| Entry: | Hello again !!
Excavation commenced in the south shelter yesterday. It has been decided that the area is to be called the "south summit" - henceforth any forms and logging will use this identifier.
There has been a change to the excavation team - Pia Andersson has now left us (boohoo) as her superhuman strengths are now required in the 4040 area. Emma T. has joined us in her place (hurrah) and Vahit remains.
The excavation commenced with the identification of the units that first need excavating (I.e the latest deposits) in order to bring the whole surface into phase (done with the help of the oh so wise Shahina Farid). It was decided that new unit numbers would be given to any deposits and that feature numbers from the 1996-1997 excavation would be used when possible (the original records - graphics and unit sheets were found to be in Thessaloniki, Greece and are currently being FedExed over to us so only numbers mentioned in the archive reports are currently being deployed. Once the records arrive it should be possible to tie in the previous excavation records with the record currently being created).
The following will list the unit numbers that have been excavated or that are currently being excavated. These features all form part of the surface as it was left by the Greek team in 1997:
1) A basin (F1300) (or possible remains of a storage bin) abutting platform F1302 was identified for excavation. It lies in the northeastern part of building 10. This feature has so far received unit numbers 8000, 8003. Unit 8000 is a layer of plaster that seems to form the surface of the basin and also forms the rim or lip of this feature. Under unit 8000 is unit 8003. This unit is creamy brown and coarser and may represent a packing layer onto which the plaster was deposited. This feature was planned (unit 8000 received graphics number 03/504) and then the decision was made to half-section the feature. The western half of the feature was excavated and this revealed the packing material. This unit can be seen on graphic number 03/505. A section was drawn (graphics number 03/508) and the rest of the feature excavated and the full extent of units 8000 and 8003 added to the plans.
2) Bench (F1301). This feature lies along the eastern edge of building 10 and almost abutts wall 102. The uppermost layer of this feature consisted of mudbrick material which was given the unit number 8001. This deposit was excavated until a deposit of mixed ash and plaster was encountered. The deposit can be seen on graphics number 03/506. This deposit seems to merge and be identical to a plaster deposit north of the bench which has been given the unit number 8007. For further discussion about unit 8007 please see number 3 below. This bench seems to be sitting on top of an older bench which ýs wider. This older phase has yet to be identified with a unit number.
3) Series of plaster and packing deposits just north of the bench (F1301) and running up alongside wall 102. The topmost deposit in this area consisted of a creamy brown coarse deposit which seems to represent a form of packing material. This deposit was given the unit number 8005 and can be seen on graphics number 03/507. This series of deposits seem to be truncated either through erosion or through the 1996-7 excavation although the lowest plaster deposit seems to be faýrly complete. Unit 8005 was excavated and this revealed unit 8007 (see number 2 above). This unit will be excavated tomorrow and further discussed in the next diary entry. This series of units seem to contain fragments of plaster coated with a red paint.
4) Oven (F111). This feature lies along the southern edge of building 10 and abutts wall 103. This feature consists of a series of mudbrýcks up on their edge which make up the perimeter of the oven (and entrance). Contained within the oven is a series of ashy deposits. The latest deposit (consisting mostly of mudbrick material) was given the unit number 8002. The oven had been sectioned during the 1997 season and presumably recorded in detail. A section was therefore sketched onto the back of unit sheet 8002. All deposits within the oven are also just sketched onto the back of each unit sheet as the perimeter of this feature ýs clearly defined on graphic 03/500 and 03/501. Therefore there are no graphics numbers that relate to this feature apart from the ones already mentioned above. Under unit 8002 another deposit ashy in nature was encountered and given the unit number 8006. This deposit will be excavated tomorrow.
5) During the cleaning of the whole of building 10 a few animal bones were encounted along the western edge of building 10. During a priority tour it was decided that these bones should be seperately marked and bagged. As this area will not be excavated over the coming days it was apparent that it would be difficult to contextualise these bones. The decision was therefore made to give the bones a unit number and to measure theýr X Y Z coordinates. The bones were given unit number 8004 and their coordinates recorded. It is entirely possible that these bones are contained within a plaform identified during the 1996-1997 excavation season. Identification of these bones reveals them to be a mixture of sheep/goat astralagi and 2 digits from a wolf paw. The indication is that these bones may represent a form of ritual deposition within the platform. The location of these bones can be seen on graphics number 03/501.
All units have been photographed and can be found under the Catal on Catal (H:) drive on the network under the folder SOUTH SUMMIT IMAGES. Images are catalogued under date and the individual photographs relate to the numbers found on the photograph log from the seasons record.
More later !!!
JamieEntered By: Gudmundur Jonsson (Jamie) |
