| Entry: | This is for 22.8.
TET set off to make the long eastern profile in Space 448 presentable and in doing so found another construction feature, in the place where we suspected we might find the northern buttress. Its mud brick and mortar lines are visible in section, just as with the southern buttress. When cleaning the floor, TET also saw a clear white line demarcating the facades of the feature (F.3388). It is quite long, so we hesitate to call it a buttress, although it probably had the function of a buttress – carry the roof and divide the room. There is a comfortable gap between the northern and southern buttress to walk through. This was a large building, it seems, of which we probably have exactly one half.
TET also investigated the northern wall F.3330 (probably continuation of/identical to F.3379) and found it to be continuous despite the usual rodent disturbances. Therefore, Space 448 was a building that was closed of from Space 446. When F.3330 was standing, and mind that we currently think this wall is younger than F.3324, although we have not found the base of eiher wall. The fact that Space 448 shares a wall with B.98 is unusual and might indicate that both buildings were somehow linked during some phases of their life in ways that we might not fully understand because we did not finish excavating all wall features in the crucial Space 446-area.
PAB and CMP did final work in Building 107, straightening up the wall sections they cut yesterday and taking pictures. PAB then came to Space 446 to investigate an orange layer 31235, abutting wall F.3379 from the north, that caught PFB’s eye. By uncovering it from the top, PAB found out that that this is a small patch of orange whose limited size and poor preservation do not unveil its function.
GWN and CLC removed the rest of the dark red layer 31222, but unfortunately did not find the clear structures we hoped for underneath. We loose the clear white-red line towards the south, also scratching did not help. Therefore CLC made an arbitrary cut where we lost the line and went down 7cm and made a planum – not finding structures, but very mixed fill. In the meantime, GWN followed the red line downwards and found out that it is really a layer, nearly horizontal. If somebody would beat me to an interpretation, I would say the situation now looks like we had the outline of a buttress, which is only preserved a few cm high, and a red floor running up to it. GWN started following the red layer south towards CLC’s working area and found that the red (31218), whatever it is, slopes down – maybe in CLC’s area we are simply to high to see it yet.
JMK made Space 446, walls F.3324 and F.3379 photo-ready and then moved over to her new home Space 454.
In Space 454, NMR and JMK worked on removing more of room fill layer 31199, progressing by keeping a section to check for potential surfaces or installations, because the fill contains made suspicious marl lumps. Still, this takes time because each lump has to be checked for shape and possible connection to the surrounding wall features before removing it. They also worked further on clarifying the confusing SE corner, where collapsed or discarded bricks 31230 and a very large and irregular plaster layer or lump 31231 need time and a lot of photos to make sure we do not have installations etc. – which does not seem to be the case, and also the plaster does not seem to be connected to the surrounding walls. In the process, they are uncovering the first bit of undisturbed façade of the southern wall F.3362 which seems to have been leaning heavily towards the room – maybe therefore the collapse (31230)? We samples the bricks, maybe we can later verify that they are indeed from the walls of B.106.
DSE cleaned for a photo of Space 310 and then started removing fill 31232 which takes time for the same reason – a lot of marl and all colours and shapes, which has to be investigates before removal.
TSK described and sketched the plaster layers 16999 and 31223 on F.3312 and then cut a mini-window through the plaster to verify that the two walls F.3312 and F.3380 are directly next to each other with only a fem mm of gap (Fuge) which seems to be the case despite some irregularities with brick and mortar coursing which are normal in our walls but seem significant when you only have an area of 10cm by 10cm to check.
TSK then moved to the north of B.105, to check the stratigraphy of F.3311 and F.5051. He removed a very small part of F.3311 to check whether the plaster layer 31234 visible between the two wall features continues further down, and with it the two walls. Within a few hours, he had verified that both walls are only preserved a few cm high and are sitting on an older double wall F.3389 – the same picture as in the eastern part of the building, as TSK found out earlier this season – therefore satisfying. I spent some time using the cut of a late disturbance into the northern walls east of the buttress to verify this – by flattening the sections and bottom which should give us a view of these three walls and their relation. I did not yet finish that.
The picture with the older double walls was complemented by APV’s work in the south, where she used the entrance as a sondage and removed a few brick courses. So far, it seems like F.3368 was a double wall, which however confusingly is abutting the plaster of buttress F.3363 – it would find it more fitting with what we found out in the rest of the building if what we call F.3368 so far where two parallel walls on top of an older double wall. That indeed could be the case, because the plaster of F.3363 does not go down very far. It seems we have to remove more wall to find out.
She also found out that the plastered facades of F.3341 and F.3364 towards the entrance do not go down all the way to the level she reached right now. That makes sense, that the plaster only goes down to the level of the threshold. She also seems to have discovered that this doorway, lined by plaster 31225, later was re-modelled by two brick courses F.3390 being put onto the threshold and being plastered again (31226). This was very clear against F.3341, less clear towards F.3364 where plaster is however also not well preserved.
TMK excavated the red layer 31224, which turned out to be a layer and not a surface – at least there were no indications for this having been an activity surface. He came down to a very thin grey layer (removed with 31224) and then a layer with many white flecks in. All layers are quite homogeneous and void of finds, and consists of material mixtures that we have not seen like this before. Interesting. Maybe layers applied to prepare the erection of the building? We have to check the eastern and southern buttress next, to see whether they continue further down or not. |
