Corinth Basket Nezi Field, context 1170

Collection:		Corinth
Type:		Basket
Name:		Nezi Field, context 1170
Area:		Nezi Field
Title:		Robbing trench fill abutting E face of wall 746
Category:		Deposit
Notebook:		1107
Context:		1170
Page:		0
Date:		2013/06/01
Stratum:		Small pieces of tile, chunks of plaster (some painted), small stones (semi-rounded), small pieces of bone and shell; composing ca. 30% deposit.
Description:		Top slope of the context is level. The soil color is light reddish brown. The soil compaction is soft. The soil is poorly sorted. It is sandy silt.
Notes:		1170 shows some similarities with deposit 1168, the deposit immediately overlying it. While inclusions and color (reddish brown) appear simliar, 1170 contains more clay and is subtly less compact. The workmen note a distinct deposit to the north that is more red in color (immediately south of Wall 5534), and a harder, more compact clay layer to the south, context 1179. Most finds appear smaller in scale and include bone, fine and coarse ware sherds, semi-rounded and rounded stones, shell, and bits of plaster. A large piece of well-preserved white plaster with fluting, likely from a column, was found roughly 9 cm down, measuring c.18 x 12 c 3 cm. At this same depth were found other small but finely pieces of painted plaster (including one red, trapezoidal sherd measuring c. 2 x 1.5 x 2 cm.) Thanassis found part of a plaster floor on the southwestern edge of the deposit, laid up against Wall 746, which appears to have been vut through in digging the pit for deposit 1170. Also of interest is a chunk of mosaic floor from this deposit. We believe that Wall 746 might in fact has two phases. Pit 1178, which 1170 fills, was cut through by 1163 at a later point in time to the east. Deposit 1170 appears to contain the fill of a robbing trench (Cut 1178). The robbing trench was cut perpendicular to Wall 746, possibly containing an earlier wall, and ran east-west from it. The robbing trench cuts across a compact, white, clay deposit to the south (context 1179), and a compact, dark red deposit to the immediate north. The pit appears to cut through 3(?) layers of plastered floor, visible on the southwestern corner of the pit (to be investigated during the excavation of deposit 1179). Deposit 1170 comes down on sterile soil; it comes down upon sterile soil, but doesn't seem to cut into it. Although the pottery dates only as late as the Early Roman period, we believe that the deposit of this robbing trench fill occurred in the Late Roman period for several reasons: 1) Deposit 1168, which was directly overlying deposit 1170, was very similar in respect to composition and inclusions, and we have interpreted it as a leveling fill immediately following the filling of the robbing trench with 1170. Deposit 1168 contained a African Red Slip Form 61B fragment dating to the 1/2 5th century. 2) The construction of this robbing trench fits in with the Late Roman building activity in this area, which includes the construction of Wall 851 (and probably at the same time Walls 746, 5334, and 1137). Both the robbing trench (1178) and the foundation trench for wall 851 (1168) cut through the same deposit, 1179. We are therefore interpreting the cut for the robbing trench, 1178, the fill of the robbing trench, 1170, and the leveling of the robbing trench fill, 1168, together as the same construction episode happening in the Late Roman period.
Context Pottery:		Fineware. Archaic, skyphos. 3 rims. 10 bodysherds. (saved to lot) .; Fineware. Imitation Cypriot, amphora. 1 bodysherd. (saved to lot) .painted palmettes; Fineware. Early Helladic, bowl. 1 rim. (saved to lot) .red glaze; Coarseware. Archaic, pithos. 1 handle. 1 bodysherd. (saved to lot) .; Fineware. shallow bowl. 2 rims. 1 bodysherd. (saved to lot) .4th-3rd cent. BC; Cooking ware. Hellenistic, brazier. 1 rim. (saved to lot) .; Fineware. (saved to lot) .; Fineware. miniature, skyphos. 1 rim. 1 handle. (saved to lot) .; Fineware. 2 bodysherds. (saved to lot) .thornware; Coarseware. pithos. 1 rim. (saved to lot) .incised cross-hatching, coarse rouletting; Fineware. Corinthianizing, aryballos. (saved to lot) .with 2 hoplites; Cooking ware. Hellenistic, pitcher. 5 rims. 2 handles. (saved to lot) .; Cooking ware. Hellenistic, casserole. 4 rims. 1 bodysherd. (saved to lot) .; Fineware. Prehistoric17 bodysherds. (saved to lot) .; Fineware. Rom- ESA2 bodysherds. (saved to lot) .Form 2-3; Fineware. miniature, krater. 1 rim. (saved to lot) .
Pottery Summary:		670 frag(s) 2.18 kg. (0% saved) fineware.
		703 frag(s) 10 kg. (0% saved) coarseware.
		304 frag(s) 1.25 kg. (0% saved) cooking ware.
Context Artifacts:		Plaster: 9 (saved to lot); Slag: 43 (saved to lot); Iron knife blade: .052 m L x .013 m W (saved to lot); terracotta figurine fragments 2 (saved to lot); Glass waste: 1 (saved to lot); Iron: 4 (saved to lot); Nails: 6 shafts (saved to lot); Fluted white plaster column fragment: 1. 4 flutes visible. L. 0.165 m, W. 0.122 m, Th. 0.048 m. Flute ridges: W. 0.004m ; Spacing of flutes: 0.032 m (saved to lot); Tapered Bronze earring: 1, very corroded. .067 m L x .0046 m W. c.f. MF 68-107. c.f. MF 14317: bronze tapered hoop earring (saved to lot); pebble mosiac floor 2 (saved to lot); tile 4 (saved to lot); painted plaster 22 (saved to lot)
Period:		Late Roman (5th -6th c AD)
Grid:		276.51-275E, 1013.32-1014.64N
XMin:		275
XMax:		276.51
YMin:		1013.32
YMax:		1014.64
Site:		Corinth
City:		Ancient Corinth
Country:		Greece
Masl:		84.8-85.92m.
References:		Coin: 2013 201