Last day of July. RB, PA, ATS at Tsakahovit.
Morning rounds:
Set out extension to ET1 taking trench to outer edge of terrace. It is now approximately a 13.5x3m trench. Wall in middle of trench we hope is sitting on LBA floor but from face currently open a bit unclear.
C3: Work continuing in Areas BE, AE, and D. In D, continuation of stone floor visible in east. In West, we have a line of stones that resembles a wall but poorly organized. This leaves only the center open for excavation. In BE still clearing top of wall. In AE, now clearing down against interior face of wall.
C5: Largely finished with area open for excavation. Now we are clearing 2 sections across top of citadel wall to define architectural plan. From here and C3 I think we can now think about the site in terms of 3 Strata.
I. LBA: Lowest level in C5 with large boulders joined by intervening small stone constructions. In C3c, large boulders beneath stone floor plus, I think, large wall in A and B. We might also differentiate a Ia phase--basin and floor in A--from Ib phase--large wall.
II. Achaemenid: In C5, floor with Achaemenid vessels appears to be our middle occupation. This floor also correlates with visible interior face of fortification wall. In C3, this would be the level of the stone floor and also interior fortification face.
III. Hellenistic: The last occupation is just under the surface in C3 and includes the small wall in Area B and vessels found in area D. In C5, the small wall built off of the citadel wall and went atop the Achaemenid vessels correlates with this period.
Note from Gegharot: In Trench 2, Ian found a EBA obsidian spear point as he was opening/cleaning the upper wall in the original T2. We now seem fairly certain that the upper wall is EBA and the curving wall below that is a LBA construction cut into the EBA level.