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"","Corinth","","","Report","","Nezi Field 2013 by Mohammed Bhatti and Daniel P. Diffendale (2013-05-09 to 2013-05-10)","","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Nezi Field","Corinth:Report:Nezi Field 2013 by Mohammed Bhatti and Daniel P. Diffendale (2013-05-09 to 2013-05-10)","2013 Session 1, Team Pink, Final Summary","","","Mohammed Bhatti and Daniel P. Diffendale; Team Pink, Session 1; Nezi Field Excavations Final Report; N 1006 – 1018.00; E 261.01 – 271.28; 1–25 April 2013; ; This is a final summary of the first season of excavation (1-25 April) in 2013 in the northeast area of Nezi field. Guy Sanders (director) and Rossana Valente (field director) supervised.The Pink excavation team consisted of Mohammed Bhatti and Daniel P. Diffendale (recorders), Panos and Tasos Kakouros (pickmen), Vassilis Kollias (shovelman), and Tasos Tsogas (barrowman).The area is bounded to the north by the scarp of H. Robinson’s 1960s excavations, to the east by the excavation scarp immediately east of Wall 866, to the south by Cuts C193 and C848, more or less, and to the west by the varying eastward extent of the Blue team’s area of operation. ; The area of excavation was effectively bisected along an east-west axis comprising Wall 945, Wall 807, and the robbing trench Cut 995. Of the contexts excavated this session, the areas north and south of this axis were physically related only by Deposit 978 (to the south) overlying Deposit 994, which filled Cut 995, which in turn cut Deposit 1003 (to the north). To the north, Wall 918, Wall 1033, and, until its removal, Wall 992, all acted as another east-west axis separating the deposits to north and south. For the purposes of this report, the contexts south of Wall 945-Wall 807-Cut 995 will be referred to as comprising the South Area; contexts north of Walls 918-992-1033 as the North Area, and contexts between the two axes as the Central Area. ; The east-west walls are the most prominent positive features in the area, and are constant points of reference; less easy to understand are the mostly negative traces of north-south features, for instance the fill of 1050, laid above an irregular N-S cut (no context number), possibly related to the NE-SW cut 1082; or the robbing of a N-S wall represented by the fill of 1009. ; ; Precontextual material, ca. 9th c. BCE – 3rd c. CE;     No contexts excavated this session can be dated before the Middle to Late Roman period. However, earlier human activity in the area is suggestively documented by the contents of later fills. Scattered Geometric sherds (in contexts 978, 1056, 1076, 1084, 1085) suggest the presence of Iron Age burials somewhere below. A pebble pavement clearly must have existed nearby in the Classical or Hellenistic period, later broken up, fragments of which made their way into many of the later fills (998, 1003, 1009, 1015, 1050, 1076, 1081, 1083, 1084), but which were most thickly concentrated in 1085. Of Roman date must be the numerous pieces of marble revetment of many colors and sizes, fragments of which also made their way into the majority of fills excavated in this area during this session. This marble revetment, coupled with octagonal marble or schisty limestone pavers (1009 and 1085) and chunks of preparation “brown layer” mortar for a hydraulic installation (1085), suggests that there may have been a bath facility in the neighborhood. If there were a water source capable of supplying such a bath, it perhaps could also have supplied a pre-Roman bath that was paved with pebbles. Other finds indicative of earlier Roman buildings include mostly white marble tesserae and small chunks of painted wall plaster, both found in numerous deposits. ; ; ; Late Roman, ca. 4th / 5th c. CE;     Possibly the earliest context known so far is deposit 1000, in the South Area, with ceramic materials no later than the 3rd/4th c. CE. It is probable, however, that this is simply earlier material redeposited, perhaps in the 5th, 6th, or even 7th-8th centuries; only further excavation can say for certain.;     The earliest visible structures existing are probably the parallel E-W walls 918 (to the north, with the in situ column base) and 945 (to the south), although they cannot yet be directly dated. At some time during or after the 4th c. CE, in the Central Area, a fill consisting of destruction debris (tiles, carbon, nails, slag) was dumped between them (Deposit 1084, date: ceramics); this debris was laid in part against the north face of Wall 945. Beneath 1084, but thus far unexcavated, what may be a real destruction layer is waiting to be understood; perhaps the material deposited in 1084 came from that destruction. 