In the morning today I had the crew of 4 continue to remove and screen Locus 17, in a 10 cm pass, across operation WSAC. I took two soil samples from Locus 17, a) near the SE wall (partition wall) and b) closer to the northern corner of the operation. The clay matrix was still somewhat wet but dried up in the sun, which lasted until around lunch. We made it about halfway through the trench, moving from the NE to the SW, so that tomorrow we can continue to the southern corner and start removing the rockfall in the 'doorway.' In the western corner, however, it still remains dark, but not the loamy soil of the overburden- instead it is hardpacked, like the clay matrix of Locus 17, but with more small rocks strewn throughout. This is potentially a new feature in the center of room WSAC that I am coming down into, or it is a product of compressed organic material. Likely tomorrow I will open up this locus and see if the 'floor' continues beneath it.
I troweled the surface of the matrix beneath Locus 17 and there are a number of small pieces of charcoal- I took two samples that were relatively larger than the rest, but it is unclear whether they will actually be of use for radiocarbon, as they are fragmentary and not that big. The surface of this next level also consists of a more mottled composition, ranging from the medium brown of Locus 17 to a chalkier, whiter color, to a more orange color that Lori thinks might be a pre-floor treatment. A fragment of a protome, likely a bull's head, was recovered from Locus 17 also. Lori suggested that this new surface is in fact the floor of the room.
After about 1 pm the sky darkened and we took a rain break, and I decided not to continue screening after that. Instead, I had the guys continue to remove Locus 14 in WSAD, which continues to appear similar to the clay brown matrix of WSAC. After this pass is finished I will likely start screening this level. There is a coating on two of the stones that form the northern corner in WSAD that consists of a baked earth that Lori suggested might be a wall treatment aside from/in addition to the whiter, chalkier plaster seen on other stones in the two rooms. The western corner of WSAD, in front of the 'doorway,' I had originally thought was the same matrix as Locus 14, but it appears darker. Also, in the eastern corner of WSAD underneath Locus 8, the matrix is a lot more orange than the rest of the trench.