Work in Trench A in the early morning kicks up dust that Jay has spun into gold. Violaine, with Ashley and Shaina speaks with Abdel-Aziz, the gufti for this square, and they compare notes about the stone clearance.

In Trench B, Betsy and Meredith look at the baked brick feature that continues to expand as we excavate. More brick appears in the northeast corner of the square, but as with Trench B, stratigraphy is nowhere to be found. Ashley oversees the sieving of the dirt for the squares just a few steps away from Trench B.

Violaine, Ashley, and Shaina now work to extend Trench A to the east, further into the lake bed itself. Because we are so far down the hill from the west side of the square, trying to level the tape measure becomes a bit tricky for our shorter-than-six-foot archaeologists, but with three people it’s a snap.

Hiroko is moving back and forth between cleaning blocks within the temple and caring for objects found in the excavation. She comes over to Trench A after work moves to the east extension and covers the stone that has been exposed. Because the soil is so damp, she covers the stone to slow the drying process. Otherwise, the salt from the lake water (it is highly salty) will effloresce strongly. Then she returns to the mechanical cleaning of a door jamb block.

Meredith, Shaina, and Ashley chat as they watch over the two squares. In Trench B the baked brick emerges better preserved at a lower level and suggests that we will see more of it in coming days. The lake still beckons, and we hope that the draining will take place soon… .