Update for Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Today, the 2nd day in the field, all the teams were fully excavating and finds began to pop up!

In Area D, Jeff and his team started working in various squares in the vicinity of the gate. As will be detailed as we go along, they are trying to understand the dating, phasing and function of the fortification, walls and rooms built up against this area. Things are looking good!

Area K: Eric and his team opened up a series of squares to the north of the squares that had been excavated in previous seasons, hoping to eventually connect to the very impressive wall line, most probably originally a fortification wall, that is just to the north. As we move along the season, we hope to be able to begin to understand this wall, its dating and phases, and its relationship to the adjacent features in Area K.

Area K2: Brent and his team opened up 3 new squares adjacent to an additional section of this same wall (from Area K), once again with the aim of understanding the wall, its dating and phasing and relationship to other features. One of the interesting questions in Area K2 is whether there will be Iron I features on surface (as in nearby Area Y – see below), or Iron IIA features as in nearby Area K. Time will tell!

Area Y: Just to the south of Area K2, Jill and her team opened up three new squares to the north and north west of last year’s squares, in an attempt to find more parts of the very interesting burnt features that were found last year (and had appeared in the magnetometry as well). Lots of questions that we don’t have answered about these features, so this should be very interesting!

Area M: Maria and her team continued working in some of the squares from last year, as well as opened a few new ones, to better understand the architecture and various features that were discovered last year, and to try and get to additional features, such as a road, seen in the magnetometry. And lo and behold, the team found some very nice looking walls, and what seems to be a restorable vessel. So we should have lots more of great finds from here!

In addition, the IAA team continued excavating near the parking lot, and a couple of more vessels came out. It seems that not only is there an Iron IIA level, they are exposing an earlier level, most probably from the early Iron IIA or late Iron I.

And here’s the daily clip: