| Entry: | 11-08-2013
Today we began removing the second floor (18376). After delineating six small units in the south east quadrant of building 98, ASO and I started removing the floor by trowel. I began in 31137, stressed at first as we had no unit book to name our new units and take measurements, but that was taken care of shortly there after and starting levels taken from the immediately abutting areas in neighboring units. While excavating to the gray fill below (18377), I noticed a gray band within the yellowish white floor. I assumed this was an internal layer in the floor-making process, as a similar feature was observed earlier to the west while excavating with GWN, but he discerned that this indicated different layers in the same floor. JMR saw this in the profile abutting unit 31136, and concluded it in fact represents 2 floors. However, the profile of the sondage only demonstrates 1 remaining floor. After initially postulating that the top floor (16977) was not properly removed above 31136, she then began to think it is a patch below the second floor (18376), not present everywhere. However, we must double-check the profile of the sondage to ascertain whether the patch is atop the 2012 previously determined 18376, or is underneath this layer. The top level is a brownish gray, while the lower floor is a yellowish tan. I observed this again in unit 31138, in patches, and in a patch near the buttress(F 5057), a thinner area where the floor was first applied was observed to the west, and it thickened toward the buttress. The gray band was not present or was extremely thin here. Because we were still determining the stratigraphy, all layers were excavated and sampled together to the dark gray fill below, but material samples were taken of each in unit 31138. 31136 will be excavated by floor level. |
