| Entry: | Saturday July 31
Julie and John Swogger arrived today looking disgustingly fresh after taking the overnight bust from Istanbul.
Floor and Platforms
Today we started in on the destruction - rather excavation - of our beautiful house: space 86. Stratigraphically it's probable that they put up the "screen wall" formerly referred to as "curtain wall" before they made the nice latest floor. So if we were being strict about Harris-type excavation we should tackle the screen wall first and then the floor. However, we all know that we are not excavating strictly according to this strategy.
We set up the same grid of 1m squares (based on the site grid) preparatory to continuing with the checkerboard excavation strategy of the floor and platforms. In the case of the lower floors, however, the 1x1 m grid will be stretched or squashed to incliude the edges of the platforms. In other words we are choosing a compromise between having the features or the site grid direct out excavation grid. At the same time we set up two control baulks both 20 cm wide across space 86, E-W on the 1187 line (going south) and N-S on the 1055 line going west.
Sonya starts excavating below the latest floor of the platform Feature 173 in its SW corner (unit 3593/4). Since the latest floor in space 86, especially the platforms, is so motheaten, much of the removal of this latest floor is partial. In this instance, Sonya removes two closely packed floors as one unit above the black fill that overlies the white floor (unit 3571) that already been cleaned in the platforms NE corner.
In principle we shall try to remove each floor and its underlying fill as separates
Cuts through floors and platforms
Our first task is to investigate the cuts that we see cutting through the latest floor and platforms of space 86.
The first of these (F.602) is a probable post removal pit dug through the south edge of platform F. 173 and the north edge of platform F. 170. This is excavated by Bob and me with a E-W X-section. The edge of this cut is very clear and as we go down it exposes some lovely floors of platform F. 170. The floors of platform F. 173 are still hidden behind the X-section. The upper layers of the pit are filled with huge horizontally fallen bricks.
Alex cleans out one of the cuts (F. 603) in the platform F. 169 in the SW corner of space 86. Of course we hoped this would be one of three baby graves in this platform (although that would not have been typical at Catal). Well it turned out to be a shallow dent in the floor.
West Wall
We are still defining the nature of the west wall replacement of Building 3 and the in-filling of space 158.
Screen Wall
The "screen wall" will be removed once the bracing wall has been excavated since the fill is currently helping to support it. Mira is cleaning its east surface and we won't excavate any of the floor that lies alongside the screen wall until that has been excavated.
Eggplant stuffed with yummy meat for supperEntered By: Ruth Tringham |
