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Thursday, July 30 2023

AM

We began working in Locus 46, the soil deposit infilling the rectilinear cut made into EPOC4’s floor. The soil is predominantly dark grayish brown and is slightly mottled, with some patches of a lighter, olive-brown colored soil. We are app. 15-20 cm below the surface of EPOC4’s plaster-rich floor and some larger stones (max. Dimensions 20-30cm) are starting to appear, although it currently is unclear if they may form a feature. Additionally we recovered a fragment of odd terracotta (Find #66) and what appears to be a carbonized seed (Find #67). We are excavating using handpicks and trowels, hand-sorting soil in the trench, then passing it through 1cm and 2mm gauge sieves.

A few larger stones are beginning to appear in the western half of the locus, but these appear to be loosely strewn in the same soil deposit. We photographed them in situ, so that we can continue excavating and remove any stones that are situated within the soil deposit of Locus 46. Additionally, we decided to collect soil

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Infilling the rectangular cut for flotation, as we now have recovered organic materials from this deposit. Therefore, we will stop sieving soil, to preserve the integrity of any seeds of ecofacts situated in this deposit. We also will continue to special find any ecofacts, along with burnt bone, as such forms of material culture may have been generated and deposited by ritual activities.

The nature of this deposit continues to differ from other deposits contemporary and predating EPOC4. In the previous Locus, Locus 45, which is associated with EPOC4 debris following the abandonment and destruction, we recovered fairly high quantities of slag and crucible fragments. In deposits underlying EPOC4’s floor, in previous seasons, we recovered exceptionally high quantities of slag, crucible fragments, and tile fragments with adhered slag. Moreover, we now are digging at a lower elevation in Locus 45 than was excavated in prior seasons, like Loci 31 (2019) and 39 (22). This further distinguishes this deposit infilling the rectangular cut from other EPOC4 deposits and contexts.

As we excavate deeper into the deposit, the amount of material culture that we are recovering seems to be dwindling; we still are recovering some worn fragments of tile and pottery, but little else.

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In the eastern half of the locus, we are at a slightly lower elevation than in the western half, which contains some larger stones. In the eastern half of the locus, soil may be getting more compacted, although it is unclear if this is just a patch of soil or a soil change. We are working to level the western half of the locus to the eastern half. While working in the western half of the locus, we recovered a crucible fragment (Find #68). Additionally, while sorting through a bucket of soil from the western half of the locus, before collecting the soil for flotation, we recovered a sherd of fluted bucchero (Find #69).

Special Finds:

• Special find #66

• Locus 46

• 106.22 E/45.98 S

• 26.10m A.E.

• Odd terracotta fragment

• Special find #67

• Locus 46

• 105.77 E/46.16 S

• 26.02m A.E.

• Possible carbonized seed

• Special find #68

• Locus 46

• Crucible fragment

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• Special find #69

• Locus 46

• Soil bucket find

• +/- 30cm: 105.30 E/45.85 S

• +/- 2cm: 26.05m A.E.

• Fluted bucchero fragment

PM

We continued working in Locus 46, with one person now excavating from within the cut made into EPOC4’s plaster-rich floor. We have begun by concentrating on the western half of the lous, which still is a slightly higher elevation than the eastern half of the locus. In the eastern half, the soil still is the same dark grayish brown, claylike, loosely compacted soil that we have encountered throughout the deposit. We are excavating using handpicks and trowels and are hand sorting soil in the trench. Now that we have collected a sufficiently large soil sample for flotation, we will return to sieving our soil.

As we leveled the western half of the locus with the eastern half, we began to uncover a lighter, olive brown colored soil, similar to what first started to appear in the eastern half of the locus. Therefore, we are scraping down the floor of the locus and cleaning the walls of the cut, in preparation to close locus 46 and excavate the underlying deposit. While cleaning the northern wall of the cut, we recovered

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A large charcoal fragment, which was collected along the N wall of the cut. In fact, as we have cleaned the northern baulk wall, you can discern the stratigraphy of the deposits that underlie EPOC4; app. 10cm below EPOC4’s floor surface is a dark gray, charcoal-rich deposit. Additionally, while cleaning the eastern wall of the cut, we recovered a possible seed (Find #70).

Charcoal samples:

• Sample #1

• Locus 46

• 105.48 E/45.52 S

• 25.99m A.E.

• Charcoal sample

Locus 46:

• Tile + plaster: 1/10 bowl

• Pottery: 78 sherds

• Bone: 6 fragments

• Slag: 5 fragments

• Vitrified terracotta: 0 fragments

Special finds:

• Special find #70

• Locus 46

• 106.29 E/45.94 S

• 26,95m A.E.

• Seed

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