July 17, 2001

It seems the mudbrick wall occupying the southern half of the trench is finally coming clear. A possible seam has been found between it (L5008) and the surface occupying the remainder of the area (L5027). Now that the soil has dried out, it is also clear that the ashy pit in the SW corner of the trench (L5029) is sealed by L5008, which is intriguing as it contained Ubaid sherds. Presumably, if the connection is retained between the wall and the surface, that would mean the pit predates the surface as well. Unfortunately, it is not completely clear whether the SE pit (L5024) cuts the surface or is sealed by it, though at the moment I'm leaning towards sealed. It also appears a good connection has finally been found between L5008 and the E-W wall, L5031. Perhaps a corner has been found at the N end of L5008, which would be wonderful in defining the surface. Some nice brick impressions were found above the bottom level as well.

I think the N end of the trench is becoming more clear now. The NW corner of the trench appears to be a portion of a NW-SE wall, with possibly a corner and into a SW-NE wall, very similar to what's happening in the S part of the trench, though a few centimeters lower (though it should be noted the hill is a bit lower in the N, so they may be contemporary constructions on a slight terrace. L5018, a snippet of mudbrick that was bonded to the S face of the N-central rock feature (L5025) may also be related to this emerging wall feature... and there is the matter of the pebble surface beginning to show itself under the sub-floor fill of L5025.... and there is also now an over that has appeared at a similar level to the new surface, L5033.

My thinking is now that these are two adjoining domestics, possibly the same period and terraced, or slightly differing in age. Hopefully the rain tonight won't have damaged the mudbrick walls as we continue to try and flesh them out tomorrow.