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)
15632	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay bowl. TO painted ware. 2 black lines round rim on drab ground. (broken & imperfect) Type [CCCXXVIII crossed out] 4, but with slight rim not strongly accentuated
15631	31-16-342	(none)	(none)	Spouted pot. Plain light drab clay (much broken) Type CCCXXVII. aU.47.
15630	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay pot. Fragments. Plain, creamy drab slip over red body clay: apparently made on the slow wheel. Type CCCXXXVIII.
15629	31-17-284	(none)	(none)	Clay bowl. TO painted ware. Fragments: the centre missing. Plain black border on light drab ground. Type CCCLXV. [drawing]
15628	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay pot. Plain red clay. handmade. Type CCCXCIV, rather smaller variant.
15627	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay pot. Plain red ware. Handmade. Type CCCXCIV? Variant.
15626	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay pot. Spouted. TO painted ware. Black design on light drab. aU.43.
15625	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay pot. Spouted and with handle. TO painted ware, chocolate-brown on creamy slip over red body clay. much broken. Type CCCXXXVII. 46. [drawing]
15624	(none)	1930,1213.184	(none)	Clay pot. Spouted (in fragments) TO painted ware, purplish paint, fugitive, on pale buff. Type CCCXCVI. 45. [drawing]
15621	(none)	1930,1213.227	(none)	Clay cup. TO painted ware. Fragments. Type CCCXLV. 25. [drawing]
15620	(none)	(none)	(none)	Fragments. All belonging to a large pot ( incomplete and shape unknown) of TO painted ware; creamy drab body decorated with black spirals.
15619	31-17-364	(none)	(none)	Fragment of clay platter. (about one half) TO painted ware. Black on green. Type CCCLXVI but with narrow rim. aU.5.
15618	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay pot. TO painted ware. Plain black rim. Type CCCXCV. 55.
15617	(none)	(none)	(none)	Spouted pot. Plain drab ware (spout missing). Type CCCXXXVII.
15616	(none)	(none)	(none)	Spouted pot. Creamy drab ware, plain (too crushed to measure) Type CCCXXXVII.
15615	(none)	(none)	(none)	Spouted pot. TO painted ware. White with black design. Type 43.
15614	(none)	(none)	(none)	Spouted pot. Plain light red ware, rather coarse (much broken) Type CCCXXXVIII.
15612	(none)	1930,1213.176	(none)	Clay figurine. TO painted ware. Fragment. With black paint on greenish drab clay. Fore part of buffalo. [drawing 1:1]
15611	(none)	1930,0012.13	(none)	Stone vase. Fragment. In mottled dark grey & white marble fragment with part of flat base and side. [drawing]
15610	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay bowl. Fine light drab ware. Thin walled. Type CCCXCIII.
15609	31-17-363	(none)	(none)	Clay platter. Fragments. Plain red ware. aU.2. [drawing]
15608	31-17-316	(none)	(none)	Clay bowl (fragments: imperfect) TO painted ware. Brownish black on drab. Type CCCXCI(?). 19. [drawing]
15607	31-17-303	(none)	(none)	Clay cup. Fragments. Incomplete. TO painted ware. Black on drab. Type CCCXLV. aU24. [drawing]
15606	(none)	(none)	(none)	Beads: dark steatite, falttened lentoid with engraved pattern (much worn). [drawing 1:1]
15605	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay cup. TO painted ware. (in fragments) Black, on pinkish drab. Type CCCXLV. 24. [drawing]

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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)