1084 may have been laid as a leveling fill for a floor or working surface above (1083), which was probably put into use in the 5th c. (pottery). Someone dropped an old coin of Constantius II or Julian II (coin 2013-100: 355-361 CE) onto this surface, and there was also a notable amount of glass. Associated with the surface of 1083, and dated by it stratigraphically, was hearth 1065, paved with flat slabs of non-local schist and ringed with tile. This was a substantial construction measuring some 0.90 x 0.80 m, and set against the then still-standing upper courses of Wall 945.; The surface of 1083 was analogous in composition, elevation, and date (5th c. pottery) to that of Floor 1060/1061 immediately to the north of Wall 918 in the North Area, and they likely saw contemporaneous use; deposited in both were sherds of Niederbieber 77 amphorae as well as of Eastern Aegean micaceous cooking ware—though these are not uncommon finds for the area. Floor 1060 was laid against the ‘stylobate’ of Wall 918; this part of the wall was probably still standing when 1060 was in use. The people using Floor 1060 saw the need to burn something, perhaps for cooking, and hence they constructed the small Hearth 1059 (5th c. stratigraphically) within it, close to the presumably still-standing line of Wall 918, partially demarcating the hearth with tiles (ca. 0.3 m diameter). ;     However, Hearth 1059 may not have been in use for long; the packed surface of deposit 1056 was laid directly above Floor 1060, probably also in the 5th c. (pottery), and this sealed over the hearth. Three coins were dropped onto this surface, including an old one of Constantius II (coin 2013-72: 346-361 CE; coins 2013-68 and 76 illegible). At some later point, perhaps already in the 5th c., a pit was cut into the surface of 1056 (no context number) and then filled (1048, 5th c. stratigraphically). However, the nature of this pit can hardly be comprehended, given its likely severe truncation by the Robinson excavations. Above the pit fill and the surface of 1056 was constructed the earthen Floor 1044/1045, probably still against the not-yet-robbed-out Wall 918. A clear pale green glass tubular ring goblet foot with knop stem deposited in the fill of Floor 1044/1045 dates to the mid 5th c. or later, while a coin of Leo I (coin 2013-59: 457-474 CE) was dropped on the floor surface. ; Whatever happened in the North Area after the 5th c. will remain a mystery, since the overlying strata have been removed by the Robinson excavations—unknown unknowns. As for known unknowns, the nature of deposit 1050 is something of a mystery, especially its relationship with Wall 992. ; ; ; Late Roman, ca. 5th/6th c. CE;     A meter or two to the southeast, in the Central Area, and still in the 5th or maybe the 6th c., a large amount of mixed fill was deposited between Walls 1033, 945, and 1007; this was deposit 1085 (dated by pottery). Within the deposit there seem to have been diverse sources of fill; in its southwest extent the sediment was blackish and especially dense with fragments of marble revetment and over fifty large cobble- to small boulder-size fragments of pebble-mortar pavement. Further east, it included several cobble-sized pieces of iron slag, perhaps deposited after use as road-metal nearby. Significant numbers of fragments of glass slag in the deposit suggest a workshop in the vicinity. A notable inclusion was a fragment of a Hellenistic or Roman terracotta figurine of Baubo (MF-2013-8). At the time that 1085 was deposited, there was probably a N-S wall to its south, against which it was deposited; east of the wall was a section of pavement. This wall and pavement would later be robbed out (context 1009), sometime between the end of the 5th and the early 7th cs. (see further below). It seems that this wall would have made a narrow (ca. 1 m wide) N-S passageway with Wall 1007 to its east, and the passageway was paved. Maybe there was a staircase here, which started going up to the south between walls 1009 and 1007, turned east between the south end of wall 1007 and the wall robbed out by 995, and returned north between walls 1007 and 866. This is only speculation.; Sometime thereafter an irregular NNE-SSW trench, 1082, was cut through the Central Area between Wall 945 to the south, and probably Wall 918 to the north, though its northern extent was later truncated by Cut 1032. The trench of 1082 was cut through deposits dating to the 5th/6th cs. (1083, 1085, maybe 1076) and filled by material dating to the 5th/6th cs. (1081), indicating that it, too, should be dated within those centuries. The narrow width and odd orientation of the cut make it unlikely to have been for robbing out a wall; perhaps it was cut for the purpose of robbing out a drain. Whoever did the robbing left a single piece of whatever they were robbing behind, a squared stone block ca. 0.20 x 0.35 m, at the bottom of Cut 1082, and which shares its orientation. If this stone did form part of a drain, there is no indication of how it worked—no mortar, cement, or the like; maybe the robbers were after lead pipes? The line of cut 1082 is picked up north of Wall 918 by the irregular cut at the bottom of context 1050. To the south, there are tiles