This year we continued the EW-oriented step-trench sounding opened in 2013 on the SE side of the mound (Fig. 9). The first two "steps" (quadrants 103.099d and 104.099b) of the sounding, which had yielded a sequence of layers dating from the late Hellenistic to the earlier Iron Age, were abandoned this year. Excavation was continued in the two lowest quadrants (104.099d, 105.099c), while a further quadrant (105.099c) was opened to the E of the latter, in order to try to reach the virgin soil. This was actually met at alt. 664.40, at the base of a succession of ca 4 m of Kura-Araxes levels. Excavation continued for ca 75 cm inside the virgin soil, until alt. 663.85, thus bringing the total depth of excavated deposits in Field B to more than 13.50 m.
    Excavation in quadrant 104.099d allowed first of all to clarify the date of the massive stone wall (2202) with a face of squared sandstone blocks discovered in 2013 in quadrant 105.099c, which we had tentatively attributed to the Early Iron Age. In fact, ca 2.40 m to the W, we exposed the collapsed western face of the wall (locus 2128). This was made of irregular pebbles and stone blocks, and was apparently supported at the base by short projecting buttresses, the core of the wall being made of similar, loosely connected irregular stones. West of wall 2202-2128, we excavated a sequence of layers leaning to its W face. Contrary to our expectations, however, these yielded exclusively Late Bronze Age pottery (mainly of 12th-11th cent. date, with the exception of the top ones, possibly to be attributed to the Transitional LB-EI period), which forces us to attribute the wall itself to the latter period. The revised date of wall 2202-2128 opens the possibility that its construction was contemporary to that of the LB walls (2210, 2211 etc.) discovered last year to the E of it; in this case the function of the latter would have merely been to support the steep slope of the mound.
    The area to the W of wall 2202-2128 (space 2179) was an open area occupied by a number of different installations, which showed a considerable continuity over the time (Fig. 10). Installation 2180 (Fig. 11) was located near the N limit of quadrant 104.099d, in its W half. It consisted of a stepped clay platform, on top of which a shallow basin with a layer of pebbles at the base was situated. The top of the basin had been repeatedly coated with a whitish plaster, which showed traces of burning inside it. A number of fish bones were found inside the basin, and bones of swan and equids were recovered elsewhere near the platform, which may therefore have been used for special (ritual ?) purposes. On the lower step of platform 2180, we recovered two complete pottery vessels: a shallow bowl with a handle in the shape of a horned animal and a small bottle.
    To the S of platform 2180 we unearthed a sequence of successive firing installations (fireplaces 2154, 2188), reaching a total depth of ca 80 cm. The best preserved of these, fireplace 2154, had a layer of river pebbles at the base, and was surrounded by a raised band of clay of yellowish colour. It had a squarish shape with rounded corners (it measured 1.00 x 1.10 m). Its N part was filled with several successive layers of small pebbles alternating with pottery sherds, presumably belonging to different remakings, topped by a burnt surface of reddish clay, while its S part was filled with ashes. Its predecessor, fireplace 2188, was very similar to 2154, but had a more rounded outline. Among the significant finds from this square, also worth mentioning is a cluster of 10 flint sickle-blades (Fig. 12).
    On the next step of the sounding, in quadrant 105.099c, we continued the investigation of the densely packed sequence of Kura-Araxes layers initiated in 2013. Two levels, in particular yielded very interesting architectural structures. In the upper one (Fig. 13) we discovered a round structure (locus 2287, reconstructed diameter ca 2.50 m) surrounded by a clay wall, on the outer side of which a row of stones set in vertical position was deeply embedded in the clay. The building had two successive plastered floors, on which however no in situ material was recovered; the lowest of these lay on a preparation of small pebbles. Building 2287 cut another building (locus 2288) of similar shape and dimensions, the outline of which was marked by a thick band of clay plaster. This was equipped with an irregular clay bench on the outer side. Building 2288 also had two successive floor layers resting on a pebbles preparation; no in situ material was recovered from these, as well.
    Excavation in the quadrant stopped at alt. 666.40 ca, after reaching the floor of the second of the above mentioned levels (Fig. 14). This yielded a ca 20 cm thick rectilinear wattle-and daub wall (2296-2401) crossing the whole excavated area in NS direction, and continuing in the unexcavated areas on both sides of it. Inside wall 2296-2401, small burnt post-holes set at a regular distance from each other could be observed, a building technique which has well known parallels at other Kura-Araxes sites in the Shida Kartli region, e.g. at Kvatskhela. Plastered floors were found on both sides of wall 2296-2401. The floor on the E side (2298-2247) had been damaged and re-made at least once: two Kura-Araxes carinated pots of Red-Black Burnished Ware were found on the upper of these surfaces. A large smashed Kura-Araxes jar of RBBW ware was found on the floor (2299) on the W side of the wall.
    A less preserved intermediate level yielded no clear architectural structures, but a small round-shaped installation surrounded by a raised band of clay (locus 2285) and some interesting materials, among which a complete one-handled carinated jar and a small flint spearhead, both of them belonging to well-known Kura-Araxes types (Fig. 15).
    In the easternmost quadrant of the step-trench (105.099d) after removing surface soil, we met an up to 1.50 m thick sloping layer of pebbles (2302-2303) which contained mixed pottery, mainly of Late Bronze date, deposited by slopewash activity since the construction of the large stone wall 2202-2128. As we had already ascertained last year in quadrant 105.099c, this pebble layer sealed an eroded ancient slope of the mound, on the surface of which some remains of Late Bronze Age retaining walls were found. The layers under the ancient slope were exclusively of Kura-Araxes date, and consisted of a succession of three clay platforms (Fig. 16), up to 40 cm high, whose top and sides were covered with whitish clay plaster, which were covered in their turn by a ca 30 cm thick succession of ash layers. A row of small post-holes was found on the surface of the latest platform (locus 2312), and a row of larger ones (Fig. 17) under the earliest platform (locus 2314), but no other traces of buildings were found over them. Two successive surfaces of pebbles, found in the N half of the quadrant under the base of the earliest platform, and directly overlying the natural soil, represent the earliest human occupation in this area. It thus appear that at least this section of the Aradetis Orgora settlement was founded during the Kura-Araxes period, and that the supposed Chalcolithic occupation, if present at all on the mound, should be looked for in other parts of it, presumably near its centre, or on the Western side, where a few Chalcolithic sherds are said to have been recovered by previous excavators. To prove or disprove their existence will be one of the aims of the next field seasons at Aradetis Orgora.