Further study confirmed that this ash/charcoal patch within SU461 suggests some very temporary cooking/burning activity or to some foundation ritual related to the time when the house was under construction.

It could be a burn layer. It is reddish and the soil is soft to dig. Also, inclusions of burned clay means that something was burned here. It could have been used for cooking. Also in the northwest part of the layer is a big spot of ash with a burned olive pit (charcoal). SU 461 covers a small section of this spot and the ash spot also covers a small part of SU557.