Daily Log

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July 15 Thursday

In relation to the possibility of fruit trees having once been cultivated on the site due to indentations in the stratigraphy of the East and West trench walls, another indication of this was noted - a slightly depressed level of B, the whitsh fill, in the eastern side of trench wall might be related to the depression of the lower edge of the black earth layer C as made visible by the Eastern wall of the lower, interior trench around the stone feature.

Work on the stone feature began again, with the object removing the layer of stones in the Eastern half of the trench, to expose the central core of the feature, apparently a hole filled with stones and tiles.  Approx. 50-60cm of stones and earth were removed: the stones composing the feature were large and rough, with smaller ones put irregularly between them, to form roughly two concentric rows.  Between and below the stones was a large amount of...

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... brown earth - apparently disturbed galestra produced in the ancient, original excavation of the pit in which the stones were out.  The stones and earth seem laid in regular courses, interrupted only by the different sizes and shapes of some stones: visible and removed at first were two such layers of stones-above-earth; then another level, approx. 30-40cm high, of stones and earth was removed.

The center of the feature was thus exposed and proved to be a core of earth with a very large stone in the center, and the reamining space filled in with tile and earth.  This earth in the center of the feature is alomost is almost exactly like the surrounding disturbed galestra, but is slightly darker in color, although it is not like a charcoal or burnt earth.  The Earth was removed from the Eastern half of the central core ( neatly sectioned off from west half by the large plug-like stone: arbitrary cuts were made according tothe conditionand stability of the surrounding laid...

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...stones:

• 1st layer - c.30cm - brown earth with pantile fragments and rough impasto sherds
• 2nd layer - c. 10-20cm - brown earth with covertile fragments and coarse sherds
• 3rd layer - c. 10-20 cm - brown earth, a few large pantile and large impasto fragments

sent down to magazino: Pottery

• - 1 strawberry box, sherds eroded fromtrench walls
• - 1 strawberry box sherds from black earth pocket, East of complex, in galestra
• -  1 strawberry box sherds from brown earth fill around stones in E-half of complex
• - approx. 2 strawberry boxesof sherds from center fill ("plug") in top of hollow center of stone feature

All sherds are relativly unidentifiable coarse impasto, etc.

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Tile Photos

Total number of tiles found in plug - set out on table after having checked for joins - most of these were discarded - fragments kept are recorded on p. 45

A few of the tiles seemed thinner, harder, or more irregular than those most commonly associated with the upper building - this combined with the finds of apparently abstract ridge-pole tile akroteria, suggests that probably the architectural part of the fill from the (destruction of) the lower-building, and the character of the sherds does not seem to contradict this

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Also sent down:

• 1 cassetta of pantile fragments
• 1 cassetta of cover-tile fragments
• 2 fragments of ridgepole tile, etc.

All from eastern  section (half) of top core ("plug")

All tile fragments were sorted in the magazino and very few were found  to join - marked seperately to save - were- all - "T15 Pozzo Plug"

19710712

19710712

• Fragment of cut out akroteria - joins with sevral other fragments- restored
• Photos

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19700387

• Two Fragments of Ridgepole tile edges
• Photos

Saved Two boxes of tiles:

1-pantile rims from west side of plug

2-sampling of odd types of plain tile fragments, rims of covertiles - from both sides of plug and pantile rims from east side of plug.