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Vitrified Terracotta Summary

We recovered high quantities of vitrified terracotta in 2022. In total, we recovered 556 fragments of vitrified terracotta, weighing 1213 grams. This accords with the amount of vitrified terracotta recovered in T90 in 2017, when we found 956 grams, but is significantly more than we recovered in 2018 and 2019, when we recovered 76 fragments weighing 215 grams and 116 fragments weighing 280 grams, respectively.

The highest quantities of vitrified terracotta came from the charcoal-rich deposits of Loci 38 and 39 that underlay EPOC4’s floor surface; these deposits jointly yielded 305 fragments of vitrified terracotta, weighing 644 grams and amounting to 55% of all vitrified terracotta fragments recovered in 2022. These two deposits, which are equivalent, also produced the largest quantities of slag (see Slag Summary). The high concentrations of vitrified terracotta, coupled with high quantities of slag and the abundance of charcoal in these deposits indicates that activities requiring heat and the burning of organic materials occurred in the area of EPOC4, prior to its construction. The exceptionally high quantities of

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slag found in these deposits, coupled with the numerous examples of crucible fragments found in them as well (see Pottery Summary), indicate that these heat-intensive activities likely involved the processing and refining of metallic ores.

High quantities of vitrified terracotta also were recovered from Locus 36, a deposit associated with EPOC4’s subfloor. It’s likely that vitrified terracotta fragments were incorporated in the debris, produced during the prior occupation and activity in the area of EPOC4, that was used to create EPOC4’s subfloor.

Locus 32 also yielded high quantities of vitrified terracotta. Locus 32 is a deposit postdating the abandonment and destruction of EPOC4 and is associated with the small, rectilinear hut built over the remains of EPOC4’s porch. While high quantities of vitrified terracotta are suggestive of heat-intensive activities, this deposit lacked the high quantities of charcoal that defined Loci 38 and 39. Therefore, it is difficult to associate the vitrified terracotta of Locus 32 with any specific activity.

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