Locus 47 is a rectangular cut made into EPOC4’s plaster-rich floor surface (Locus 53). The cut is situated in the southwestern quadrant of T90, at the western edge of EPOC4’s plaster-rich floor; in fact, the western edge of the Locus 47 cut aligns with the western end of EPOC4’s plaster-rich floor surface.

The rectangular cut of Locus 47 is oriented to the cardinal points, with the long axis running exactly east-west; in fact, the orientation truly is cardinally oriented, causing a small wedge of preserved plaster-rich floor to be preserved south of Locus 47, along EPOC4’s southern foundation wall. Moreover, the cut of Locus 47 underlay Locus 45, debris from EPOC4 following the building’s abandonment and destruction, indicating that the rectangular cut of Locus 47 was intentionally made by those occupying EPOC4, during the life of the building. It is unknown why anyone would make such a cut into EPOC4’s floor, but given the cardinal orientation of this cut, it is inviting to speculate that the cut was made for ritualistic or religious purposes. Perhaps the cut may have contained a shrine or altar made of either permanent or ephemeral materials that was removed from EPOC4 when the building was abandoned; however, it must be noted that no definitive evidence for such an interpretation was recovered from the deposits infilling the Locus 47 cut.

The walls of the cut are nearly vertical and the cut is approximately 35cm deep.

Locus 47 cut through EPOC4’s plaster-rich floor surface (Locus 53), along with several deposits that underlie and predate the construction of EPOC4, including Locus 15 (EPOC4 subfloor deposit excavated in 2018), Loci 38 and 39 (a charcoal-rich deposit that likely is debris from a structure underlying and predating EPOC4, excavated in 2022), and a highly-compacted, charcoal-rich deposit that may be the floor surface and hearth of an earlier structure underlying EPOC4 (Locus 31, revealed in 2019 and 2022). The cut of Locus 47 terminated at upper surface of Locus 54, a natural deposit of galestra. The cut of Locus 47 was infilled by Loci 46, 48, and 51.