Corinth Basket Nezi Field, context 5502

Collection:		Corinth
Type:		Basket
Name:		Nezi Field, context 5502
Area:		Nezi Field
Context Type:		Fill
Title:		1960s excavation martyr in Room bounded on west by
Category:		Deposit
Notebook:		1101
Context:		5502
Page:		0
Date:		2008/05/16
Stratum:		40% total inclusions: 30% pebbles fine to coarse, spherical to platy, rounded to angular, 10% pottery
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 silty sand.
Notes:		This martyr was the wheelbarrow track mentioned in NB 229, p. 173. It was probably left by the 1960s excavation as a martyr around the three deep bothroi immediately south of it. We are excavating this martyr by layer to bring it down to the level of the courtyard to the immediate north both so that we can be in the same time period as surrounding areas and so that this courtyard can eventually be excavated. This first stratum removed runs along the edge of the cut for the bothroi which has made it difficult to excavate, but not impossible. The soil, as it has been exposed for so long, is dry and dusty. We had to wet a handful of dirt to see the color of the soil. As Panos removed this layer, which was soft, a possible cut was revealed between 5502 and a stratum to the north. It is unclear if this is a true cut or if it is a result of erosion into the bothroi to the south. Also revealed is a narrow trench along wall 5483 which may cut the stratum to the north of 5502. Panos will clean this area to determine if it indeed does. There is also a tiley patch in the corner of 5483 and 5484 along the west side of the trench along wall 5483. Once the NE corner of this stratum was cleaned more of wall 5483 was revealed with the top course mossing. Wall 5483 comes up to the large block remaining of the robbed out wall (5519) to the north. However, since at this join all of wall 5483 is still under soil we cannot say for sure how the two walls relate. In the corner created by these two walls is a patch of dark brown soft earth which may be what remains of the foundation trench for the robbed out wall. We will need to excavate this cut in order to determine this. If it is the foundation trench, then most of it was removed by the 1960s excavations along the north side of the martyr. The north limit of cut along wall 5483 is still uncertain as the shadow of wall 5483 is obscuring our view of the limit of the cut. We will get a better view of it later in the day. By the time the shadow was no longer an issue the limit of the cut was still uncertain. We will remove the next stratum of the martyr and see if it reveals more of this trench. Note: The pottery from this fill was accidentally placed in the bucket with the pottery from fill 5506, however, this might not be considered contamination as the robbing trench (5506) was cut into the martyr (5502) and thus the pottery of 5502 is earlier than the robbing trench.
Context Artifacts:		Glass clear yellowish as Jalame 7 rim 1; Bronze lump 1; Glass clear greenish as Jalame 3 rim 1; Glass clear pinkish diam. 0.03m as Jalame 17 rim 1; Glass clear greenish bs 2; Glass clear greenish waster; Iron square shank nails shafts 2, head 1; Iron flat strips 2; Glass clear yellowish with three added threads, as Corinth XII no. 731, bs 1; shell gaederopus 1; Bone- of Mammalia, md (Mammal - Medium) - 10 example(s).; Bone- cranial of Capra/Ovis sp (Goat or Sheep) - 24 example(s).; Bone- tarsal of Bos taurus (Cattle - Domestic) - 1 example(s).; Bone- tine antler of Cervidae (Deer Family - Unid) - 1 example(s).
Period:		Frankish (1210-1458 AD)
Chronology:		last quarter of the 13th
Grid:		270.62-267.01E, 1023.57-1026.5N
XMin:		267.01
XMax:		270.62
YMin:		1023.57
YMax:		1026.5
Site:		Corinth
City:		Ancient Corinth
Country:		Greece
Masl:		85.11-85.34m.
References:		Report: Nezi Field 2008 by Anne C. Feltovich, Catherine W. Person and Emily M. Rush (2008-05-05 to 2008-06-14) Coin: 2008 127 Coin: 2008 128