is an addition to the bottom step of the U. 27 stairway (Fig. 10). Exposed in the original excavations of St. 23 (Table 1.1 and TR. 2:28, 36), Coe and Broman assumed that the entire stairway postdated Plat. 7F-1-1st:Fl. 1, on which U. 33 rests. As it turns out, U. 33 was a later addition that increased the depth of the lowest tread to 0.85 m. A secondary turnup to it from Fl. 1 can be seen.
STRUCTURE 7F-30-1ST-A
Defining this structure is a small platform, U. 34 (Fig. 9), added onto the base of the stairway on Fl. 1 of Plat. 7F-1-1st, on Str. 7F-30:U. 33, and on the lowest two steps of U. 27 (Fig. 10). Within its fill were several smashed censers, PD. 100. Excavated in 1957 by Coe and Broman, it is adequately described in TR. 2 (pp. 28 and 36–38; Table 1.1 herein).
Structure 7F-31
The only excavation of 7F-31, a small, squarish structure built against the S side of Str. 7F-30, was a trench through its front-rear axis, and a probe along the N side of its W wall (see Fig. 8, 9, and 11). Although few details are known, these, coupled with inferences from mound configuration and reconstructions of Str. 7F-30, permit a general understanding of the structure (see Table 2.3).
STRUCTURE 7F-31-2ND
Evidence from the axial trench shows that construction of 7F-31-2nd was preceded by partial destruction of Str. 7F-30-3rd (as CS. 3), which evidently extended this far S (Fig. 7). Apparently, the W fill, floors, and walls of 3rd were completely stripped back to Str. 7F-30:U. 25 (the front wall of the supplementary platform for 4th). In the process, the top of U. 25 (along with whatever floor existed behind it), the wall of the building platform of 4th, Str. 7F-30:U. 22, 23, and 24, and some of their fills were removed. Into what remained, a grave was dug for Bu. 159, the shaft of which was subsequently filled and sealed by a thin stratum of small stones (Str. 7F-31:U. 3).
As CS. 2, a substructure wall (U. 1) was installed against the E face of fill for Str. 7F-30-4th. Built of well-dressed, rectangular blocks of stone, how high this stood is unknown, for its top has since collapsed. Suspected is that one course of masonry is missing, placing a substructure pavement that is no longer present just above U. 3. The latter would have served above the burial fill as a foundation for a plaster surface. This reconstruction accords reasonably well with what is known of the stairway for 7F-31-2nd, and places the summit of 2nd about 0.35 m below that of the lower level of the 30-2nd building platform (as seen in the deep trench, Fig. 10).
West of Bu. 159, medium-brown earth was dumped over what survived of Str. 7F-30-4th fill (Fig. 11:7). Although the later intrusion of Bu. 193 had disrupted the stratigraphy, it is probable that the packed gray earth fill for the stairs (U. 2) was piled up against this fill; the stairs themselves were built on Plat. 7F-1-2nd:Fl. 1 (beneath the stair fill, this joins Plat. 7F-3:U. 8). A projection upwards of the average tread and riser measurements of the surviving five steps that were not destroyed by intrusion of Bu. 193 accords reasonably well with the reconstructed elevation for the substructure floor, discussed above. Moreover, the juncture occurs in line with the later front wall of Str. 7F-31-1st. Since U. 1 was probably reused in that structure, the location of the front walls may have been about the same for the earlier one. In short, the reconstruction of Str. 7F-31-2nd up to this point is fairly secure.
