| Entry: | Today I resumed taking down the northern portion of unit 16949 in earnest in order to leave buttress 3337/3307 exposed but undamaged. With roughly a meter and a half to go before 16949 reached the same level as the bottom of unit 15394, I abandoned the small pick and dustpan for the big pick and hoe (although I still used the dustpan for final leveling as it is an essential tool for that task and is the best for cutting through mudbrick and mortar without pulling them out of the ground). With the time I had I was able to bring the unit to within 10cm of the bottom of 15394 in the western half and flush with the bottom in the eastern half. In the process, I likely knocked out a cluster of sheep bones that likely were articulated and pottery that appeared to be associated. This highlights the essential tension in archaeology between speed and total contextual collection. Unfortunately the need to see the buttresses in the sections was essential to planning our excavation strategy and the call was made.
Fortunately, revealing both levels of the western buttress in the section rewarded us for our risk. The lower level of the buttress was sloped downward and the upper buttress not only was atop the lower but also extended out in front of it. It is still difficult to tell whether the lower buttress collapsed or if it was shaped the way it now appears by the builders of the upper (this is of course assuming that the two are not contemporaneous—at this point still an assumption, albeit a good one). It seems to me that collapse is more likely of the two based on the assumption that if they had the luxury to shape the buttress they would have done a better job of it. This is still a dangerous assumption, but the collapsed mudbrick in space 462 already has me thinking along the lines of collapse. I might just be seeing collapse everywhere, but if I were to come across a feature/wall that was still intact and wanted to add to it, I would not cut it into such a rounded section, but would use its essential shape as the basis for the new one. However, if coming upon a collapsed feature upon which I wanted to build, I would cut back the rubble from it to the point where it was stable and then build atop of that. To my eyes from a cursory glance today, that seems more the case. But again, I could just be seeing collapse everywhere. Hopefully tomorrow will provide more insight. |
