A Hole in the Wall

Greg showing me the in situ post and burnt roofing material.

We had some really cool finds today on site in my area.  The first thing we noticed was that there was a very large piece of wood sticking out of the side of the tell where we were working.  Then Greg saw that right above it was roofing material- most likely hay thatching.  The sample was large enough for us to take a sample for C14 dating, which would be really awesome because then we could date the structure to which the beam belonged.   But the coolest thing was that we found where the beam had been in use- we found three holes for beams in the enclosure wall that are the same size!  And since the beam was found on a floor, we can estimate the height of the building- it wasn’t very tall, barely five and a half feet.  Ancient peoples tended to be shorter than modern people because of poor nutrition.   The roof beams were burnt, like much of Edfu for some reason.   There are some interesting theories about why Edfu was so burnt, including war, meteors, etc.   Though given the building materials- wood and straw- and the methods of cooking and providing light at night (fire), would it be that surprising that fires would occur and spread quickly?

Aurelie excavating the beam holes in the enclosure wall.

Today I also had a fun chat with my advisor about possible dissertation topics.  I'm actually really looking forward to starting investigative research when I return home in December.