05 LUGLIO 2017  

Area 2000

For the first three hours we finished cleaning and excavating the skeleton, which exposed the right ribs 3-8 and the left scapula. We also uncovered the two clavicles, which originally looked fused but were actually held together by dirt. Then we cleaned the section in order to take photographs for 3-D photogrammetry. We started on the other southern burial near the church; uncovering part of the grave cut and determining the postion to be west-to-east orientation. After lunch we finished the skeletal context sheet for the first nothern burial and continued to expose the skull of the southern burial. Once the total station was ready we took 27 points on the northern 2781 burial. We began to remove the skeleton, taking out the tarsels and metatarsels for both feet, the left tibia, and the right fibula. For the other grave (2802) we uncovered the skull, the left and right humerus, both clavicles, and the right scapula. Tomorrow we will completely remove the 2781 skeleton and continue to uncover the 2802 skeleton.

Area 3000

Nel corso della giornata si è proceduto con la documentazione e con la successiva rimozione dell’individuo mal preservato USK 3781, orientato W-E e deposto supino in US -3769, nella porzione centro-meridionale del Settore B, lungo USM 5003. Più ad ovest è iniziata l’indagine della fossa sepolcrale US – 3789, orientata W-E e perpendicolare alla facciata USM 3380. La rimozione del riempimento US 3790, a matrice argillo-limosa di colore giallastro e di consistenza abbastanza compatta, ha evidenziato la presenza di alcune ossa, la cui possibile connessione anatomica sarà meglio approfondita domani.

Today, we continued excavating the skeleton (USK3781) and also began to level other sections of Sector B to search for new potential skeletons to excavate. We successfully excavated all of the sub-cranial remains of USK3781. Specifically, we excavated the left humerus and ulna, both scapulas and clavicles, the sacrum, the pelvis, left and right ribs and the entire vertebral column. Tomorrow, we will photograph what remains of the cranium and attempt to remove it without creating any additional damage to the remaining right side. 

Area 5000

Today we continued excavating the second hole near the wall running north to south. The hole continued to be filled with charcoal, flint, quartz, shale, various types of rock, and a single piece of pottery. While digging we discovered a large slab of shale leading us to believe that the hole dated around 1600 (assuming it was once part of a roof that had caved in), however, when we dug closer to the wall, two giant slabs of rock were uncovered. Unlike the rest of the wall, this section used the two giant slabs of rock as support for the stones to form the wall while the rest of the structure used mortar as a support. This unusual find changed our previous dating of the hole since it became unclear which had come first: the hole or the wall. If these slabs of rock were naturally occuring it is possible that the builders of the wall simply used the natural resource instead of mortar in which case the hole would be made much later. However, if these slabs were placed there, they must have been moved by the builders and used to fill the hole in question leading us to believe that the hole came before the wall. Tomorrow we will further investigate the area   in hopes of clearing up the dating of the hole.

Area 6000

 Prosegue la rimozione della riduzione presente nella fossa che ospitava l'individuo USK 6175. Durante tali operazioni nuove ossa in connessione sembrano testimoniare la presenza di ulteriori individui e tagli che, nella successione temporale, si sono intercettati a vicenda.

Today we removed the reduction on the right side of US6168. Later the skull that lays in between in US6168 and US6169 was exposed along with half a right radius, half a right ulna, right scapula, right humerus, and a right clavicle.