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

Objects: Pit W Export: JSON - XML - CSV

U Number	Museum Number (UPM Date Reg Number)	Museum Number (BM Registration Number)	Museum Number (UPM B-number)	Description (Catalog Card)
18593	(none)	(none)	(none)	Stone cup. Translucent white calcite with simple lip. [Type] 64. [drawing]
18601	33-35-107	(none)	(none)	Stone cup. Diorite. [Type] 40. [drawing]
18683	(none)	(none)	(none)	Stone cup. Black steatite. [Type] 28. [drawing]
18600	(none)	(none)	(none)	Stone cup. Basic diorite. [Type] 9. [drawing]
18591	(none)	(none)	(none)	Stone cup. Basic diorite. Type 5. [drawing]
18523	(none)	(none)	(none)	Stone celt of bright green stone, a kind of diorite? Well polished and very sharp.
18443	(none)	(none)	(none)	Stone cap. Miniature. Diorite. [drawing 1:1]
18599	(none)	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. [Type] 27. [drawing]
18549	33-35-103	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. White limestone. [Type] 20. [drawing]
18515	(none)	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. White limestone. [Type] 18. [drawing]
18520	(none)	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. White limestone. [Type] 18. [drawing]
18542	(none)	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. White limestone. [Type] 18. [drawing]
18530	(none)	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. White limestone. [Type] 17] [drawing 2:5]
18513	(none)	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. White limestone. [Type] 12. [drawing]
18518	(none)	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. White limestone. Rough and irregular. [Type] 11. [drawing]
18369	(none)	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. White limestone. On square pedestal like a four-legged bath, the legs broken off. [drawing 1:2]
18594	(none)	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. White limestone. Cracked, the edge chipped. [Type] 16. [drawing]
18578	(none)	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. White limestone. Cracked and imperfect - much of the rim missing. [Type] 20 [drawing]
18596	(none)	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. White limestone. Cracked and distressed (slightly oval). [Type] 4. [drawing]
18688	(none)	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. Very coarse basic diorite (?). [Type] 9. [drawing]
18677	33-35-110	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. Translucent white calcite. Badly smashed and surface decayed. Much distorted. [Type] JN4. [drawing]
18560	33-35-100	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. Translucent banded white calcite. [Type] 27. [drawing]
18663	(none)	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. Pink limestone. Rim badly chipped. [Type] 17. [drawing]
18670	(none)	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. Pink limestone. Much broken. Sides slightly convex.
18715	(none)	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. Pink limestone. Broken and imperfect. [Type] 4. [drawing]