| Entry: | 22-08-2013
We began the day by finishing removal of the dome-like feature (31222), after cleaning and photo of the emerging 'buttress.' We expected that the buttress would continue under the dome, but this was not the case. We first carefully scraped to look for the continuing boundaries of this 'buttress,' which were not immediately clear. We then redirected our efforts to try to continue to define this feature: (1) GWN worked in the northwestern corner where the corner boundaries of the feature were clearly defined by white/red plaster, (2) I worked on the southern side of the sondage to dig deeper (approx 10 cm) to try to better clarify the extent of the feature (unit 31233). On the surface, the same brownish soil was present, but toward the base, a strange mixture of different colored matrixes were present: whitish clumps, reddish bits, edged in a circular manner by blue-grey ashy material, with a large clump of sandy material also present (the whitish and grayish area were quite crumbly). The nature of this mixed area is as of yet unclear. It seems to be in the place where we would expect a wall, based on the location of the buttress: some possibilties are a combination of burning and collapse, or intentional destruction to prepare for B 98 (perhaps including burning), which may explain why the wall was not present. This mixed area was only approx 50 cm to the south and maybe the same east to west, with the rest of the matrix the brownish red. Most finds were concentrated in the mixed area, and many fresh bones were extracted, including some that seem to match up (articulated). Also, while sorting the finds of 31214, the fill above and around the dome, some potential articulated fresh bone was found, but only one side of the epiphyses (?) was present. These will be important to examine for dating possibility. |
