| Entry: | Work started today in Building 1, North Area. We spent the previous couple of days removing the back-fill and canvas which we had draped over the excavations at the end of the 1995 season, and re-attaching the canvas to the roof and sides of the wooden frame of the shelter. On the whole we were pleasantly surprised by the condition of the excavated area upon exposure this year. No major damage had been done to the walls and internal features of Building 1, including the fragile thin walls of FI 11 and other features.
Today we began by having a discussion about the strategy and tactics of the season ahead. The team in North Area comprises myself, Gavin, Engin, Serap, Atakan, later to be joined by Adnan and Mehmet. After spending some time gathering bags, labels etc we gave the entire area a thorough clean with large brushes, the cleaning being called Unit 1234 (1233 being the last Unit of the 1995 season). A few scraps of obsidian and bone were recovered during cleaning. We assigned excavation areas to Gavin, Serap and Engin. Wendy gave us all a guide to soil description to assist us in filling in unit sheets.
Gavin is to begin by removing upper room fill, Unit 1235, in the south of Space 70. Unit 1235 consists of collapsed building material from the destruction of the building. Serap will excavate deposits along the western side of Space 70, starting with a lens of ash, Unit 1236, associated with the upper phase of FI 11. Engin will excavate deposits in the southeastern corner of Space 71, starting with Unit 1237, the fill of a post-occupation linear trench which cuts the Neolithic deposits.
We are now ready to plan and level the deposits which are about to be excavated. Tomorrow we will start the removal of deposits.Entered By: Roger Matthews |
