| Entry: | On the last day of excavation, 11.8., we noticed during cleaning a wall under F.5058 that was built from different material and plasterless (F.3358); apparently there is a package of fill between the top of F.3358 and the base of F.5058. After this observation, it became clear that the apparently weird western face of F.2427 east of Space 454 in fact also consists of two walls on top of each other, with F.2427 only preserved ca.15cm high and sitting directly on F.3357. The interface between the two walls was blurred by the fact that most of the walls had been cut by pit F.3331; it looked like one wall with a wobbly face. F.3358 and F.3357 surround a building under Space 454 (Sp.461), just as Space 453 was found under Space 310. Sp.461 might have been larger than F.454, as there is not yet any wall visible under F.3351; Sp.461 might have extended further south. A detailed look into Building 106 afterwards showed that the construction feature separating Spaces 462 and 453 was not part of F.3301, but a wall (F.3359), on top of which buttress F.3301 had been constructed, as well as F.3302, which is, however, sitting on fill on top of the wall F.3359. It seems that Spaces 453 and 461 were not connected, but separated by F.3359, which is, however, only a single wall. To understand outlines of buildings under B.106, however, this building will have to be removed.
Cleaning and detailed looking on the last day also revealed that all features surrounding Building 98 are sitting on fill already – the last room fill units excavated this year were already under the building. This became absolutely evident on Space 340, and subsequently also in the other rooms, with wall bases being very irregular. The fill under the walls is varied; under Space 340, there was the ash layer U.16951 directly under the walls, and then firm homogeneous fill with brown and yellow spots. Under Spaces 449 and the eastern part of Space 450, there is midden-like fill with many finds in. Fill under Space 452 has less finds. No older structures are visible yet, so we might deal with an area that was unroofed and used for various activities before B.98 was built. This is a very interesting find indeed; good excavation the possible open area necessitates B.98 being removed, though.
So, the last day in the trench still brought interesting observations that will influence our strategy for the next season. This season brought much new insight into the West Mound. |
