August 4, 2001

The two main jobs of the day were trying to articulate NW ash pit L5047 and, push L5044 back down to the S in the continuing effort the level the entire (non-pit, non-wall) trench. Finally, some work was done to understand southern mudbrick wall L5045, which finally came to some fruition.

Pit L5047, which I originally had thought was either a) just an ash lens or b) a thin ash layer under floor L5034, is much more extensive than I originally thought. The pit continues almost 50 cm deep and its outside dimensions are at least 1 meter long (NW-SE) and half a meter wide, though I'm not yet confident of its dimensions, as I find myself undercutting some areas.

L5044 was pushed back successfully and now there is just a sliver preventing almost the entire trench from being level (which is a good thing, as overall there isn't much going on; between phases? destruction layer?). The big three cultural relics came out (pottery, bone, lithics) but nothing extraordinary. Though the fill isn't one-hundred percent consistent (some slightly ashy areas and some slightly silty/sandy area near where L5038 used to be), there are no discernible features so the fill assessment seems fair. The area below is being designated L5054.

Finally, some more cutting of the southern portion (split from northern by sounding L5052) of L5044 finally revealed that wall L5045 indeed comes to a corner after coming about a meter and a half out of the southern baulk and cuts to the SE. Unfortunately, as the large pit L5024 is in that portion of the trench, finding a continuation of the wall into the E baulk or large portions of the associated surface could prove difficult.