| Entry: | In the newly opened unit 17280 we removed about 20 cm in depth of room fill. Near feature 3365 some big potsherds were uncovered. There were fewer sherds than yesterday. Compared to the preceding layer of room fill (u. 17272) the potsherds we found were larger but sparser and concentrated near the projecting features (f. 3353, 3365, 5062).
The situation in the southern part of the building became clearer. We can trace the outlines of walls, another buttress and a doorway. In front of the feature 3363 a mud brick and plaster construction was uncovered today that helps us to understand the situation in the room.
Given facts:
- "outer" walls (f. 5051, f. 3352, f. 2424)
- "inner" wall like constructions (f. 3311, 3310, 3346, 3303). F. 3346 is badly destroyed and the southern edge is not clear. The inner features are lower than the outer ones.
- "outer" buttresses f. 5061, f. 5062, f. 5063, f. 3363. Preserved as high as the "inner features". The face of the western and the southern buttress are covered with well-preserved white plaster.
- "inner" buttresses (f. 3365, 3353) not clear in front of the western and the southern buttress. The features 3365 and 3353 are heavily damaged on the upper part. Feature 3353 is one brick layer higher preserved than feature 3365.
We suggest at least two phases of construction in this building, one "outer and earlier building" and "one inner and later building". This hypothesis is encouraged / confirmed by the discovery of mud bricks and plaster/mortar in front of the southern outer feature 3363, which we consider to be the inner buttress in front of the southern buttress f. 3363. If this new feature turns out to be the inner buttress these two constructions are succeeding each other in time and the usage of the outer buttress is indicated by its covering with plaster.
While excavating unit 17272 and 17280 we recognized different mud brick material in the NE- and NW-corners. The mud brick material in the NW-corner is quite homogenous and different layers of mud brick without clear shape seem to be separated by plaster. This alternating "construction" covers about 70 cm (NS) x 60 cm (EW) from the walls into the room. A room fill material of the same colour but looser texture covers these mud bricks. The mud bricks might have laid exposed to weather for a certain time and have been damaged.
The mud brick material in the NE-corner is much more heterogeneous. Dark brown mud bricks are leaning on feature 3310 but they do not have clear outlines marked by plaster. There are clay lumps of different colours all over this corner lying on room fill. Near feature 3353 a probably different kind of mud brick material forms a big lump. Its colour is more lightly grey and the texture is drying out faster. Around the SE-corner of feature 3365 there are still collapsed mud bricks and some collapsed burnt plaster preserved. This collapse can be associated with high probability to the feature 3365.
Question: Are there mud bricks of different material in the collapse? I would answer this question with yes.
So how did the different mud bricks found their way into this collapse? Are there different building materials in the different phases? This needs to be checked/discussed with JMR tomorrow. The difference in height of preservation of the "inner walls / features" might also be explained through different building materials and worse preservation of the inner walls.
When we assume these two building phases, another question raises: Why was this room/space rebuilt? And what was it used for?
The fact of rebuilding inside the former walls considerably shrinks the size of the inside space. You really can't lie between the buttresses. The hypothesis of JMR and PB, for who those spaces was not used as a housing, but to support an upper floor become really clear. So we can imagine that at one time, the inhabitants needed to reinforce the basis of the building, because it had became too fragile, or maybe for the construction of a new upper floor. They used the old walls and buttresses to lean on the new ones from the inside. Leaning on B.106, B.105 couldn't be reinforced from the outside. Finally this way to do is really practical: while reconstructing the whole building, you can continue to use it; you don't have to move during the work.
There is may be another explanation of those two phases. We could consider that the outer walls/buttresses are later than the inner. The new outside building is reconstructed in another smaller
It might be also useful to check the connection between the walls and buttresses as far as they can be seen. |
