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Friday, July 8 2022

AM

Rainstorms from the night before made the trench too wet to excavate at the start of the workday. By around 11 AM, the trench had dried sufficiently to resume excavating in Locus 32. Locus 32 continues to be claylike and, due to the added moisture, we can see that it is medium brown in color. The locus is excavated using handpicks and trowels and soil is hand-sorted in the trench, then passed through a 1cm gauge sieve; initially, soil is too moist to pass through the 2mm gauge sieve. Moderate quantities of tile, pottery, and bone are being recovered, along with higher quantities of slag and vitrified terracotta.

In the northernmost meters of the locus, a concentration of smaller stones has begun to appear south of EPOC4’s N foundation wall and east of the bedrock outcropping. These stones are small, measuring app. 10cm in maximum dimension, and cluster around two larger stones (app. 30cm in maximum dimension). Soil between these stones also may be becoming darker gray in color. Therefore, we will try to define these stones, in order to better visualize them and determine if they are a feature.

While working in the central meters of the locus, fragments of an animal rib bone (Fine #8) were recovered, along with a diagnostic bone fragment (Find #9).

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Special Finds

Find #8

• Locus 32
• 109.02E/44.63S
• 26.64m A.E.
• Rib bone fragment

Find #9

• Locus 32
• 109.03E/44.65S
• 26.62m A.E.
• Diagnostic bone fragment

PM

Work continues in Locus 32. We continued to excavate using handpicks and trowels and to hand-sort soil; now that the trench has fully dried, we once again are passing sorted soil through both the 1cm and 2mm gauge sieves. Soil continues to be medium-brown in color, claylike in texture, and moderately compacted. We continue to recover moderate quantities of terracotta tiles, plaster, pottery, and bone and relatively high quantities of slag and vitrified terracotta. In addition, we recovered two crucible fragments (Finds #10, 11) and a tile fragment with adhered slag (Find #12).

In the northern meters of the locus, the concentration of small stones is becoming better defined. Larger fragments of tile and ceramic are integrated among the stones, similar to the deposit of EPOC4’s subfloor that was previously exposed in the central meters of the trench. Therefore, we hypothesize that

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this is a continuation of EPOC4’s subfloor and will work to better define the stones, tiles, and ceramics, and to more fully expose the southern extent of this new context, along with its eastern extent.

Closing elevations for the day were taken.

Closing Elevations:

• NW Corner (109.05E/41.55S): 26.75m A.E.
• NE Corner (109.81E/41.92S): 26.93m A.E.
• SE Corner (109.62E/47S): 26.35m A.E.
• SW Corner (108E/47S): 26.43m A.E.
• 108.06E/46S: 26.64m A.E.
• 109E/46S: 26.51m A.E.

Locus 32:

• Tile and plaster: ¼ bowl
• Pottery: 49 sherds
• Bone: 12 fragments
• Slag: 35 fragments
• Vitrified terracotta: 18 fragments

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Special Finds:

Fine #10

• Locus 32
• 109.28E/43.10S
• 26.68m A.E.
• Crucible fragments

Find #11

• Locus 32
• 109.20E/43.24S
• 26.70m A.E.
• Crucible fragment

Find #12

• Locus 32
• 109.41E/45.85S
• 26.55m A.E.
• Tile fragment with adhered slag

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