| Entry: | The last few days have been spent working through the last few layers and deposits in building 44. Roddy has been mostly tied up with the bench and platform to the south of the building, and then the burials under 1320. I have been working mostly on platform 1321 - this is alongside the burials and was presumed to be later than the burials - soon proved correct, however the burials were begun early and thus this platform was behind in the sequence and long due for removal. It involved several distinct layers, 11630 and 11634 - a strange grey layer to the north of the platform were the first to come off. 11634 left a dip in the makeup of the platform and acted as levelling layer - however it is not clear how the dip came to be formed - it seems that it was intentionally created, probably after the initial platform makeup (11642) had been laid down, and then filled in after use with a proper mortar-like layer (as against the rough, lumpy orange infill of the platform construction. During the removal of the layers, it was discovered that just as on platform 1312, layers were running under the supposed walls of building 44. This briefly side-tracked Roddy and myself from our duties in the building, and we moved onto wall removal along the eastern side of the building, locating the true building 44 walls, and also demonstrating conclusively that building 10 walls had cut into the walls of building 44, and in so doing had hidden a second room in the SE corner.
Along with the removal of several plaster layers from various building and platform walls, and a pillaster (F.1308), this prepared platform 1321 for its final destruction. Its make-up was contained behind a retaining wall which had run right along the front of the platform and bench sequence on the east wall. The platform and wall were removed in spits, of about 10cm each across the whole surface at once, in an effort to detect any buildup layers that might be present. The result was that layer 11642 peeled off onto an orange mud-brick like substance up against the building wall, which shelved down, disappearing under room fill towards the platform edge. It appears that the retaining wall (11640, 11641 - brick and mortar respectively) was built upon the messy room fill material, and then the same sort of material was shovelled in behind the wall to make up the platform. This material contained a lot of burnt clay lumps, and many small finds of animal bones, obsidian, and pot. The distinction between the room fill and the platform make-up material was difficult to make where they met, near the platform edge, represented perhaps by a slight darkening of the building infill material. The platform construction material appeared to be the same as that used for the construction of platform 1332 along the north wall of the building, joining up under the brick wall. It is possible that during or immediately following the consturction of the platforms some of the 'floor' material was dug away to help create the edge, helping to leave the platform material slightly proud of the floor material.
Today, I moved on to the burials to help Roddy. Together, we succeeded in exposing 1 certain articulated body, and another possible one - both lying back-to-back with each other. This is the first burial I've dug, and it is exciting to be digging something a little more complex than an average burial. Roddy has been very good about giving me tips and pointers as to what different bones are, and where to expect articulation. There is still no sign of a cut, suggesting the bodies were laid on a surface and the earth just shovelled around them to build up the platform?? The earth is absolutely solid in places making it very hard to dig. Sometimes unfortunately some of the bones were damaged through trying to remove soil which came away in lumps, which just break the bones in half. Scraping the soil away only means taking a chunk of the bone out as you discover it, and with a lot of disarticulation you can never be sure where a bone might turn up. This has meant that progress is slow, but it is still a lot of fun! Tomorrow we will photograph it all, and the bone people will remove the first layer of bones, hopefully freeing up some space in which to go deeper.Entered By: Alex Pryor |
