On Day 3 of excavations at Aparani Berd we both closed operation two and began operation three. The morning commenced by completing locus 3 (also known as the pit), Material inclusions became increasingly fewer in number, with the limited presence of obsidian, ceramic materials, and bone. While the fill maintained a consistently different color and consistency from that of the exterior loci, it did not appear to be an altogether significant feature -- there was nothing prominent residing within it. This, in conjunction with the sterile bedrock found in locus 3 at the western edge of the trench, led us to conclude our work in this particular area of the site.
After conducting a brief (re)survey of the site, we decided to place operation 3 outside the western gate. We opted to place a geometrically friendly 3x4m trench on the northeast lower lying terrace. We excavated locus 1 (~10-15 cm) without much difficulty. The material density was moderate. We encountered a mixture of EB, MB, LB and possibly even iron age pottery, as well as a notable amount of obsidian and some bone. As the day came to a close we named locus 2, which was characterized by its loose, ashy and darker colored matrix that had larger sized clasts. On our next day in the field, we will begin by taking down locus 2, in an effort to make our way down (hopefully) to a level of greater stratigraphic integrity that bears some relationship to the visible surface architecture.