Date: 30-Jul-97
Weather: Hot, slight wind
Number of Workers: 2
Lots Open: 908, 907, 906, 905, 894, 893
Page Reference: 337

STRATEGY: 1. Remove f230. 2. Take down interior and exterior of tholos.

SUMMARY: 1. This was completed successfully under lot 893 and good riddance! 2. I divided the western side of the trench into 4 areas; 1) the NW corner outside the tholos, 2) the SW corner outside the tholos, 3) inside the tholos south of f240 and 4) inside the tholos west of f241. Area 1: lot 905 opened and Kemal came down onto a possible plaster surface. Area 2: Lot 906 opened and I took this down roughly 3-5cm to expose the tholos stones. In the area of the gap in the ring the soil was gritty whereas elsewhere it was a pise plaster mix. Area 3: Lot 907 opened and 3-5cm of spoil removed. This exposed 4 pots, including one complete thick burnished vessel, that appeared to have been used as part of the internal tholos wall. These have been left in situ overnight. Lot 908 was taken out as we may be close to a floor surface and a 100% flotation sample was taken. In the northern extremity of this area a plaster surface was found relating to that discovered further north. Area 4: a 3cm spit was taken off under lot 894. This lies beneath 886 and 890. A further 3cm spit was taken off and a dark, black patch was found slightly higher than this. A little further south a hard plaster surface was discovered covering the rest of the area. There is no evidence for a cut for the pise building. So it is possible it was already in place when the plaster was laid. I am happy that the 4 pots are well stratified beneath the wall f242 and f241 at that point. Both of these walls appear to be later additions to the pise building, overlying the tholos.