Pit W

General

Context Title:	Pit W
Context Name (Publication):	Pit W
Context Name (Excavation):	Pit W
Context Description:	Pit W was excavated from the bottom of area PG near Pits Y and Z in order to more fully explore the Seal Impression Strata discovered running across the cemetery. Since these strata contained so many early seals and tablets it was clear that they were essential for dating the graves and for learning more about the administration of the city of Ur. In order to observe the strata more clearly, Pit W was much larger than most exploratory pits in the cemetery region, laid out to be 15x7 meters. It was dug from the northeast side of PG/1631 but its horizontal extents were not mapped and Benati (2015) believes that PG/1631 was mistaken for PG/1648, placing Pit W somewhat farther SE. Its published stratigraphic profile shows that PG/1631 (possibly 1648) was actually somewhere near the middle of the long side of the trench and Woolley states that Pit W was placed so as to virtually fill the gap between Pits Y and Z, but was set a few meters northeast of them. This allows for a relatively accurate placement of the pit. Pit W quickly ran through the seal impression strata but Woolley continued it down much farther, as he had with Pits Y and Z, to reach about a meter below sea level. He thus uncovered many graves earlier than the main Royal Cemetery, and because he believed them to be from the Jemdet Nasr period, he began JNG numbers for them. This discovery, combined with early graves in Pit Y, spawned the conception of a Jemdet Nasr cemetery running beneath and south of the Royal Cemetery, and in season 12 Woolley would seek to expose it in Pit X.

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General

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U Number	Museum Number (UPM Date Reg Number)	Museum Number (BM Registration Number)	Museum Number (UPM B-number)	Description (Catalog Card)
18511	33-35-99	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. Basic diorite. [Type] 8. [drawing]
18583	33-35-98	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. Limestone. White with two ochrous yellow strata. The outside cut as a flower with 12 sharply pointed petals in high relief: the color of the stone lends to the flower effect. The rim chipped: otherwise complete. [Type] 2. [drawing 1:1]
18647	33-35-97	(none)	(none)	Lead tumbler. Distorted. [The following note is an addition to original text] Not in cat. Vol IV.
18461	33-35-79	(none)	(none)	Copper pin. With decorated head thus: [reference to drawing] [drawing]
18609	33-35-6	(none)	(none)	Clay pot, painted. Red design on light pink surface. Much broken. Type JN.j.16.
18626	33-35-5	(none)	(none)	Clay vase, decorated. Drab clay. Round the shoulder, a band of incised charm pattern. Type JN.j.12. Not in catalog.
18490	33-35-465	(none)	(none)	Clay jar sealing (fragment) with impression of seal apparently in script (black) [drawing]
18608	33-35-4	(none)	(none)	Clay vase, painted. Light drab surface whereon a design in light red paint. Type JN.sj.5 Much broken.
18623	33-35-3	(none)	(none)	Clay pot. Painted. With red design on the light drab clay. Type JN.sj.8 but with 2 spouts side by side.
18527	33-35-20	(none)	(none)	Terracotta figurine. Fragment of: one of the Al Obaid female figures: nude but with a black painted girdle: the feet and the body above the waist missing. [drawing]
18485	33-35-157	(none)	(none)	Beads. Very small blue paste balls.
18588	33-35-154	(none)	(none)	Pottery bead (half of). The design carved in the clay after firing. [drawing 1:1]
18690	33-35-153	(none)	(none)	Beads. Carnelian balls and date-shaped, and one lapis lazuli ring.
18465	33-35-152	(none)	(none)	Beads. Carnelian rings and 1 tubular.
18484	33-35-150	(none)	(none)	Beads. Carnelian rings.
18427	33-35-149	(none)	(none)	Beads. Carnelian polished rings.
18433	33-35-148	(none)	(none)	Beads. Carnelian tumbler.
18580	33-35-147	(none)	(none)	Beads. Carnelian rings.
18555	33-35-146	(none)	(none)	Beads. Long rings of cowrie and other shells, shell rings and tubular, large flat rings of black stone, lapis cylindrical and balls, carnelian cylindrical.
18554	33-35-145	(none)	(none)	Beads. Carnelian rings and shell cylindrical, the latter coarsely made.
18517	33-35-112	(none)	(none)	Stone vase. Miniature. Limestone. Roughly made, irregular. [Type] 50. [drawing]
18572	33-35-111	(none)	(none)	Stone vase. Grey transluscent calcite. Same type as U.18571, (JN.57) but without the slight plate base. Rim much chipped. JN.59.
18677	33-35-110	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. Translucent white calcite. Badly smashed and surface decayed. Much distorted. [Type] JN4. [drawing]
18546	33-35-109	(none)	(none)	Stone tumbler. Basic diorite. [Type] 30. [drawing]
18575	33-35-108	(none)	(none)	Stone tumbler. Fine grained limestone. [Type] 35. [drawing]