Metal Summary

259

Metal Summary

Locus	Number of Metal Finds	Percentage
11	105	72.41%
12	1	0.69%
13	17	11.73%
14	0	0%
15	0	0%
16	0	0%
Baulk Trim	22	15.17%

Total number of metal finds: 145

A fairly large amount of metal was found in T-48 in the 2008 excavation season, especially when compared with the amount found in the 2007 excavation season; in T-48 in 2007, 82 metal finds were recovered, while 145 were found in 2008. All metal recovered was either bronze or iron. Most of the metals found were small bronze flakes that were not cataloged but rather designated as bulk bronze.

By far, most of the metal found in T-48 came from Loci 11 and 12 , which will be conflated here for the purpose of analysis, as these two loci are comprised of the same soil (for reasons why these are two distinct loci but may be conflated, see Locus 11 and Locus 12 summaries). Loci 11 and 12 were comprised of a dark, claylike, extremely mottled soil that contained large quantities of roofing tile, plaster, ceramics, and bone. Of the 106 metal fragments found

260

261

in Loci 11 and 12 , all but two of these were small bronze flakes that were not cataloged. There are two exceptions: one bronze nail ( 20080007

) and one iron nail ( 20080035 ).

Locus 13 , a heavily carbonized, dark gray soil that contained extremely high quantities of ceramic and bone but hardly any roofing tile or plaster, yielded much less metal than Loci 11 and 12 , but much more of the metal found in this locus was notable. Of the 17 fragments of metal recovered from Locus 13 , only eight were bronze flakes. The remaining nine metal finds from Locus 13 are two iron hooks ( 20080073

, 20080172 ), four iron nails ( 20080074 , 20080075 , 20080100 , 20080147 ), a bronze needle ( 20080069 ), a bronze tack ( 20080097 ) and a bronze pin ( 20080101 ).

Additionally, a fair amount of metal was recovered from the baulk walls. 19 of the 22 metal finds from the baulk walls were bronze flakes, but three cataloged metal finds were also found in the baulk walls, all securely located in various loci. From Locus 13 , a bronze cosmetic instrument ( 20080065

) and a large iron fragment ( 20080170 ) were found, while a possible bronze vessel fragment or a bronze ingot was found in Locus 10 ( 20080173 ).

262