July 14, 2004

Area F, Trench 1

C. Painter

Today I closed L1120, a light gray (7.5YR 7/1) fine to slightly coarse silt fill north of surface L1117 and west of wall 1110. It was thought originally that this locus was suprasurface fill but after excavation it was found to not be the case and in fact this psuedo-surface (still yet without locus number) does not continue beneath this fill.

Major concentration was spent on removal of surface L1117 along the south baulk. The "Household Archaeology Protocol" (HAP) was used in excavating this locus with two 50 x 50cm square portions of the surface being selected as samples for microanalysis (KT4 and KT5) and a 2-liter soil sample was taken (KT6). The remainder of the surface was removed, measured in liter-marked buckets, and sieved entirely through a ¼" screen. Materials retrieved from the sieve were given their own KT number (KT10) in order that comparisons might be made with other materials found within the surface during its removal (KT7-9). In total, 170 liters of surface were removed.

It was noted that a high concentration of animal bones were recovered from this surface, especially teeth. Micro-lithics including obsidian flakes were also recovered from the sieve.