Today's work included the completion of work in locus 16, the beginning of further EB excavations and rock pulling as locus 25, and downward progress in trench west as topsoil locus 24 advanced.
In trench east, work in locus 16 arrived at a level of rock fall consisting of rather consistently sized, rectangular andesite pebbles, which sits on top of additional EB materials (a clay EB floor. We are removing this rocky and clayey matrix and the materials in it in anticipation of excavating the EB floor surface and its associated materials next. A beautiful, smoky obsidian blade fragment was recovered from this locus. Some of the larger stones in this deposit initially appears to compose a wall running roughly NW to SE, but this formation quickly dissolved as we excavated deeper and pulled floating rocks.
In trench West excavation continued deeper in locus 24, revealing a significant layer of cobble fall throughout every portion of the 2.5m "extension," except in the area directly above Pit 401 in the column. Material frequencies were moderate, featuring mostly LB pottery, expected for this uphill (up terrace) portion of the operation. One hammerstone was also recovered from this colluvial layer. A more compact, more silty deposit, already visible in the exposed mid-trench section is our target here. It appears that if we are successful in completing this "extension" quickly, we may be able to extend further east OR extend westwards to attempt further definition of the site's EB occupation.
Mapping was put on hold today as the total station was in use at Gegharot.