Conclusion

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Conclusion

The original goals of T 79 were:

1. To determine whether the northern linear rock feature found in T 77 ( PAM II ), T 57 ( AJC VI ), and T 74 ( ASM I ) found in 2014 and 2015 continues eastward.

2. T o search for a north-south running return wall perpendicular to the walls found in 2014.

3. To determine whether those linear rock features form one structural unit.

4. To search for a possible floor surface associ ated with the potential structural unit.

5. To securely date the potential new structure.

In view of these or iginal goals, excavation of T 79 in the 2015 season was fairly successful.

In 2015, it was decided to open trenches to the east and west of trenches T 57 , 59 , 65 , 66 , and 69 , where there was evidence of a potential architectural structure at the end of the 2014 season, in order to determine the extent and dimensions of this building.

During the 2015 excavation of T 79, a large number of rocks were uncovered, running roughly east to west, in line with those found in T 77 ( PAM II ). This linear rock feature ran diagonally through the center of T 79, connecting the line of rocks in T 77 with that in T 78 ( KRK IX ), to a terminus in T 81 ( AJC IX ). The feature is parallel to the southern wall of the building, uncovered in 2014, which runs from T 69 ( EMO VII )  eastward through T 59, 65, 75, 76, and 66 ( KRK VII , JWM/KRC I , KRC I , KD III , and KD II ). Therefore, the linear rock feature in T 79 is part of the northern wall of the building, which runs in its entirety from T 57  ( AJC VI ) eastward through T 74, 77, 78, 79 and 81 ( ASM I , PAM II , KRK IX , MLL III, and AJC IX , respectively). Both walls also connect to a western return wall which runs north-south from T 57 ( AJC VI ) through T 69 and 70 ( EMO VII and MVS I ). The portion of the wall in T 79 also includes the bedrock in the north central meter of the trench, in the same manner as can be seen in T 57, 74, and 77 (AJC VI , ASM I , and PAM II ).

In addition, two areas of the trench with delineated soil were revealed in close proximity to the wall, one directly to its south, and one within the wall itself. The delineations exhibited a hard-packed, clay-like soil lighter brown in color than the surrounding trench floor with pottery, tile, and a few small rocks lying horizontally on the top of the soil. This evidence is indicative of a potential floor surface, similar to the soil packings found in T 66 ( KD II ) and T 58 ( FGT III ), where there was plaster and large amounts of tile and pottery imbedded in the soil. Due to its location in relation to the walls, it would appear that this is an interior floor surface from within the building.

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Within T 79, relatively small amounts of pottery and bone were found, along with an incised impasto fragment ( PC20150042 ). Much of the pottery seemed to be utilitarian, however, none of the pottery was determined to be chronologically diagnostic. Of the small amount of bone found, two fragments were diagnostic, two other fragments showed signs of being worked, and two fragments were burnt. While this evidence may hint towards some sort of animal production, it does not appear to be on a large scale.

In general, very few artifacts were recovered from T 79, however,several were catalogued, such as a rocchetto fragment ( PC20150035 ) and an akroterion fragment ( PC20150043 ). The akroterion fragment was found just to the north east of the wall on top of the bedrock and can be dated to the 7th century BCE. In conjunction with other akroterion fragments recovered from T 66 at roughly the same elevation as T 79, the material aided in narrowing down a chronological date for the monumental architectural structure.

At the end of the 2015 season, it was decided that T 79 not excavate further into the linear rock feature or the potential floor surfaces and the end coordinates of the trench were 38 S/103 E, 38 S/106 E, 41 S/106 E, and 41 S/103 E with no additional extensions. Therefore, while evidence suggests the presence of a monumentally sized architectural structure, it is still unclear as to precisely what the building may have been used for, and as a result, additional excavation may occur in this area of the site during the 2016 season.

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