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Wednesday, July 12 2023

AM

We began working in Locus 45, continuing to work from N to S and E to W in order to expose the plaster-rich surface of EPOC4’s floor that underlies Locus 45. As we push further west, it is becoming apparent that the plaster-rich floor surface of EPOC4 has not been sufficiently exposed to the north of Locus 45; the plaster-rich floor surface is sloping downward from E to W, while the trench surface to the north of Locus 45 is level. Moreover, the plaster-rich floor surface to the north of Locus 45 was only exposed in the central meters of the trench, from app. 106-106.50E, but has not been exposed to the west of the 106E gridline.

The soil of Locus 45 is relatively loose and is heavily mottled, with terracotta, charcoal, plaster, and limestone inclusions. We are excavating using handpicks and trowels, hand-sorting soil in the trench, then passing soil through 1cm and 2mm gauge sieves. We are recovering high quantities of plaster, pottery, and slag, with smaller quantities of bone and vitrified terracotta. While working in the north-central meter of the locus, we recovered a bronze fragment (Find #21).

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We continue to work out of the NE corner of the locus, exposing the underlying plaster-rich surface of EPOC4’s floor, which is sloping downward both from N to S and from E to W. The soil remains mottled, although it is less mottled in the southern and western parts of the locus. We also are recovering more material culture in the more mottled part of the locus, in the northeastern quadrant. There, we are recovering high quantities of pottery and slag, moderately high quantities of plaster and bone, and small quantities of vitrified terracotta. We also recovered crucible fragments (Find #22), a pithos fragment with adhered slag (Find #23) that was recovered from the tile bowl, and a plaster fragment preserving reed impressions and a finished surface (Find #24).

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Special Finds:

• Find #21

• Locus 45

• 105.13E/45.17S

• 26.39m A.E.

• Bronze fragment

• Find #22

• Locus 45

• 106.04E/45.35S

• 26.34m A.E.

• Crucible fragments

• Find #23

• Locus 45

• 105-106E/44.75-46S

• +/- 5cm: 26.36m A.E.

• Pithos fragment with adhered slag

• Tile bowl find

• Find #24

• Locus 45

• 106.15E/45.70S

• 26.28m A.E.

• Plaster with reed impressions and a finished surface

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PM

We continued working in Locus 45, exposing the plaster-rich floor surface of EPOC4 that underlies the locus. The soil of Locus 45 continues to be loose, claylike, and mottled, with mottling especially prominent in the NE quadrant of the locus. We are continuing to recover high quantities of pottery and slag and moderately high quantities of plaster, bone, and vitrified terracotta. Working from E to W and N to S, we are continuing to find that the plaster floor surface of EPOC4 slopes downward from NE to SW. Early in the afternoon, we recovered two crucible fragments (Finds #25, 26), a rocchetto fragment (Find #27), a ridged rim fragment (Find #28), and a piece of cut antler (Find #29). In the sieve, towards the end of the afternoon, we found two additional crucible fragments (Finds #30, 31).

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Locus 45:

• Tile and plaster: ¾ bowl

• Pottery: 333 sherds

• Bone: 53 fragments

• Slag: 73 fragments

• Vitrified terracotta: 21 fragments

Special Finds:

• Find #25

• Locus 45

• 105.07E/45.11S

• 26.32m A.E.

• Crucible fragment

• Find #26

• Locus 45

• 105.24E/45.29S

• 26.36m A.E.

• Crucible fragment

• Find #27

• Locus 45

• 105.96E/45.36S

• 26.33m A.E.

• Rocchetto fragment

• PC20230014

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• Find #28

• Locus 45

• 105.83E/45.54S

• 26.44m A.E.

• Ridged rim fragment

• PC20230009

• Find #29

• Locus 45

• Sieve find

• 106.20-106.50E/44.90-46S

• +/- 5cm: 26.35m A.E.

• Cut antler fragment

• PC20230013

• Find #30

• Locus 45

• 105.55E/45.34S

• 26.39m A.E.

• Crucible fragment

• Find #31

• Locus 45

• 105.81E/45.60S

• 26.35m A.E.

• Crucible fragment

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