Daily Log

153

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

AM

Work began with a pick pass of the northern half of the trench.  For the most part, soil is dark brown, claylike, and mottled.  However, near the middle of the northern baulk wall, some extremely hard packed, yellow soil was uncovered.  At first this yellow soil appeared to be sterile, and in fact, no material was recovered from this section; however, this yellow soil contians inclusions of carbon, so it is not a truly sterile soil or a geologic feature.  The pick pass was continued in the southern half of the trench.  During this entire pick pass, soil was shovelled into buckets and sorted over the wheelbarrow.  Some small bronze fragments were found in the wheelbarrow during this pick pass, and so bulk bronze was established.

During the first pick pass, in the lowest parts of the trench, a high concentration of tile began to appear in a much redder, heavily mottled soil, and so another pick apss was begun, again startin in the north and avoiding the hard packed yellow soil.  This was done in order to try and expose this new reddish soil and tile throughout the trench.  Soil continues to be shovelled into buckets and sorted over the wheelbarrow.  During this pick pass, a sherd of slipped pottery with what may be a stripe (Find #1) and a piece of cut bone (Find #2) were recovered.

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After this pick pass, extremely mottled soil began to appear throughout most of the northern half of the trench, except in the NE corner, where the soil remains hard packed and yellow.  However, some material has appeared within this soil, including a rosette applique fragment (Find #3)

Diagram of trench

Finds

• Find #1
• Locus 8
• 53.33S/195.16E
• 26.36m A.E.
• Slipped pottery sherd with possible painted line

20070231

20070231

• Find #2
• Locus 8
• 52.92S/194.65E
• 26.46m A.E.
• Cut bone/antler

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• Find #3
• Locus 8
• Bucket find
• App. 52.91S/197.04E
• 26.47m A.E.
• Rosette applique fragment

PM

With the find of the rosette applique, which is datable to the archaic period, sitting at the top of the hard-packed yellowish soil, and the pressence of a reddish, very mottled soil, which has been identified as post-orientalizing destruction but pre-archaic soil, it was decided to prepare the trench for the closing of Locus 8 and the opening of Loci 9 and 10 ; Locus 9 will be the yellow soil and Locus 10 will be the mottled soil.  Baulk walls were trimmed.

Locus 8

• Tile and plater: 4.5 bowls
• Pottery: 103 sherds
• Bone: 39 pieces

Baulk Trim:

• Tile and plaster: 2 bowls
• Pottery: 31 sherds
• Bone: 28 pieces

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