| Entry: | Craig 13-4-99
Have been working in south-west corner of space 117 so far. Started off by removing left over fragments from last year - baulk and part of ovens F.268 and F.290. Beneath these there are a series of earlier ovens - F.450, F.451, F.409. These have all been demolished and in some cases truncated by later cuts so only fragments survive. Nonetheless it indicates a complex sequence of ovens, especially when those further east are included. They show a strong element of functional spatial continuity with a whole sequence of ovens in very similar locations. The exception is F.290 dug last year which is further north and represents a slight deviation and challenge to the north-south clean-dirty division of space 117. All the ovens appear to be off similar size and as far as we can tell only one was in existence at a time although we cannot be absolutely certain of this as there is no direct stratigraphic connection with some of the ovens to the east. I am becoming increasingly convinced that the ovens present the key to phasing space 117 and that it should be possible to develop a phasing system based upon one oven per phase. All the ovens have intensely vitrified and cracked bases - are there so many ovens because they had to be periodically replaced because of wear and tare? Removing the various rake outs / floors has highlighted the north - south division and a pronounced step is becoming apparent.
Three clusters have been found so far - (4112) stones, (4134) obsidian flakes and (4135) clay ball fragments. All three are lying in slight depressions and are sealed by rake out layers. The obvious functional explanation is that the hollows were simply convenient places to deposit rubbish. If so these are very specific depositions from an obsidian knapping episode and a broken clay ball (nb does it fit together?). But where did the stones (4112) come from, what were they doing in space 117 in the first place? Such specific depositions presumably relate to nearby activities so it will be interesting to see if the flotation samples produce any obsidian flakes or clay ball fragments which can be linked to these clusters?
So far the season seems to have started quite well but working in space 117 is a bit false as it is not one of the three deep soundings. I am still a bit apprehensive about these. Whilst the safety issues can probably be dealt with I am not sure that the results with will be archaeologically intelligible.Entered By: Craig Cessford |
