Daily Log, June 30

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Thursday, June 30, 2016

Locus 1

AM

Work began this morning with a pick pass in the easternmost meters of the trench heading westward. Soil is hand-sorted into buckets and dumped into a wheelbarrow. The soil is more granular and claylike with very little stone or terra cotta inclusions. There remain several plant roots, but much fewer pottery sherds than were revealed yesterday. The soil is a light medium brown.

In order to level out the eastern portion of the trench and to confirm a possible soil change, the easternmost meters of the trench were lightly picked. The soil has very few material inclusions and so far only fingernail-sized fragments of terra cotta have been revealed. Soil is light medium brown and clay-like. The larger roots of topsoil are mostly

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absent now. In preparation for declaring a new locus, work focuses on cleaning baulk walls and clipping roots in the eastern portion of the trench.

A fragment of slag was revealed while sifting (Special Find #1).

Special Find #1 :

\x95 \x95 Locus 1

\x95 \x95 56.39E/73.26S

\x95 \x95 23.99 mAE

\x95 \x95 Slag

\x95 \x95 Drawing

A pick pass was made in the westernmost meters of the trench in order to bring the entire trench down to the same level as that in the east. Soil is hand-sorted into buckets and dumped into a wheelbarrow. At the same time, baulk walls are being trimmed. Finds are limited to small fragments of terra cotta ranging in size from 3 cm to less than fingernail

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sized. No pottery or bone have been revealed. Soil is light medium brown in color and claylike in texture and is becoming consistent throughout the trench. A rotted tree root was uncovered in the central western meters of the trench. It was found horizontal on the trench floor with each of the two ends cut cleanly. This indicates that our deepest level of the trench so far still remains in decontextualized soil.

PM

The soil throughout the trench continues to be leveled using handpicks, and is then sifted by hand into buckets. From there, the buckets continue to be dumped into a wheelbarrow, then dumped into the dirt dump, approximately 20m to the southwest of the trench. While hand picking, baulk walls continue to be defined along the trench borders. The soil continues to be a light medium brown color, with a claylike texture and few inclusions throughout the trench.

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While sorting, a fragment of slag was recovered in the trench (Special find #2).

Special find #2:

\x95 \x95 Locus 1

\x95 \x95 54.02E/73.19S

\x95 \x95 24.08 mAE

\x95 \x95 Slag

\x95 \x95 Drawing

Due to the change of soil color to light medium brown throughout the trench corresponding to a more granular soil, with significantly less terra cotta being recovered, Locus 2 will be declared throughout the trench.

Locus 2 Opening elevations:

\x95 \x95 NE corner: 23.96 mAE

\x95 \x95 NW corner: 24.01 mAE

\x95 \x95 SW corner: 24.02 mAE

\x95 \x95 SE corner: 23.93 mAE

Locus 1:

\x95 \x95 Tile 1/5 bowl

\x95 \x95 Pottery: 12 sherds

\x95 \x95 Bone: 0 fragments