| Entry: | 14-08-2013
Today I finished removing floor 31143, which is the last floor before the gray fill below. It was very satisfying to finally complete what I initially thought would a very difficult task, and indeed did prove to be a complicated procedure. This floor became thicker (about 3 cm) toward the wall F3324 and buttress F 3326, and also seemed a bit grayer in color. Moreover, toward the F3324 wall about 30 cm south of buttress F 3326, several chunks of mortar emerged from the floor and just below it, indicating some kind of construction/destruction activity in this area. Interestingly, this floor goes under wall 3324 and buttress 3326, indicating its construction before these features, and potentially connection to a prior building (this was very strange for me to discover, as my knowledge of standard stratigraphy is that the walls are built first and floors layed to the walls). But perhaps this fits with the strange and complicated construction we have seen elsewhere in these buildings, with multiple phases present and interacting in unexpected ways. After the floor was removed, attempting to scrape clean the surface, it was clear that a grey compact surface existed underneath the floor 31143, and that below this compact layer the fill was very soft. Initially I thought this may be another trampled surface, but further exploration indicated that it is likely a result of interaction with the floor above, whether due to pressure of people walking on the floor or desiccation and hardening from the calcareous floor material. |