laid in Wall 945 where Cut 1082 meets it, although otherwise the wall seems to be constructed solely of stone. Perhaps these tiles were laid to replace the putative robbed-out drain. Cut 1082 was filled with debris (marble, schist, plaster, pebble pavement) sometime in or after the 5th/6th cs. (context 1081, no precise date: pottery), probably soon after the robbing of the drain. ; After the filling of cut 1082, just to its east and partially overlaying it, and above 1085, the destruction-debris fill of 1076 was deposited, not before the 2nd half of the 5th c. (dated by a clear greenish glass tubular goblet foot). This fill must also have lain against the wall/pavement of 1009, but maybe not for long, as the latest material in the fill of 1009 also dated to the late 5th c. The robbing activity represented by 1009 could have happened at any time until the early 7th c. deposition of 1003 above it, however. ; The relationship between the robbing trenches of 1009 and 995 makes for a vexing question. It seems likely that 995 was used to rob out the upper courses of the eastward extension of Wall 945, although this cannot yet be answered definitively. Wall 945 should predate all contexts known thus far. The contents of 994, the fill of trench 995, suggest that the latter was cut in the late 7th or early 8th c. However, this trench apparently bisects the N-S line of the robbing trench of 1009: the southward continuation of 1009 seems to be visible in the south scarp of 995; 1009 seemingly dates sometime between the construction of wall 945 and its robbing out by 995. Perhaps two walls intersected, and the robbers of the N-S 1009 left the E-W 945 alone? It is to be hoped that future excavation south of Cut 995 will clarify this vexing nexus. ; In the South Area, the latest datable material in the dump fills of 996 and 998 date to the mid 6th c., but they could well have been redeposited as part of later leveling activity.; ; Late Roman, 6th /7th c. CE;     The late 6th to early 7th centuries CE witnessed much human activity in the way of movement of fill and construction of floors. The upper courses of Walls 918 and 945, which now survive only as foundations or robbing trenches, were probably still standing and in use during this period. Not much can be said about this period in the South Area, however, without further excavation.;     In the Central Area, fills 1067 and 1062 were deposited as leveling fills during the late 6th century (dated by pottery and stratigraphy, respectively), on which the floor surface of 1036/1038 was laid shortly thereafter, traced for an area of ca. 1.5 x 3 m. Still within the ambit of the late 6th century (dated stratigraphically), Pit 1032 was cut through the surface of 1036/1038 and then filled in with old rubbish (deposit 1029), including marble, plaster, part of an andesite millstone, glass, and earlier ceramics. Soon after the pit was filled, Floor 961/1022 was laid over it in an area roughly 3 x 3 m square, extending further east than the traced limits of 1036/1038. The builders of Floor 961/1022 were presumably also responsible for constructing Hearth 960/1021/1025, at the southern extent of the floor, against the still-standing upper courses of Wall 945. They used the end of a single large tile, W. 0.46 m, Th. 0.03 m, broken into six fragments, to line the edge of their hearth; these tiles showed evidence of burning on their inner faces. At least one olive and one grape pit were charred in this hearth, and an Archaic or Classical miniature terracotta quadruped was deposited here as well, though it is archaeologically impossible to say whether this was intentional; the figurine was probably already broken when deposited. Unfortunately, the people who used Floor 961/1022 were careful with their money; only a single illegible minimus (coin 2013-46) ended up in this context. ;     The years after 600 CE were a time of destruction. The roof that sheltered Floor 961/1022 collapsed, possibly due to fire, resulting in deposit 1003. This is dated to the first half of the 7th century by pottery, which included stewpots, Palestinian, Gaza, and Late Roman Amphorae 1 and 2.The entire context has been saved as Lot 2013-001. This context is the eastward extension of deposit 929 excavated in 2012, but ceased along an arbitrary N-S line; 929 was saved as Lot 2012-47. Other things in the deposit included vessel and window glass and iron nails, but only a single piece of marble revetment, in stark contrast to the dump fills in the area that include dozens of marble fragments. ; ; Late Roman, 7th / 8th c. CE;     After the building comprising the Central Area lost its roof, it also lost its north and south walls. The robbing trench 1027 was cut to remove the upper courses of Wall 918, and then filled in (deposit 1015; dated stratigraphically to the early 7th c. or later). Who could have done such a thing? Two or possibly three Vandal coins were found in the fill (coins 2013-42, 43, 44), but admittedly they would have had to be rather late Vandals. To the south, the eastward extension of Wall 945 was robbed out resulting in Cut 995; the cut was topped up with fill (context 994) of the late 7th / early 8th c. (dated by pottery).  