Locus: 1

Date Opened: 11/7/2017

Date Closed: 11/7/2017

Munsell: 2.5Y6/4 light yellowish brown

Description:

Locus 1 consisted of a relatively loose, mottled soil. It was confined only to the northeast quarter of the trench and overlaid the northern wall of the small, single-room rectilinear building that was built over the floor of EPOC4 (Locus 2). Given the small size of the locus, relatively high quantities of tile, ceramics, and bone were found, including three fragments of vitrified terracotta. Based on work conducted in T81 in 2015, this deposit likely consisted of backfill from excavations in the late 1960s. Therefore, this deposit was removed before excavating the northern wall of the rectilinear building and sectioning through the floor surfaces of the rectilinear building and EPOC4, to avoid contamination.

Opening and Closing Coordinates and Elevations:

Locus: 2

Date Opened: 11/7/2017

Date Closed: 14/7/2017

Munsell: 2.5Y 4/4 olive brown

Description:

Locus 2 consisted of the northern wall of the small, single-room, rectilinear building that was built over the front porch of EPOC4 and the soil holding the stone foundations in place.  Stones were all limestone and medium and large in size, measuring from between 20-50cm in maximum dimensions.  The soil holding the stones in place was olive-brown in color and claylike in texture.  The locus ran roughly NNW to SSE across the trench, in its northern half.  High quantities of ceramics and bone were found in this locus, but we recovered very little tile.

Opening and Closing Coordinates and Elevations:

Locus: 3

Date Opened: 13/7/2017

Date Closed: 14/7/2017

Munsell: 2.5Y 4/4 olive brown

Description:

Locus 3 consisted of the western wall of the small, single-room, rectilinear building that was built over the front porch of EPOC4 and the soil holding the stone foundations in place. Stones were all limestone and medium and large in size, measuring from between 20-50cm in maximum dimensions. The soil holding the stones in place was olive-brown in color and claylike in texture. The locus ran roughly SSW to NNE across the trench, in its westernmost two meters.  Given the small size of this locus, high quantities of ceramics and bone were found in this locus, but we recovered very little tile.

Opening and Closing Coordinates and Elevations:

Locus: 4

Date Opened: 14/7/2017

Date Closed: 19/7/2017

Munsell: 2.5Y 5/4 light olive brown

Description:

Locus 4 consisted of an olive-brown, claylike soil.  It was located to the north of the northern wall of the small, single-room, rectilinear building that was built over the front porch of EPOC 4 (Locus 2).  Locus 4 consisted of a slightly lighter, but similar soil to the soil that held the stones of the northern and western walls of the small, rectilinear building in place (Loci 2 and 3, respectively).  Locus 4 was confined to the northernmost meter of the trench, roughly between 105.5 and 106.5E on the master grid.  Given the small size of this locus, we recovered high quantities of ceramics and bone, but little tile.

Opening and Closing Coordinates and Elevations:

Locus: 5

Date Opened: 19/7/2017

Date Closed: 19/7/2017

Munsell: 2.5Y 5/4 light olive brown

Description:

Locus 5 consisted of an olive-brown, claylike soil.  It was located to the north of the northern wall of the small, single-room, rectilinear building that was built over the front porch of EPOC 4 (Locus 2).  Locus 5 consisted of a slightly lighter, but similar soil to the soil that held the stones of the northern and western walls of the small, rectilinear building in place (Loci 2 and 3, respectively).  Locus 5 was confined to the second northernmost meter of the trench, roughly between 107 and 108E on the master grid.  Given the small size of this locus, we recovered high quantities of ceramics and bone, but little tile.  Locus 5 is equivalent to Locus 4.

Opening and Closing Coordinates and Elevations:

Locus: 6

Date Opened: 19/7/2017

Date Closed: 19/7/2017

Munsell: 2.5Y 6/3 light yellowish brown

Description:

Locus 6 consisted of a packing of small stones situated in a medium brown, mottled soil.  The stones were small, most measuring only 10-15 cm in maximum dimension.  The stones were arranged in a roughly rectangular shape.  The soil of Locus 6 was mottled, with teracotta, limestone, and charcoal inclusions.  We recovered relatively large quantities of pottery, but little tile, plaster, or bone.  Locus 6 was located in the northernmost meters of the trench, beneath Locus 4.  Locus 6 overlay Locus 7.

Opening and Closing Coordinates and Elevations:

Locus: 7

Date Opened: 19/7/2017

Date Closed: 21/7/2017

Munsell: 10YR 5/3 brown

Description:

Locus 7 consisted of a plaster-rich deposit.  The plaster was contained in a rich brown, mottled soil, with terracotta, limestone, and charcoal inclusions.  The soil of Locus 7 was loose in texture.  Locus 7 was situated in the northern half of the trench,  just to the north of the northern wall of the small, rectilinear building that overlay EPOC4 (Locus 2).  We recovered high quantities of plaster, pottery, and bone from this locus, but little tile.  Some of the plaster preserved reed impressions, indicating that the plaster may have come from wattle and daub walls.  Locus 7 overlay Locus 8.  Given the high quantities of plaster found in the locus, the loose consistency of the soil, and the locus’ stratigraphic positioning over what was shown to be the floor of EPOC4 in 2016 (Locus 8), Locus 7 likely is a collapsed wattle and daub wall associated with the small, rectilinear building built over the front porch of EPOC4.  Materials recovered from this locus, including stamped bucchero, indicate that the locus and rectilinear building likely date to the second half of the 7th century BCE, and so are contemporary with OC1, OC2, OC3, and the small, non-elite structure found in CA in 2012 and 2013.

Opening and Closing Coordinates and Elevations:

Locus: 8

Date Opened: 24/7/2017

Date Closed: 26/7/2017

Munsell: 10YR 5/4 yellowish brown

Description:

Locus 8 consisted of an extremely plaster-rich deposit.  Soil of the locus was compacted on the surface, but fine and looser beneath.  It was light brown to pinkish-red in color.  The soil was somewhat mottled; in addition to numerous plaster inclusions, there were some charcoal inclusions.  Locus 8 is roughly a 1.5 x 1.5 m area located to the north of the T66 2016 section through the floor of EPOC4.  The surface of Locus 8 was level with that of EPOC4’s beaten earth floor and was similarly rich in plaster.  Based on the elevation of the locus, coupled with its compaction, we conclude that Locus 8 is the beaten earth floor of EPOC4.  We found high quantities of plaster, coarseware ceramics, crucible fragments, slag, and vitrified terracotta in the locus, but little tile or bone.  No datable ceramics were recovered from the locus.  Locus 8 underlay Locus 7 and overlay Locus 9.

Opening and Closing Coordinates and Elevations:

Locus: 9

Date Opened: 26/7/2017

Date Closed: 28/7/2017

Munsell: 7.5YR 5/6 strong brown

Description:

Locus 9 consisted of a compacted reddish deposit.  The soil of Locus 9 was exceptionally plaster-rich and contained high quantities of pottery, specifically coarseware and crucibles, sl