Daily Log, July 1

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Friday, July 1, 2016

Locus 2

AM

Work began with a pick pass through the easternmost meters of the trench. Soil is a light medium brown with few inclusions, with a few fragments of terra cotta and stones ranging in size from fingernail to almost palm-sized. The layer appears to be decontextualized as a tree branch, rotted, was found with clean cuts on either side. Soil is hand-sorted into buckets and dumped into a wheelbarrow.

A second pick pass was made in the central easternish meters of the trench. The southeastern meters of this pass have revealed an accumulation of rotted cut branches, further indicating that Locus 2 remains decontextualized. Soil is still a claylike light medium brown. Finds are limited to small numbers of pottery and terra cotta,

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Which are now larger in size, from fingernail-sized to slightly larger, as well as smaller-than-fingernail fragments. Soil is hand-sorted into buckets and dumped into a wheelbarrow.

\x95 \x95 Drawing

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Another pick pass completed the trench in the westernmost meters. More rotted roots have been revealed on this side of the trench. The indent in the northwestern corner continues to reveal compacted vegetation and softer soil, suggesting again that it may have served as an animal den. A piece of plastic was revealed, further confirming that the western half of the trench and Locus 2 overall represents a decontextualized locus.

While hand sorting the easternmost meters, a fragment of slag was found (Special find #1).

Special find #1

\x95 \x95 Locus 2

\x95 \x95 56.78E/73.48S

\x95 \x95 23.88 mAE

\x95 \x95 Slag

\x95 \x95 Drawing

The pick pass continues in the western half of the trench in order to bring it down to the same level as that of the eastern meters. Because we remain in a decontextualized

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locus, with a mixture of ancient and modern material, soil will still be hand-sorted into buckets and dumped into a wheelbarrow.

As we continue to baulk wall, artifacts recovered from the baulk will be counted and sorted into another bowl.

Handpicks are used to level bumps of dirt in the westernmost meters of the trench.

PM

A pick pass was conducted in the central-eastern area of the trench, in order to level the soil. Soil remains light medium brown, with fewer inclusions and materials than the western end of the trench. The soil continues to be sorted by hand, then dumped via wheelbarrow into the dirt dump to the southwest.

A second pick pass was conducted in the center of the trench, heading west. Notably, the soil in the central-southern end of the trench is darker, with shades of black mixing into the brown. Additionally, there is

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distinctly more material present here, with terra cotta being recovered in larger chunks, as well as root rot and several branches towards the south. Trace pieces of carbonized wood were recovered in the area with the darker soil.

With soil from the second pass sorted, a third pick pass was conducted in the central-western area of the trench. The soil remains a light medium brown, with trace amounts of both dark soil, and carbonized wood. Hence, terra cotta is present in larger amounts, and in larger chunks.

A fourth pick pass was conducted in the western flank of the trench. The soil here is distinctly darker than that of the eastern flank, and contains more terra cotta than its eastern counterpart. Notably, no brush or root rot was recovered in this pass.

Closing elevations, Locus 2 :

\x95 \x95 NE corner: 23.88 mAE

\x95 \x95 NW corner: 23.89 mAE

\x95 \x95 SW corner: 23.87 mAE

\x95 \x95 SE corner: 23.79 mAE

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Locus 2 finds:

\x95 \x95 Tile: 1 bowl

\x95 \x95 Pottery: 25 sherds

\x95 \x95 Bone: 0 fragments

Baulk trim:

\x95 \x95 Tile: 1/20 bowl

\x95 \x95 Pottery: 6 sherds

\x95 \x95 Bone: 0 fragments

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