Locus 33 was situated stratigraphically below Locus 32, in the eastern meters of the trench, to the east and south of deposits excavated at the end of 2019 (Loci 28, 29). The deposit measures app. 3.2m in length and 1 meter in width. Locus 33 was excavated using handpicks and trowels and soil was hand-sorted in the trench before being passed through 1cm and 2mm gauge sieves. Four buckets of soil were collected as a flotation sample.

The soil of Locus 33 was somewhat red in color and was loose in compaction and texture. Its reddish color was caused by high quantities of plaster. Quantities of plaster were higher in the southern meters of the locus than in the northern ones, closest to EPOC4’s southern foundation wall. Locus 33 also contained some charcoal, including examples that were collected as samples.

Aside from plaster, we recovered relatively little material culture from Locus 33. The deposit did contain moderate quantities to terracotta roofing tiles, pottery, bone, slag, and vitrified terracotta, but noticeably fewer materials than in the overlying deposit, Locus 32. However, some datable materials were recovered, including a navicella fibula fragment (PC20220019), indicating that this deposit dates to the first half of the 7 ^th century.

Stratigraphically, Locus 33 underlies Locus 32 and overlies Loci 34, 35, and 36. It is equivalent to and contemporary with Loci 7, 19, 24, and 28.

By virtue of datable finds, stratigraphic position, and the location of material culture within this deposit, we associate Locus 33 with the collapse of EPOC4’s southern wall, which was composed of wattle and daub; this explains the concentrations of plaster in the deposit. The fact that finds dating to the first half of the 7^th century come from the debris of EPOC4’s southern wall suggests an early date for the construction of EPOC4, perhaps as early as 700 BCE.