Place: Ar/Ge.T31.04

This locus was opened because in the NE corner, we hit a layer of clay which was under the black soil in that area, and at the top of the locus, the light tan clay is surrounded by black soil. Near the clay, I took a piece of charcoal for a C14 sample (Ar/Ge.T31.4.C14.01). The piece was approx. 3cm x 2cm x 2cm and was at a depth of 2284.81 masl.
While taking down the locus, we exposed 4 burned beams (Loci 6-9), all of which were lying on top of the clay surface. The soil in the NE corner has a light tan clay, which appear about 10 cm higher in the section than in the rest of the locus. Here there is charcoal coming out in the light clay layer, in between the higher and lower levels.

Initially, we thought that this may have been due to floors from above the trench washing down the slope after the destruction of the site and filling in around the collapsed beams. After further work in the locus revealed that the clay extended through most of the locus at a deeper level, we thought that it was more likely that the clay is a floor. The location of the beams suggested that the trench may be placed in the interior of a covered/roofed space.

BUT, if this was a floor, there does not appear to have been very much sitting directly on the floor except for the burned beams, and there is no architecture. The clay is heavily stained black, but the ceramics are small pieces and do not appear to be from whole vessels. Given the depth of the clay layer and the complicated stratigraphy, it seems likely that this was not a floor.

It is possible that the thin, flat, scattered lenses of black matrix seen in the clay layers, both coming down through them as well as in the section, are a result of discrete events of dumping ash in small amounts (e.g. a few baskets at a time, not all in the same place). This theory, however, does not explain the presence of the burned beams, both flat and angled in the clay layer. It is possible that they were removed while cleaning up after the earlier destruction event, but only C14 dating can address that.

All of the beams in Locus 4 have been sitting on tan clay (both light and medium), which indicates that the clay layer is likely a floor, though it is unclear why the clay layer was so much higher in the NE corner. Radiocarbon samples were taken from 3 of the beams, and the fourth, Locus 9 was taken for wiggle matching. We took a radiocarbon sample (Ar/Ge.T31.9.C14.01) from the lower portion of the beam that is Locus 9, as the lower portion of the beam was too decayed to take as a sample.

In the upper part of Locus 4, near the NW corner, there is another patch of tan clay, which is not contiguous with the area of light tan clay in the NE corner, at a depth of 2284.67 masl. Also in this area are pieces of extremely friable granite, which may be a result of rocks being burnt. In between the two areas of tan clay there is an area of black staining. In the lens of tan clay in the NW corner, we uncovered another part of a beam (Locus 9).

Along the middle of the eastern wall, there is an area of more compact, slightly greyer tan clay matrix, which also has the black staining seen in the rest of the locus. In the NE, there is a clear rodent burrow, which it at the bottom of Locus 4/top of Locus 10.

Objects found:
Near the beam along the northern wall, we found a small ceramic disk (Ar/Ge.T31.4.CO.01) at 2284.82 masl.
Near the middle of the eastern wall of the trench, we found a tiny ceramic cup (Ar/Ge.T31.4.CO.02) at 2284.61 masl.
Near the NE corner, we found the body of a small statuette (Ar/Ge.T31.4.CO.03), possibly a bull figurine, at 2284.59 masl.
There was a small concentration of primary flakes of obsidian at 2.5 m west from the SE corner of the trench.
Along the eastern wall, near a large fragment of decorated LBA pottery, we found a small ceramic object (Ar/Ge.T31.4.CO.04), which is sort of conical in shape with a rounded tip and a flattened end, at 2284.64 masl. It might be part of a figurine or a decorative nub on a pot.
In the SE corner, we found a spindle whorl (Ar/Ge.T31.4.CO.05) at 2284.67 masl.
In the NE corner of the locus, we found a ceramic disk (Ar/Ge.T31.4.CO.06) at a depth of 2284.70 masl. The disk was found in the layer of tan clay. We found another ceramic disk (Ar/Ge.T31.4.CO.07) nearby, at 2284.59 masl.
in the NW corner, we found a small conical object made of antler, with flattened sides (Ar/Ge.T31.4.B.01) at 2284.41 masl. In the NW corner, we also found a small piece of groundstone (Ar/Ge/T31.4.L.02) at 2284.46 masl. We also found part of a ceramic object (Ar/Ge.T31.4.CO.08), which might possibly be an andiron fragment, in the NW corner at 2284.50 masl. Also in the NW corner we found another small piece of groundstone (Ar/Ge.T31.4.L.03) at 2284.43 masl.