Continued excavation revealed yet another
ceramic vessel, this one found in the north baulk and
labelled cat. 522 which also had a lid (cat. 528). This
vessel was found to have a small piece of limestone
sitting atop the lid. In the east baulk at this depth, a
limestone boulder was uncovered and it was apparent
that this stone capped yet another ceramic vessel which sat in the east baulk of Unit 5.
The pit into which the vessel (cat. 518) was placed was
discernible as a circular feature around the vessel and
a difference in soil colour was noted (the feature being
2.5YR 3/6 compared to the matrix which was 2.5YR
4/8). Cat. 518 sat on a bed of gravel, sand and larger
pieces of light-coloured marl at 1066.26m asl. Two
pieces of charcoal were retrieved from this bed as well
(cat. 519, 526).
Beneath the large quartz-rich boulder (1:1 F2), the ceramic
sherds labelled as cat. 517 are clearly differentiated
from the other vessel found beneath the boulder
and probably represent another separate deposit.
At this point all of the ceramic vessels in the unit were
exposed and found to be oblong in shape.
As cat. 522, the ceramic vessel, was located mostly outside
the unit, a decision was made to excavate down to
expose the vessel from outside Unit 5 proper and this
is when the presence of the broken lid and limestone
pebble was discovered.
At the 2:3 level, another ceramic vessel was encountered,
cat. 523, which sat beneath the limestone boulder
that was uncovered in the preceding spit and protrudes
from the east baulk. In removing the boulder,
a piece of human cranium was found and some long
bones were located beneath it. It is likely that these
bones are related to the limestone that sat atop them
but perhaps unrelated to the jar (cat. 523) below. It may
be that this represents a later disturbance of an earlier
jar burial. The human remains were labelled as Burial
6.
It was impossible to remove all the large ceramic
jars due to the presence of the large boulder and the
amount of excavation required. Three of the vessels
were left in situ (cat. 523, 525 and 520). A charcoal sample
(cat. 532) from just north of the cylindrical jar (cat.
525) was collected for radiocarbon dating.
Continued excavation revealed yet another ceramic vessel, this one found in the north baulk and labelled cat. 522 which also had a lid (cat. 528). This vessel was found to have a small piece of limestone sitting atop the lid. In the east baulk at this depth, a limestone boulder was uncovered and it was apparent that this stone capped yet another ceramic vessel which sat in the east baulk of Unit 5. The pit into which the vessel (cat. 518) was placed was discernible as a circular feature around the vessel and a difference in soil colour was noted (the feature being 2.5YR 3/6 compared to the matrix which was 2.5YR 4/8). Cat. 518 sat on a bed of gravel, sand and larger pieces of light-coloured marl at 1066.26m asl. Two pieces of charcoal were retrieved from this bed as well (cat. 519, 526). Beneath the large quartz-rich boulder (1:1 F2), the ceramic sherds labelled as cat. 517 are clearly differentiated from the other vessel found beneath the boulder and probably represent another separate deposit. At this point all of the ceramic vessels in the unit were exposed and found to be oblong in shape.
As cat. 522, the ceramic vessel, was located mostly outside the unit, a decision was made to excavate down to expose the vessel from outside Unit 5 proper and this is when the presence of the broken lid and limestone pebble was discovered. At the 2:3 level, another ceramic vessel was encountered, cat. 523, which sat beneath the limestone boulder that was uncovered in the preceding spit and protrudes from the east baulk. In removing the boulder, a piece of human cranium was found and some long bones were located beneath it. It is likely that these bones are related to the limestone that sat atop them but perhaps unrelated to the jar (cat. 523) below. It may be that this represents a later disturbance of an earlier jar burial. The human remains were labelled as Burial 6.
It was impossible to remove all the large ceramic jars due to the presence of the large boulder and the amount of excavation required. Three of the vessels were left in situ (cat. 523, 525 and 520). A charcoal sample (cat. 532) from just north of the cylindrical jar (cat. 525) was collected for radiocarbon dating.