6 July 2023

AM:

Over three last three days the area of T26 (2022) and the area where T103 would be established was de-backfilled with last year’s backfill as well as backfill from the 1980s being removed. Geotextile and plastic tarps were removed.

This morning, T103 was established as a 5m long rectangle extending east along 64S from T26. It is 2m in width from the first 2m and 3m in width for the last 3m. Opening photos were taken of the trench:

Photo-2023-T103-Opening-001 W-E

Photo-2023-T103-Opening-002 N-S

Photo-2023-T103-Opening-003 E-W

Photo-2023-T103-Opening-004 S-N

The entire trench was opened as Locus 1. Opening photos were taken of Locis 1:

Photo-2023-T103-Locus1-005 W-E

Photo-2023-T103-Locus1-006 N-S

Locus 1 opening elevations and coordinates:

NW: 26.68m AE 177E/64S

NE: 26.61m AE 182E/64S

SE: 26.55m AE 182E/67S

SW1: 26.71m AE 179E/67S

SW2: 26.65m AE 179E/66S

SW3: 26.82m AE 177E/66S

Munsell: 2.5y 5/4 light olive brown

The surface of the locus was very sunbaked and compact from having been backfilled for many years. There were also lines on the soil from the plastic that had been used to cover it in the 1980s, when it was set as the stopping point of excavation of OC2/T26. The soil is medium brown clay. There is emergent tile fall in the NE corner and a large brown stone (0.25x0.36) on the surface in the SE corner.

PM:

Excavation began in Locus 1 working from west to east. The compact, sun-baked soil was loosened with handpicks and the loose soil was sorted into buckets. There were inclusions of frequent plaster fragments, frequent vitrified plaster fragments, some courseware and impasto fragments, a few fragments of terracotta, and a few fragments of vitrified terracotta. All were collected in bulk. There were also some small, pebble-sized stones and some larger stones that began to emerge and be defined along the west baulk in the south. As the soil was loosened, carbon inclusions were also found fairly frequently.

Daily totals:

Locus 1

1 Terracotta: 0.125 bowl

2 pottery: 9

3 bone: 1

4 plaster: 1 bowl

5 VTC: 3

6: vitrified plaster: 3

7 plaster with reed impressions: 4