Daily Journal

Area D, Trench 9

July 19, 2004

M. Eppihimer

First of all, we are clearing a 1m swath in the E of the trench that still contains topsoil mixed. This should be the last pass in Locus 6.

We are removing the orange brick layer (L28) to follow the ash underneath (L27). The ash is expanding to the N and downhill to the E. Where it appears in the baulk it is about 1 to 2 cm thick. If we continue to trace it, we’ll dig a trough so we are stopping it at the level of the E part of the trench where Locus 6 pass ended.

 The next step is t o remove L 22 from around the oven and L 26, an area of mud to the N of the oven and (conceivably) below the ash layer to the E of the oven. This means that as we remove L26 the ash layer of L27 will disappear and the E border of L26 will migrate eastward. This is being done in 10 cm increments to check the section of L22.

We had a stoking hole false alarm around the oven when we found a strip of soft/loose soil in the section of L22 but removing this did not penetrate the oven walls.
By the end of the day we had reached the level of the top of the bricks set inside the oven.

It was also observed that the oven extends S into the baulk and W into the corner of D5, where the ash and bricks were partially cut through before being identified.