July 2nd, 2024

AM: We ran a second pickpass moving south starting from about a meter south of the northern trench line. This pickpass broke loose large chunks of packed brown soil with a large amount of rocks spread across the entirety of the trench. Many small roots were up with thicker ones in the vicinity of the stump on the western line. After hand sifting through the soil we came across tile fragments, two small pottery fragments and a large piece of plaster.

The third pickpass was run from roughly two meters south of the north line until the southern trench line. This pickpass revealed the same amount of rocks and roots. We continued to encounter organic materials. This pass uncovered more surface level tile fragments two much smaller pieces of plaster and nine more pottery fragments. The terracotta found so far this morning is half of a bowl. After removing most of the loose dirt and rocks we clipped the roots with hand clippers and loppers for the larger roots.

We ran a fourth pickpass starting again from the northern end of the trench and picking for about a meter and a half. In this pass we continue to encounter around 5cm in size. While hand sorting dirt scooped with dustpans and trowels, we encountered more and larger pieces of tile. A few small pieces of plaster were found. We found more ceramic fragments than the past passes, especially on the western side of the trench in the middle. A few ceramic pieces were diagnostic. More roots and organic materials.

Closing Elevations

NW: 69.6 cm BD (28.164 m) NE:74 cm BD (28.12 m) SE 75.5 cm BD (28.055 m) SW: 80.5 cm BD (28.105m)

Closing Totals: 1 ¼ bowl terracotta = BF4 26 ceramic fragments = BF5 0 bone fragments = BF6

Work ended earlier for the Palio