Corinth Basket Temple E, Southeast, context 767

Collection:		Corinth
Type:		Basket
Name:		Temple E, Southeast, context 767
Area:		Temple E, Southeast
Title:		continuation of grave fill N of wall 20
Category:		Deposit
Notebook:		1109
Context:		767
Date:		2015/05/18
Lot:		Lot 2015-012
Stratum:		some very small white inclusions; some charcoal, including chunks (2cm diameter); moderate amount of fragments of ceramics and tile; some coarse pebbles (5%, 3-5cm); some bones (animal and human); in places, a lot of pebbles but loosely packed
Description:		Top slope of the context is level. The soil color is dark yellowish brown. The soil compaction is loose. The soil is moderately sorted. It is silty sand.
Notes:		One box of bones was collected (in addition to the skeleton 769). One lamp fragment, some plaster, and a small chunk of pebble flooring were found and thrown. This context continues on from 757, and the two deposits belong to the same cut: 757 is the top part of the fill covered by tiles, while 767 picks up after that (but also includes the fill directly above the entire skeleton, as no part of it was fully exposed during 757). The cut seemed very clear at the top: a loose deposit surrounded by a hard deposit with a lot of pebbles, and by a wall stone. After about 35 cm, however, things got a bit murkier. It seems the east edge vanishes, with no more dense pebbles lining it. Instead, a deposit was exposed that is darker, has large charcoal inclusions, is very clayey and very clean of inclusions in comparison to the rest of the fill that contains a lot of pebbles. This darker deposit only fills the 20-30 easternmost cm of the cut, but possibly continues further east, diving under the layer of dense pebbles that forms the edge of the cut above. It should be noted that at this same elevation, the softer fill started showing small holes, insect eggs - evidence suggesting bioturbation. Even so, the boundary looks clear enough that it is probably not merely the result of insect action - especially since the darker soil doesn't seem to have any bioturbation going on. - After some more excavation, the metatarsals of the skeleton were found right up against the darker deposit, further strengthening the idea that there is a soil change there and the darker deposit is and earlier one that 767 partly dug into. Some cobbles were exposed along the south edge of the context, underneath the big stone adjacent to wall 20. In conclusion, it seems the cut for this fill was slightly overexcavated: the skeleton's dimenstions and the difference between the darker and the looser deposits suggest that the darker deposit is something earlier that the grave cut into. The top and bottom plans for 767 and 804 show the cut as it was dug from the top and the correct cut starting lower down.
Context Pottery:		Fineware. unidentified decorative style, bowl. (saved to lot) .Frankish form; Fineware. slipped plain glazed (1100-1300), bowl. 1 rim. 4 bodysherds. (saved to lot) .; Fineware. slipped plain glazed (1100-1300), pitcher. 1 bodysherd. (saved to lot) .; Cooking ware. triangular rim stew pot (1100-1270)1 rim. (saved to lot) .Valente 13th; Fineware. black-figure1 handle. (saved to lot) .; Fineware. frankish incised, bowl. 2 bodysherds. (saved to lot) .; Fineware. preroman40 bodysherds. ; Fineware. Roman2 bodysherds.
Pottery Summary:		51 frag(s) 0.24 kg. (20% saved) fineware.
		441 frag(s) 2.55 kg. (0% saved) coarseware.
		34 frag(s) 0.2 kg. (3% saved) cooking ware.
Context Artifacts:		iron cross? (as Corinth 12, cat. 1057) 0.02x0.025x0.006m 1; glass clear colorless BS 1
Period:		Frankish (1210-1458 AD)
Chronology:		1st half of 13th century
Grid:		130-128.24E, 1076.27-1076.67N
XMin:		128.24
XMax:		130
YMin:		1076.27
YMax:		1076.67
Site:		Corinth
City:		Ancient Corinth
Country:		Greece
Masl:		83.73-84.37m.
References:		Images (4) Object: MF 2015 52