| Entry: | 20-08-2013
I worked today first sectioning into the wall F.3333, at the same boundaries of our sondage in Sp 449. Approximately 15-20 cm of wall was removed (it was not uniformly thick, and in order to make it flat, differential removal was necessary). I removed the remainder of the clay ball cluster (18369), of which about 10 balls remained, and were only present on the surface of the wall but did not extend further into it. However, they were within a matrix of dense creamy white clay, which did extend approx 15 cm in, waning off to about 1 cm by the time the profile was complete (a lens shape). The wall did not demonstrate any brick structure, though it was indeed quite dense, confirming the 'rammed earth' technique was used here as opposed to mud bricks. I also cleaned about 15 cm in on the eastern side of the buttress profile (F. 5057). This was extremely dried out and crumbly, and the only notable feature was approx. 10 cm of grey fill under approx. 20 cm. of yellow-white plaster at the base of this buttress. Also, there was a clear circular animal burrow, approx 15 cm diameter, directly in the base of the corner between these two features, with a darker brown color.
On a another note, I was touched that our worker Orhan went beyond his required duties to help me today; it was difficult to clean both profiles as they had dried out so much, and the tools I was using were a small pick and a small trowel. He saw me having difficulty, and came over with a flat shovel and helped clean much of the top of F. 3333. Later, when I was having difficulty again at the base of the wall, I asked him to come in and help, which he did, and JMR happened to be in the trench at the time, and sort of sat back and appreciated the nice job he was doing. I called him 'Usta,' which means master/master workman/skilled, which he laughed at. Then he went to GWN to see if he wanted profile help as well. Also, after breakfast break, he brought me back an ideal tool for the job: a small hoe with a wide and flat edge. I asked where it came from, if it was his, and he said no, he found it. He clearly went to the tool shed on his break without me asking him to in order to bring me a better tool. I told him how much better this was, and 'You know everything!,' which he also humbly laughed at. GWN later used his shovel technique to clean a profile. It is nice to see Orhan enjoying contributing to the work, and also others in the trench appreciating his contribution and skill. |