Excavations did not encounter the N and S walls of U. 2 so there is no certainty about its width. In Fig. 8, it is reconstructed as being the same width as the stairway for Str. 7F-31-1st, making it about as wide relative to the N-S dimension of the structure as U. 27 is relative to the same dimension of the building platform for 7F-30-2nd. A reconstruction of the N and S faces of the structure is somewhat problematical (Fig. 8:63, 64). Since the E wall of 2nd seems to have been reused for 1st, the N and S walls may have been as well. It also appears that the location of the W face of 2nd was the same as that of 1st. Given all this, it is reasonable to project the reconstruction of 1st backwards to 2nd; moreover, it conforms well with a reconstruction of a building platform for Str. 7F-30-2nd that is symmetrical relative to its stairway. Worth noting, too, is that the posited location of the S end of 7F-31-2nd is virtually the same as the S end of the supplementary platform for Str. 7F-30-3rd and 4th (Fig. 7:56). Thus, it is possible that a portion of that wall, rather than being demolished, was incorporated into the new wall for Str. 7F-31-2nd; alternatively, the new wall for 7F-31-2nd could have been laid up against fill for Str. 7F-30-4th (as was done with Str. 7F-31:U. 1).
In sum, Str. 7F-31-2nd appears to have been roughly square in shape, and considerably smaller and lower than Str. 7F-30-2nd, which it abutted. Assumed is that some sort of building stood on its platform as was true of 1st; a final construction stage (CS. 1) is proposed for its construction.
STRUCTURE 7F-31-1ST-B
This structure is somewhat of an enigma, so far as its top is concerned, but its substructure can be reconstructed with a fair measure of confidence (Fig. 9). Work began with the partial demolition of 2nd (CS. 3), including removal of the substructure floor, and all but five of the U. 2 stairs (see Fig. 11). This demolition seems to have been specifically for the intrusion of Bu. 193 through stairway fill, and into the old Plat. 7F-3:U. 8. Following this, the burial shaft was filled with gray-colored earth, similar to that originally used for U. 2, mixed with blocks of masonry. The same material dug out for the grave was probably replaced, along with the stair masonry. New steps (U. 4) were then built directly over the old ones (CS. 2). Of these, only five now remain, but they once rose a total of 2.22 m above Plat. 7F-1-2nd:Fl. 1, on which they were built. Beginning at this elevation, but 1.20 m E of the final riser of U. 4, is another stairway, U. 7, consisting of four steps. These lead to an elevation 1.00 m above the top of U. 4. It appears, then, that U. 4 led to some sort of a “landing,” and that the substructure floor was higher, possibly at the elevation of the uppermost step of U. 7. No pavement survives, however, and it is possible that U. 7 rose higher, the uppermost steps having since been destroyed. If so, the substructure summit would have been quite small, and so this possibility seems remote. There is no evidence that Str. 7F-31-1st-B was served by a new rear wall; more likely, U. 1 was built upwards to the new floor level. This is at least consistent with the configuration of the ruin mound, and no trace of another wall was found.
Enigmatic are two walls, U. 5 and 6, exposed N of the stairway. Unit 5 is of a single course, built on about the same level as the “landing” between U. 4 and 7. Unit 6 was built immediately behind it, at the same elevation as the top of U. 5. Unit 6 now stands 1.20 m in height, probably not far from its full original height, for it seems too thin to have supported much above what survives. Perhaps the stone (Fig. 11:12) on the top of U. 4 is the now-fallen top course. Evidently, then, U. 4 led to a doorway in U. 5 and 6, with U. 7 continuing up inside these walls. Similar recessed stairs may be seen in structures W of 5C-54 in the “Lost World” Group.
TABLE 2.3
Structure 7F-31: Time Spans
There are two possibilities for U. 5 and 6: either they represent the front of an upper platform for 1st, into which the U. 7 stairs were inset, or else they represent the wall (possibly base-wall) for a building. The second alternative is favored for three reasons: (1) The relationship between U. 5 and 6 is suggestive of a building wall with plinth, albeit a large one (cf. Str. 7F-29-1st:Fig. 2); (2) There is no evidence that U. 7 ever rose as high as the top of U. 6; (3) Large blocks of masonry above the reconstructed floor level for 1st (Fig. 11:13) suggest masonry fallen from building walls onto accumulating debris over such a surface. Thus, a final construction stage (CS. 1) is proposed for erection of such a building, probably partially of pole-and-thatch, given absence of vault stones and the thinness of U. 6.
Units
