07/16-07/22 2002

C2

Weekly Journal Summary

This week has more been devoted to one thing: mudbrick. Before this week we only knew of two areas of mudbrick, cleaned as L2122. This area contains two structures, a wall and something, which is somewhat difficult to describe, as it seems to be a structure centered on two small fire pits. There are two circular patterns radiating out from the pits, by form of trapeziod mudbrick. The two structures seem to have been built up against each other and therefore could be from the same phase.

I opened L2132 next to the mudbrick platform, its function being to follow the mudbrick downwards, to see just how many courses that there was left standing. In the process of forming this locus (L2132), I also labeled the other two patches of mudbrick visible. These being L2133 and L2134, where L2134 is the best preserved, stretching along the northern part of the east baulk. Here I can clearly determine the size and number of mudbricks. L2133 on the other hand is a completely different story. The soil is very much like that you would expect in mudbricks. But here we could not find any believable mortar lines to give a precise indication of were the single mudbricks are. It would therefore indicate that this locus (L2133) is filled with mudbrick tumble and debris.

In the other end of the trench we began to work around the already excavated floor level (L#) in order to determine its stratigraphic relation to the surrounding loci. It became clear that the surface (L2099) had been constructed after the fill in L2132 had been deposited. Surface L2099 seems to be sloping up against the fill (L2132?). This fill was the foundation for the now-removed wall L2117, so that we can make the conclusion that the wall was built on a thin dirt fill against which the surface debris of L# accumulated subsequently, so that the wall L2117 probably was built first and the surface was associated or built up against it subsequently.

We started to excavate the part under the now removed wall (L2116, removed as L2108), that had covered an area of the surface L2099 in question. This area was excavated in two loci L2135 and L2136. L2135 did not result in finding a surface, only the border of it (this is unclear – if not a surface, then the border of what, precisely?). In contrast, L2136 was all flat lying potsherds and stones. It clear that L2136 must be equal to L2099, that was excavated last year, because they seem to be touching.

One other project was the excavation of the pit L2128, which did not contain anything of interest. Note: because of over eagerness, we excavated through the pits bottom. So the last KT numbers are filled with mixed material.

Again this week did we cleaned the south baulk, making it ready for drawing, in doing so we cut 10cm off in selected areas of the baulk, that had cracked up. This was labeled L2137.