EXCAVATION OF THE BACH 1 AREA

Mirjana Stevanovic & Ruth Tringham

The aims of the 2003 season were to excavate the walls of Building 3 down to the level of the midden underneath, and to understand the relationships between the building, the midden, and possible traces of other earlier buildings. A further aim was to excavate the adjacent rooms to the south (Spaces 87, 88, 89: Fig. 13), and to establish their relationships to each other and to Building 3.

Five major phases of occupation of Building 3 (dimensions 6 x 5.5 m) had been identified (see 2001, 2002 Archive Reports). In phases 1–3, Building 3 consisted of a single large open space or room (Space 201). Even in these earlier periods, however, there was some partitioning of space by a small wall in the north (F.772) and a low screen wall (F.601) in the centre. In previous seasons, floors and packing of different phases were exposed in different areas of the building.

Figure 12. A real surprise in the 2003 season was our discovery of a door opening or large crawl-hole (F.633) in the northern part of the East wall (F.762) of Building 3 that dated to the early phases of the house. In the subsequent phases of the house the opening was blocked. There are no traces of a later opening in the house walls. The house entrance then must have been in the roof. The wall opening is not completely preserved because its top portion has been truncated at the time when all the walls of Building 3 were truncated. The bottom part of the wall opening (F.633) comprises a series of grey floor layers. The floor colour most likely indicates where the house inhabitants were stepping as they moved in and out of the building. Originally the opening was plastered with white clay, which can be found in traces at the bottom brick, and along the vertical sides of the opening. This plaster is made of lumpy, greenish, greasy clay. The opening was blocked with small-size bricks and mortars and layers of very hard brown clay.

Figure 13. Spaces 87, 88 and 89

During the 2003 season we were successful in excavating Building 3 down to the midden levels. Once completed, we scraped the plaster layers from the wall faces and made a detailed recording and description of the wall bricks and mortars. Building 3 was thus completely excavated as were the rooms (Spaces 88 and 89), which were taken down to the earlier buildings below them. In 2002 the excavation of Space 87 produced numerous burials. Nine complete skeletons have been excavated so far from this space in at least five burial events recorded so far (see Lori Hager, Human Remains, Archive Report 2002). An important element of Space 87 is that its East and South walls are both painted in phases earlier than the latest preserved plaster. During the 2003 season, the painted walls were sampled for the pigment and binder analysis by conservator Ina St George but was not excavated further during this season. This room is only partially within the Bach 1 Area and its further excavation will continue as soon as a larger area can be opened and the room can be excavated completely. Thus its excavation will be continued in 2004.