Deposit 994 included earlier material, like so many deposits, but some terracotta sima fragments and a sherd of stamped Samian ware (C-2013-9) were unusual. ; It will be crucial for future excavation to investigate the narrow dark deposit exposed by context 1050 along the N edge of Wall 918/1033, to see whether this is a foundation trench for that wall, a robbing trench for that wall, or something else entirely. Unfortunately, the brief pedestaling of Wall 992 and Cut 1027 have made an already complex area almost impossible to make sense of, in particular the precise stratigraphic relationship between the North Area and the Central Area.; No material from the construction of Wall 992, or from contexts excavated directly beneath it, need postdate the 5th c.; however, the narrow strip of sediment excavated as Deposit 1035 should be the same fill as that excavated immediately to the N as 990 and to the S as 991; 991 should date to the late 6th / early 7th c. (pottery), hence, Wall 992 should date to this time or later.; It is in the late 7th /early 8th century that we can begin to say something about the South Area, but it is not a very interesting something. A large amount of fill was dumped (contexts 978, 970, 979, 976) in the area south of the line of Wall 945, none of it containing material datable later than the 5th c. CE, but stratigraphically later than the late 7th/early 8th c. fill of 995. Some interesting earlier material was included in these fills, such as the Roman votive terracotta theater mask (MF-2013-1), part of a terracotta lion’s head spout, and antefix fragment, all from 978. A fragment of the ubiquitous pebble pavement is visible in the soil exposed by 978. At some point during the exposed life of 978, someone burned something on it and left behind the ash (deposit 979) as well as an illegible coin (2013-4).; ; Byzantine, 8th – 12th c.;     Still in the South Area, deposits 964, 965, 968, and 973 were laid down in the Early Byzantine period, as attested by the limited presence of Early Byzantine pottery. These appear to have been fills, although it is possible they served as surfaces. In the Middle Byzantine period, Wall 807 was built on the foundations of the robbed out Wall 945, as attested by the fill of the foundation trench 1008 (dated by pottery to Middle Byzantine). In the Late Byzantine period, during the early 12th c., some wall robbing was carried out in the area of Wall 918, as attested by context 1014. This may have been connected with the construction of Wall 540 on a N-S line across the area, also dated to the early 12th c. stratigraphically. ; ; Modern;     In the late 19th c., a pit was dug for an orange tree (context 791, dug in 2012); this cut through the western end of the contexts excavated this session in the North Area. In the 1960s, Henry S. Robinson conducted excavations in the Nezi field; these excavations cut through the northern extent of the contexts excavated this session (2013-I) in the North Area, making necessary some cleaning of the area (cleaning context 1042). ; Suggestions for Future Excavations; There are two possible future alternatives. The first would be to bring the Southern area down to the 5th-6th century levels already exposed in the Central area. Alternatively, and more immediately promising would be to excavate the Central area to the levels exposed to the West, such as context 1080. A potential destruction layer was exposed in the NW corner of context 1084, which may prove to be as fruitful as Context 1080. Moreover, open questions remaining that could be cleared by future excavations include: the potential relationship between Cut 1082 and irregular NS scarp exposed by Context 1085; the relationship of the cut exposed by context 1009 with its southward continuation South of cut 995; the relationship of Walls 1007 and 866 with the fills to the west."
"","Corinth","","","Report","","Nezi Field 2008 by Joseph Lillywhite, Joel Rygorsky, Matthew Sears, Martin Wells (2008-04-07 to 2008-06-13)","","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Nezi Field","Corinth:Report:Nezi Field 2008 by Joseph Lillywhite, Joel Rygorsky, Matthew Sears, Martin Wells (2008-04-07 to 2008-06-13)","Early Modern through Late Byzantine levels in Nezi Field","","","We, Joseph Lillywhite, Joel Rygorsky, Matthew Sears and Martin Wells, continued excavation in the entirety of Nezi Field from May 5 – June 13th, 2008.  This report will summarize our own findings, while also incorporating those of Alexis Belis and Christina Gieske, who excavated during Session I of the 2008 season.   The shape of our excavation area was somewhat irregular; its maximum coordinates ranged from 993.98 N to 1015.43 N and from 255.41 E to 279 E.   