Tuesday, July 10 2018

AM

Drone used to take aerial photos of entirety of EPOC4, including front porch and area of T90; photos to be used for photogrametry and 3D modeling.

Once drone work done, we triangulated a 6x7m trench off of the 110E baseline shot earlier this season.  The boundaries of T90 2018 will be the same as those of T90 2017, and the trench will encompass parts of N+S walls of EPOC4, preserved S wall of small, rectilinear structure built over EPOC4’s porch, and 2016 and 2017 stratigraphic sections.  Opening photos and elevations for T90 were taken.

Opening elevations: T90

• NW corner (103E/41S): 27.08m A.E.
• NE corner (110E/41S): 26.93m A.E.
• SE corner (110E/47S): 26.92m A.E.
• SW corner (103E/47S): 26.47m A.E.

T90 opening sketch

One of the goals of T90 is to clarify the chronology of the two preserved floor surfaces, specifically to determine whether Beaten Earth Surface 2 dates to the mid 7th century and therefore postdates EPOC4 or is the floor of EPOC4.  To clarify the chronology and phasing of beaten earth surface 2, the 2017 section cut will be extended to the N, to EPOC4’s N wall, in order to determine how the surface relates to EPOC4’s walls. There is a small area of soil located to the S of EPOC4’s N wall, positioned above and to the east of beaten earth surface 2.  This deposit will be excavated as Locus 11 and both will reveal the S profile of EPOC4’s N wall while also more fully exposing Beaten earth surface 2 to the east. Opening photos and elevations of Locus 11 were taken.

Opening elevations: Locus 11

• NW corner (108.20E/41.50S): 26.98m A.E.
• NE corner (109.15E/41.50S): 27.10m A.E.
• SE corner (109.15E/41.90S): 27.05m A.E.
• SW corner (108.65E/41.90S): 26.99m A.E.

Began excavating Locus 11 using hand picks and trowels.  Soil is olive brown in color and claylike and relatively compacted in texture.  Soil is hand sorted in the trench then passed through a 1cm gauge sieve, with 1 wheelbarrow-full of soil being set aside for flotation.  Relatively high quantities of small plaster fragments have been recovered, along with smaller quantities of roofing tile, pottery, and bone.

PM

Continued working in Locus 11, removing olive brown deposit with trowels and hand picks.  Underneath the olive deposit of Locus 11, a new, reddish-brown, plaster-rich deposit began to appear.  This deposit looks the same as the second, lower earthen surface, beaten earth surface 2, or Locus 8 from T90 2017.  The remainder of Locus 11 was removed, exposing the new surface across the entirety of the locus. Locus 11 also was expanded to the E and S, wrapping around the 2017 section, to fully remove the olive deposit and expose the new plaster-rich deposit.

The underlying plaster-rich deposit also was extremely compacted, and in places, some ceramics are lying flat atop the new deposit.  The compactness of the deposit combined with the placement of the ceramics indicates that the new deposit is a beaten earth surface, likely the continuation of Beaten earth surface 2.  Furthermore, the placement of the deposit/surface is above the base of some of the stones of EPOC4’s N wall. This may indicate that beaten earth surface 2 is later in date than EPOC4 and may date to the mid 7th c.

Once all loose olive brown soil was removed and the new, plaster-rich deposit was completely exposed, Locus 11 was closed and Locus 12 was opened.  Closing photos for Locus 11/Opening photos for Locus 12 were taken.

Closing elevations: Locus 11

• NW corner (108.10E/41.50S): 26.89m A.E.
• NE corner (109.13E/41.50S): 26.97m A.E.
• SE corner (109.25E/43S): 26.79m A.E.
• 109E/43S: 26.76m A.E.
• 109E/42S: 26.86m A.E.
• SW corner (108.10E/42S): 26.84m A.E.

Opening elevations: Locus 12

• NW corner (107.50E/41.50S): 26.83m A.E.
• NE corner (109.13E/41.50S): 26.97m A.E.
• 110E/41.90S: 26.85m A.E.
• SE corner (110E/43S): 26.73m A.E.
• 109E/43S: 26.76m A.E.
• 1093/42S: 26.83m A.E.
• SW corner (107.50E/42S): 26.77m A.E.

Locus 11:

• Tile and plaster: ? bowl
• Pottery: 14 sherds
• Bone: 4 fragments
• Slag: 1 fragment