| Entry: | Today, TET, DSE and PAB worked together at removing sandbags out of Space 448 and finished towards the end of the day. The space looks quite good; we have not seen it since the end of the 2010 season. After a bit of cleaning, it will be as good as new.
JMK finished room fill 31114 in B.107 and then moved over to B.98 to work with JHB on the bins. After scratching in Sp.446, we clearly saw different units, but have no idea how they relate: in the north, we have the remains of floors on top of each other, excavated in 2011. This is sitting on some fill 31131 which is unusually homogeneous – a bit to mixed to be brick material, but definitely suspicious. Further to the south is the strange layer from mortar material 31146. And then the “mud brick”, and then the bins. We decided the only way was to cut all these layers in the space from north to south, but the bins had to go first. So JHB and JMK spent some time attributing unit numbers, figuring out stratigraphy, preparing for removal. And then started removing the plaster and fill, taking loads of samples for botany.
CLC worked further on the floors. She noticed that the third and lowest floor 31143 is present in the entire Sp.449, with a fuzzy limit towards Sp.450, and only present/preserved in patched further east in the room. I find it very interesting that apparently the inhabitants of B.98 plastered the floor in Space 449 first (= 31143), but not the rest of the building (as far as we know now), and only later plastered the entire building surface (= 18376 and 16977). I cannot help but notice that Sp.449 always was our nicest in terms of finds, not to mention the clay ball cluster 15343 – although of course the floor goes with the habitation phase of the house and the infill with the midden phase – the two should not have anything to do with each other.
CMP took over the western section/wall in B.107 and removed nearly all the remaining parts of wall F.3344 in the part designated as section. The last three mud brick rows are clearer than what was above, so she took more samples and followed a few more of the irregular plaster/brick rows. I am looking forward to hitting that fill under it. I love finding new walls, and this might be the only new wall for this season – the wall that must be behind F.3355.
APV started this morning to remove fill 31163 under wall F.3346. While she was excavating, it became clear that we were tricked by the same situation as that in B.98 last year: the wall F.3346 was NOT sitting on fill. Instead, its base is thinner than the top and middle part (erosion!), fill accumulated in front of this thin base – we were to shy to cut into it and scrape for the wall. Well, that is exactly why we are keeping a section. The section through F.3346 now clearly shows this situation. APV then closed U.31163 which turned out to be a mixture of wall material and fill, and started removing remaining fill from the base of F.3346, and later will do the same with F.5062 – I am really interested to find out whether this buttress also continues down.
Well, we are back to nearly zero in the western part of the building. F.3346 clearly does abut the plaster of F.5062 and F.3352, and therefore must be later, but I still cannot make a whole story out of what I see. Maybe later this season. Maybe after post-ex. Maybe never. We will see. This building just does not want to be easy.
TSK first uncovered the top of two bricks in F.2424. This was interesting for two reasons. First, both bricks were set directly next to each other without mortar between them, but clearly with a mini-gap or crack between them. Also, the top had many small irregularities where the upper mortar layer had pressed into it. This supports the hypothesis of wet building.
However, the section through F.2424 behind F.5063 which is now visible clearly shows the very thick mortar layer continuing from the buttress into the wall. Last week, I thought maybe this thick mortar marks the (vertical) transition between lower buttress F.3353 and upper F.5063. If the mortar continues into the wall, this cannot be the case, though. Unless we think that F.2424 might in fact be two walls on top of each other, which is clearly not the case as mortar and brick layers are very regular in vertical.
Therefore: back to searching how the lower and upper features relate. For this, TSK cut F.2424 down to the same level as F.5063 and F.3303. This planum did not immediately help us. We will do some smaller scratching tomorrow. I still think F.3303 must turn out to abut F.5063 – it really does not make sense otherwise. F.3303 abuts F.2424, and F.2424 is bound to F.5063. There really is no other way, unless I do not see it.
TMK worked further on taking down erosion layer 31141. We are still not entirely sure that we are not seeing a small constructed feature along wall F.3303, but we will check again at a lower level.
NMR spent a day full of unit numbers in Space 454. She noticed that the surface collectively called 16932 when first seen in 2011 in fact consists of five plastered layers (31142, 31152, 31154, 31155, 31157) with very thin layers of fill between them (31151, 31153, 31156). Their stratigraphy and boundaries look clear at first, but gets more fuzzy during removal. Very important are 31157 which lips up to wall F.5058, and 31142 which runs into the room. We are keeping a section to be able to check later.
My personal favourite finding of the day wall small but important. ASO continued scraping fill 31145 between the eastern wall of B.107 and the western wall of B.98 – where we removed the latter last year. In the southern part, she noticed something curious: in section, the western wall (F.2413/5055 on F.3369) of B.98 looks fairly straight, however a bit trapezoidal – thinner at the top. The wall of B.107, however (F. 2425/5050 on F.3305 on F.3374) appears curved. Its base is quite thin, and directly touching the wall of B.98. The middle part has a tendency towards east, but the top more towards west. Therefore the interwall gap has an irregular shape and generally is wider at the top. Especially the base of F.3374, seen from B.98, looks interesting – nearly undercut.
My interpretation is this: B.107 is later than B.98. The western wall of B.98 was standing when B.107 was constructed. Therefore, the “back” of that wall looks so irregular – not only in its general outline, as described before, but also in many details – just not flat or straight in any way. It did not have to – nobody would see it. The bricks or cob parts (F.3374 seems to be a cob wall) were push against the B.98 wall. Also, the wall of B.107 did not have to be terribly straight. It would be hold up by B.98 anyway. Even with and “undercut” base.
This theory obviously will get more difficult once I try to get all five wall phases assembled in this spot into the picture – but that for later. For now I am quite happy for another sign telling us about the relative sequence of the buildings, which we will never be able to get with radiocarbon dating. So, this is the working hypothesis:
1 – B.106 and the building that Sp.345 belongs to (there relative sequence, I do not know)
2 – B.98
3 – B.107
B.105 is older than B.107, as established last week (see weird shape of southern wall of B.107). Now all my dreams would be fulfilled if we also knew how B.106 and B.105 relate. Maybe TSK’s section, which ideally would go further down to also include wall F.3312 of B.106, will give answers. Maybe not. For today, I am quite happy. |
