29 July 2015

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29 July 2015

Opening daily elevations taken of Locus 19 :

NW Corner: 22.45m A.E.

NE Corner: 22.99m A.E.

SE Corner: 23.00m A.E.

SW Corner: 23.23m A.E. (top corner of worked stone)

Excavation resumed in Locus 19 , excavating around the large worked stone fragment. Two stones removed from the interior of the circular feature along the eastern wall. The stones are 10 and 25cm respectively. Soil is yellow in color and moist and claylike with flecks of deteriorating rock. It is included with small amounts of pottery. The tile dump from Locus 14 - 18 that is currently a meter south of T 62 is being relocated to join the tile dump for the rest of the site about four meters east of T 62. The stones taken from the western exterior profile that are currently lined up on tarp in the order of their removal are also being piled together on

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one tarp three meters to the north of T 62 to create a more usable space around the trench in order to pull large stones out of the trench. Material consists of bone and pottery as well as small worn fragments of terra cotta. A stone, ~15cm in length, removed from the southwestern exterior face of the feature. A stone, ~10cm in length, removed from the same area of the exterior face as the previous stone. Two more exterior profile stones removed from the southwestern face. Deteriorating rock patches are present on the eastern edge of the large worked stone still in situ. A stone, ~30cm in length, removed from the northwestern exterior face of the circular feature. An exterior stone, ~20cm in length, removed from the southwestern face. The large worked stone has been exposed more fully and now is more rectangular than cube shaped. As the elevation goes deeper the worked stone appears fractured.

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The top corner on the northern side and eastern side of the worked stone has been broken in ancient times, but the other sides appear to be finished. Soil remains moist and claylike with mottling of yellow, brown, black, and white. The soil under the southern edge of the worked stone is extremely hard packed. The soil is heavily included with carbon and deteriorating rock. A stone, ~10cm in length, removed from the interior of the circular feature. Another stone, ~10cm in length, removed from the interior of the circular feature. Soil remains moist, claylike, and hard packed. It is a yellowish brown soil that is mottled with grey deteriorating rock, carbon, and small worn pieces of terra cotta. A stone, ~35cm in length, removed in multiple pieces from the northwestern face of the exterior profile of the circular feature. Another stone, ~30cm, removed from just below the previous stone. A stone, ~40cm in length, removed from the exterior profile just south of the previous two

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stones.

PM Work continues in the eastern half of the interior of the circular feature, in an attempt to remove as much soil as possible from beside the worked stone fragment. Soil is simultaneously being removed from the southern portion of the feature. Work in the east has shifted to better defining stones at higher elevations. While working in the south, a ~5cm stone was removed from the southern portion of the western exterior face.

Two stones, both ~20cm in length, removed from the northwestern exterior profile of the circular feature, approximately 1.85m above the trench floor because the soil surrounding the stones had been dried out by the sun and were in danger of falling. The soil within the circular feature has become extremely hard packed and is a white deteriorating stone mottled with yellow and grey.

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Work ended for the day.

Daily Totals:

Locus 19:

Terra cotta: 1/10 bowl

Pottery: 1 latte (79 fragments)

Bone: 1/3 latte (14 fragments)

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