Tharros

en TARP2023_SU_10011

en TARP2023 Stratigraphic Unit 10011

en Fill

en SU 10011 represents a relatively smooth layer of compact soil extending from the eastern wall of the walled structure to the large basalt outcrop in their east. SU 10011 had a clayey texture reminiscent of the surfaces in trenches 2000 and 7000. Though there were still some larger stones sticking out of SU 10011, the layer was mostly devoid of cultural material on its surface, We decided to open a window directly next to the eastern wall of the walled structure. The soil that we excavated in this window consisted of a fairly uniform, loose, light yellowish-brown fill, with ceramics and small stones throughout. After approximately 40cm, we found the foundation course of the eastern wall of the walled structure, which was constructed of a single course of medium sized stones sticking out from the bottom of the wall. We opened another window in SU 10011 at its eastern end, directly west of the basalt outcrop. We excavated a length approximately 2 meters wide for this window, through a similarly uniform fill with moderate amounts of cultural material. About 20cm from the intended end of this window, however, we came down on a huge cut sandstone block that extended most but not all the way across the width of the trench from the south to the north. On June 22nd, we continued excavating the eastern portion of SU 10011, exposing the orangey brown soil further for another 50cm approximately. As we had already found, the orangey layer, and the stone on which it sits, did not extend all the way across the trench to the northern scarp; it instead fell away. As we excavated further west, we found that the orangey surface seemed to have been cut or scooped away, as the layer underneath SU 10011 sloped down to the east. It therefore appears that the layer under SU 10011 was cut away at some point, and filled in with SU 10011. Since SU 10011 also slopes down to cover the monumental construction in the eastern end of the trench, it could be that this construction was also dismantled at the time that SU 10011 was filled in. Since both the cut sandstone block and the monumental wall are cut/destroyed to fill in SU 10011, perhaps the two constructions are related.

May 30, 2024

en University of Cincinnati (US)

en CC-BY 4.0

en Accumulation (occupation)

en Occupation/Use

en R10.6