Pit F

General

Context Title:	Pit F
Context Name (Publication):	Flood Pit; Pit F
Context Name (Excavation):	PFT; Pit F
Context Description:	Pit F stands apart from the Royal Cemetery pits dug in the preceding year, despite its letter 'F' falling inside the sequence of those pits. The sequence of pit letters was assigned after most had been dug, probably in season 8 as confusion arose over pits I and J. Pit F was originally called PFT to distinguish it from pits in the Royal Cemetery area. The suffix T probably stood for Temenos to show that Pit F was dug in the area inside the early temenos wall. The abbreviation became confusing and Legrain reports PF as 'Flood Pit' and PFT as 'Shaft in town area,' but the two designations are actually identical. The term 'Flood Pit' was often used to refer to Pit F because of the deep layers of silt found near its deepest extent. As much as 3 meters thickness of fine water-lain soil was encountered here, evidence of a great flood. In his books and talks for the general public, Woolley often made the equation of this flood with the biblical flood, but in his academic discussions he never did. Instead, here he referred to the frequent flooding of the Euphrates and how this particular flood must have been large and may have spawned Sumerian legends. Pit F was extremely large and extremely deep. Woolley's intent was to reach the earliest occupation of the site. He chose an already low-lying zone neighboring the excavation area EH and laid out a trench 15x25 meters, though in the southern half he only dug 10 meters width, making the final pit L shaped. He truncated the horizontal extent further as he dug down to avoid collapse and he eventually reached a depth of some 19 meters from the surface of the mound. The top of the pit had already been denuded to the Early Dynastic levels and thus late material was typically not found here. From the surface, Woolley found eight levels of early building remains going deeper and deeper. Beneath this he found pottery kilns and a deep layer of over-fired pottery fragments indicating manufacture. Near the bottom of this stratum he began finding Uruk period graves (that he called Jemdat Nasr period graves). He labeled these not with numbers, but with letters in the sequence PFG/A through PFG/XX. Below this he encountered the flood layer with Ubaid period graves cut into it. Beneath the flood layer he found evidence of Ubaid habitation near sea level and what he believed to be indications of the early marshlands in which Ur had originally been a very low mound.

Files

General

UE 4 Pit F.pdf - Download

UE 4 Pit F.2.pdf - Download

Objects: Pit F 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)
14992	31-17-233	(none)	(none)	Copper Spearhead. From 1 of the early graves.
14994	31-16-749	(none)	(none)	Clay Figurine. Humped bullock. Legs & 1 horn missing. Plain reddish drab clay. [drawing]
14995	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay figurine. Humped bullock. Green clay with black paint. Both horns and one back leg missing. [drawing]
14997A	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay pots. Small "cornets" A. Drab Clay [Drawing] B. red clay, no rim, base broken ? recalling the stone 'cornets' of Susa Not in cat. vol IV
14997B	31-16-255	(none)	(none)	Clay pots. Small "cornets" A. Dark Clay [Drawing] B. red clay, no rim, base broken ? recalling the stone 'cornets' of Susa Not in cat. vol IV
15021	(none)	(none)	(none)	Seal impression. Animals.
15022	(none)	(none)	(none)	Seal impression. Jar. Fragmentary. Animal figures?
15141	31-16-111	(none)	(none)	Baked clay vase. Light drab. Type CCCXXVII. Not in catalog.
15142	31-16-89	(none)	(none)	Baked clay vase. Light drab. Type CCCXXIX. Not in catalog.
15143	(none)	(none)	(none)	Baked clay vase. Light drab. Type: CCCXXVIII. New JN49. Not in catalog.
15324	31-16-973	(none)	(none)	Clay figurine. A sheep(?). [drawing 1:1]
15326	31-16-947	(none)	(none)	Clay figurine. A goat (?) [drawing]
15327A	31-16-584A	(none)	(none)	Clay sling bolts. Pear-shaped.
15329	(none)	(none)	(none)	Miniature clay nails. Resembling those of obsidian. One has the shaft pierced near the point.
15332	31-16-551	(none)	(none)	Bitumen object. Perhaps a staff-head(?) [drawing 1:1]
15335	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay cup TO-ware. Light drab with black bands. Virtually complete. Type CCCXLV. [drawing]
15337	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay cup. Drab clay (broken) Type CCCXLVI.
15338	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay saucer. Plain: red ware. Made either by hand or on the slow wheel. Type TO. XV.
15339	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay pedestal bowl. Red clay, drab surface (broken). Type CCCXVII.
15340	31-17-369	(none)	(none)	Clay pedestal bowl. Light red clay with cream slip, inside the bowl. (broken). Type CCCXLII
15341	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay pedestal bowl. Red clay with drab surface (broken). Type CCCXLVII.
15342	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay pedestal. Light red ware with drab slip. Type CCCXLVII. Variant. =aU.24.
15343	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay cup. Light drab clay. Rim much chipped. Type CCCXLV.
15344	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay cup. Clay dead black in body, greenish drab on surface. (distorted in firing) Type CCCXLVI.
15345	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay cup. Creamy drab ware. Type CCCXLVI.

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Media: Pit F Export: JSON - XML - CSV

Media	Media Title	Title	Label	Author	Omeka Label
	UPM Field Photo numbers	UPM Field Photo numbers	(none)	(none)	(none)
	Ur Excavations IV; The Early Periods	Ur Excavations IV; The Early Periods	1955	Woolley, L.	(none)