| Entry: | Work has proceeded well over the past two days. We are now within sight of completing the excavation of the uppermost phase of Building 1 - it should take another week or so, at a guess, if there are no major delays. The building is proving to be every bit as complex and feature-packed as last year's work suggested it would be. There are endless divisions of internal space until every corner is delineated - at that point perhaps the house has to be abandoned, pushed in and a new one built. Starting from the west, work has gone as follows: in Space 70 Gavin has finished the excavation of FI 11, taking it down to its main floor. The mouth had been blocked with stones prior to the rebuilding of the upper phase FI. Gavin also finished the excavation of deposits on the main floor along the south edge of Space 70, finding a fine obsidian point near the entrance from Space 71. Gavin is now clearing occupation debris off the floor to the north of the late dividing wall in Space 70, revealing two small scapulae lying on the floor. Serap has removed upper ash deposits in Space 70, associated with the upper phase of the FI and is now clearing fill before coming down to occupation debris along the western edge of Space 70. Mehmet has removed fill in the western part of Space 71 and has drawn the main E-W section through the south part of Space 71. He is now excavating part of a later pit cut through fill on the western side of Space 71. In general, we are leaving two 30 cm baulks, at right angles, through Space 71 so that we can understand the relationships between the various floor levels. Engin has continued with the excavation of richly burnt deposits along the southern edge of Space 71, revealing some plaster features against the main southern wall. Nurcan has continued to excavate deposits from the floor of Space 110, finding a large chunk of obsidian core. Louise is excavating fill in the centre of Space 71 and has now revealed part of what appears to be a slumped brick and plaster feature against the eastern wall of Space 110, but within Space 71. She is now close to the main floor level. I have excavated deposits around the platform in the NW corner of Space 71, reaching a solid main floor level with a large bovid scapula lying in situ across a circular hearth at the SE corner of the platform. Now I have moved east to clear deposits down to the floor along the N edge of Space 71 - there is a moulded and plastered feature on the S face of the main N wall of the building, but it is already very close to floor level and will not stand very high, at least in the upper phase. Sampling has continued and we are settling well into a routine.Entered By: Roger Matthews |
