Locus 22 was a soil deposit located in the northern part of T90, in the trench’s central meters.  It was situated in a gap in EPOC4’s northern wall, where prior excavators removed the stones of EPOC4’s northern wall.  The locus was situated only in the northern half of the section, along the northern baulk wall of the trench, and to the north of where EPOC4’s northern wall once was.  The locus roughly was 2.5x2 meters in dimensions.

The locus was excavated using hand picks and trowels.  Soil was hand-sorted in the trench, then passed through a 1cm gauge sieve.  The first wheelbarrow of soil was collected as a sample for flotation.

Locus 22 was a deposit consisting of a medium-brown, claylike, and moderately compacted soil.  The soil also was somewhat mottled, with limestone, plaster, and charcoal inclusions.  It also contained a scattering of small stones (max. dimension 15cm) throughout the deposit, while the westernmost part of the locus was characterized by a bedrock outcropping.

In the easternmost part of the locus, there was a concentration of plaster, running along the eastern trench wall.  Other material culture recovered includes high quantities of plaster, along with moderate quantities of pottery and bone from this locus.  Nearly all ceramics found in Locus 22 are coarseware and impasto sherds.  No chronologically diagnostic pottery was recovered from Locus 22, but we did find a stamped rocchetto fragment (PC20190020) that has the same stamp as two previously-excavated examples (PC19770206, PC20040071) that could aid in dating the deposit.  We also recovered small quantities of slag and bronze.

Locus 22 underlies Locus 21 and overlies Locus 23.  Furthermore, immediately to the south of Locus 22, we revealed preserved portions of EPOC4’s floor, and it is clear that Locus 22 is stratigraphically positioned below EPOC4’s floor.  Therefore, Locus 22 must predate the laying of EPOC4’s floor.  We interpret Locus 22 to be associated with the construction of EPOC4 and to be the building’s subfloor, even though this locus is located on the exterior of the building.  This implies that EPOC4’s floor and subfloor were constructed first, then the foundation wall laid atop the completed floor surface.

Locus 22 is equivalent to Loci 9 and 15.

Cataloged Finds:

Secure Context: Yes