Trench: T90

Trench Book: KRK XVI

Locus: 48

Date and Page Opened: July 21, 2023; p. 141

Date and Page Closed: July 25, 2023; p. 171

Munsell: 2.5Y 4/4 olive brown

Description: Locus 48 was a soil deposit that infilled the rectangular cut of Locus 47 into EPOC4’s plaster-rich floor surface (Locus 53). Soil was olive-brown in color, claylike in texture, and moderately compacted. The soil contained some small limestone inclusions and also contained numerous small limestone rocks (max. dimension 15cm). The deposit was excavated using trowels, soil was hand-sorted in the trench, and a sample of four buckets of soil was collected for flotation without sieving; following the collection of this sample, soil was sieved through 1cm and 2mm gauge sieves.

The deposit of Locus 48 and the Locus 47 cut that it infilled was located in the southwestern quadrant of the trench, just north of EPOC4’s southern foundation wall. The deposit was rectangular in shape and measured roughly 1.2 x 0.8 meters in dimension, with the longer axis running east-west. The deposit also measured between 20-25cm in depth.

Locus 48 contained relatively high quantities of pottery and bone, despite its small size. We recovered 132 sherds of pottery and 40 fragments of bone from this locus. Notably, we recovered a grape pip (PC20230071) and a tondo fragment (PC20230054) from this deposit, although neither find clearly indicates why the Locus 47 cut may have been made into EPOC4’s floor. Despite the relatively high quantities of pottery and bone recovered from this locus, we recovered relatively little slag or vitrified terracotta; only 29 fragments of slag and one fragment of vitrified terracotta were found in this locus. This distinguishes Locus 48 from deposits underlying EPOC4’s floor and further indicates that Locus 48 infilled the Locus 47 cut and is distinct from deposits underlying and predating EPOC4. Therefore, this deposit likely dates to the life of EPOC4 of immediately postdates its abandonment.

Locus 48 infills Locus 47. It underlies Locus 46 and overlies Locus 51.

Cataloged Finds: PC20230054, PC20230071

Secure Context: Yes

Opening and Closing Coordinates: