Weekly Summary

Area D, Trench 9

M. Eppihimer

July 4 to July 8, 2004

Trench 9 in Area D was opened this week as a new trench intended to expand upon the Ubaid contexts discovered in trench D5 during the 2000 season. It is located to the E of D5 and measures 6 by 4 meters. A small baulk will be left between the two, but it is hoped that significant Ubaid contexts may be reached by the end of the season.

Before excavation, there was a significant slope down to the E-NE, with a 1.5 m difference in elevation. In order to eliminate much of the topsoil and contaminated deposits that might result from this slope, about 75 centimeters of soil were removed as Locus 1, an arbitrary locus. The trench was then split into two parts to gain greater control of the material. The western portion (Locus 2) was subsoil fill and the eastern portion (Locus 3) was still mixed with topsoil. Both were 25 to 30 centimeter arbitrary levels.

After the removal of Locus 2, some features started to emerge in the western part of the trench. An oven in the extreme SW corner is the most apparent. Others include an area of mudbricks in the northern part and a hint of a pebble layer (visible in the east bulk of D5) at the center of the west stringline.

The immediate goals for the next week are to define the visible loci.