Week 3 – Day 4

Wow! It was a fantastic day at the tel with a number of significant finds! Which was fitting since the good ‘ol USA celebrated its 243rd birthday!

We also had several visitors including Eran Arie, Stefan Munger, Alegre Savariego, and others.

A1 – Jane, Keegan, and Andrew uncovered a couple segments of a charred beam that seems to be related to the 9th century destruction.

A2 – Debi, Rebekah, Terry, etc. continue to work down into the Early Iron IIA destruction and several mudbrick features seem to have emerged. Oren and others took a chunk of the phytholiths for special analysis.

B2 – Debi (who did her PhD on textile production) leaped for joy when Teresa uncovered a very nice collection of loom weights in a burnt layer. It’s too soon to say if this should be related to the 9th or 8th century BCE. In this same area – Hannah found an almost complete black juglet (one of the first examples of this type at Burna). Things are becoming much more clear (but also more complicated as it usually goes) for Aharon, Sam, and Matt.

B3 – Marcella et al. finished removing the balk and now they have a very nice picture of the LB rooms with the associated finds.

G – We – along with the help of Jerry and Terry – removed what has to be the Burna record for the largest and heaviest stone! We also exposed more of the outer fortification wall and tower/buttress which is coming in very nicely. Ornali, John, and Shawn continued to work in the presumed drainage channel area. All told – most of the areas are in a good situation to end the season well.

This afternoon – Ladislav Smedja will be lecturing on the use of GIS in archaeology.

Here are some screenshots of the 3D photogrammetric models that we take/model every day of the excavation.

Area G – with the Iron II Gate and Drainage Channel(?)

Area B3 – Late Bronze building

Area B2 – Section with outer face of the fortification wall (Iron II) and the “crappy wall” (partition between glacis?)

Area A2 – multiple Iron II layers below the Iron IIB building

Area A1 – Outer fortification wall with Late Iron IIA destruction