
