Locus 27 was located in the central meters of the trench, immediately to the south of the bedrock
shelf underlying EPOC4’s northern foundation wall and to the east of and stratigraphically below
EPOC4’s subfloor, which was exposed in 2018 (Locus 15). It measured roughly 1.5x1.5 meters
in dimension.
Locus 27 was excavated using hand picks and trowels. Soil was hand-sorted in the trench, then
passed through first a 1cm gauge sieve, then a 2mm gauge sieve. The first wheelbarrow of soil
was only sieved through the 1cm gauge sieve and was collected as a flotation sample.
Locus 27 was a soil deposit. It was dark gray in color, and this coloration was caused by the
high quantities of charcoal that were included in the deposit. The Locus 27 deposit also was
loose in compaction and was claylike in texture.
The deposit contained exceptionally high quantities of material culture, especially for such a
small deposit. Most materials recovered from Locus 27 are associated with metal production and
with the processing and refining of metallic ores. Extraordinarily high quantities of slag were
found in Locus 27, along with 26 crucible fragments and fragments of tile or coarseware with
adhered slag. There also were relatively large amounts of pottery and bone found in Locus 27.
Locus 27 also contained a loose scattering of small stones (maximum dimension 15cm).
Locus 27 was stratigraphically positioned below a preserved portion of EPOC4’s subfloor, which
was located to the west of Locus 27. Locus 27 overlaid a compacted earthen surface that was not
excavated (Locus 31) that included a cobbling of small stones (10 cm maximum dimension) and
a ridge of compacted soil that contained larger stones (maximum dimension 25cm) and
integrated material culture (Locus 30). This surface and compacted ridge of soil and material
culture may be the preserved remains of a hut that predates EPOC4; the compacted ridge may be
a foundation element or berm of this hut. Due to stratigraphic positioning below EPOC4’s
subfloor, Locus 27 must predate the construction of EPOC4. Furthermore, the positioning of
Locus 27 above a possible hut floor coupled with the high concentrations of charcoal in this
deposit suggest that Locus 27 is associated with the destruction, or burning, of the possible hut
that predates EPOC4.
Locus 27 is equivalent to Loci 23, 26, and 29, and to Locus 10 from the 2017 excavation of T90
and to Locus 13 from the 2018 excavation of T90.