In the area of the Nezi Field 2007 excavations we resumed excavation where the 2007 team of Lina Kokkinou and Angela Ziskowski left off, the northern edge of which is an irregular escarpment left by the excavations of 1936 and 1961; in the northwestern area of Nezi Field, the northern edge of which is also an irregular escarpment formed by 1960’s excavations, we take up where Alexis Belis and Christina Gieske, who excavated from April 7th-April 26th, 2008, left off; south of where AB and CG excavated, our excavation began at a ground level revealed by a bulldozing operation.  Both of these latter two regions border the first on their eastern edge.  The bulldozing operation in the southwestern portion of Nezi Field was undertaken because the 2007 excavations proved that Nezi field had a deep disturbed agricultural stratum. This context was carefully dug by hand in 2007, but at a great cost of time. Therefore, this season, the excavation area was extended in order to find more of the structures uncovered in 2007, and to save time, the agricultural levels were removed by machine. The northwest area, where AB and CG excavated, was not bulldozed because it was known that it contained the continuation of the E-W running Early Modern property boundary wall (excavated to the east with B64 in 2007) and we wanted to record this structure (wall 243) properly before removal. We worked under the supervision of director Guy Sanders and assistant field director Alicia Carter. We excavated with Panos Stamatis (pick man), Sotiris Raftopoulos (shovel man/barrowman) Kleomenes Didaskalou (pick man), and Vangelis Kollias (shovel man/barrowman).; ; Our objective was to reach the level of the 2007 Nezi Field excavations, in order to continue the investigation of Turkish, Frankish, and Byzantine remains uncovered there. In the process of excavation to reach these earlier levels, we discovered evidence of Early Modern and Modern activity. The overall goal of the Nezi Field excavations has been to show the relationship of this entire area to the previously excavated area to the north (North of Nezi). ; ; This final report for the 2008 ASCSA Corinth Excavations in Nezi Field describes our interpretation of the stratigraphy encountered in our excavation area.  ; ; LATE BYZANTINE (1059-1210); The earliest contexts found to date in Nezi field date from the Late Byzantine period.  ; ; Two fills, 408 and 424 are datable by pottery to the Late Byzantine period, specifically to the last quarter of the 12th century CE.  Both of these fills are bounded on the east by wall 332, while 408 is bounded to the south by wall 365, and 424 to the north by wall 366.  On this basis, we tenuously interpret these three walls as having been constructed prior to these fills, making them Late Byzantine or earlier in date.  If subsequent excavation in this area reveals associated floors or foundation trenches, more accurate and precise dating should be pursued.  Context 371, which lay immediately to the west of where 408 was deposited, also was dated by pottery to the 12th century; however, 371 was overlain by a context whose pottery dated to the early Frankish period (401), leading us to the interpretation that both of these fills have been disturbed by a process of natural deposition, and thus are not related to the usage period of these walls.; ; Walls 332, 365, and 366 are part of a series of walls that form two rooms (one bounded by walls 305, 306, 332 and 365, the other bounded by walls 365, 306, 332 and 366).  Based upon the appearance of the walls, it seems that walls 305, 365 and 366 all abut wall 306, which leads us to believe that wall 306 should be no later than contemporary with walls 365 and 366, i.e. wall 306 should be dated no later than Late Byzantine, last quarter of the 12th century CE.  Circumstantially, it also seems appropriate to tentatively date wall 305 as contemporary to walls 306, 365 and 332, since these four walls together form a room.  It should be noted, however, that no contexts have yet been found inside this room that can be dated to the Late Byzantine period.; ; An area that will need further examination is that revealed beneath deposit 325, a tile filled destruction layer that directly overlaid a floor in the SE corner of the excavation.  The floor ran up to wall 316 to the W and 311 to the E.  There are no securely dated deposits of the Late Byz. In this area but for 325 (see below), which may turn out to be Frankish after the floor is excavated.  It is likely, however, that both wall 316 and 325 were constructed in the Byzantine Period.  More excavation is needed.; ; One other context was excavated that was datable by pottery to the Byzantine period.  A pit (cut =386), filled by context 385, was a small pit cut into the silty layer of natural deposition that seems to have lain over all of Nezi field (both the 2007 area of excavation and that which we excavated in 2008).  While its pottery does date to the Byzantine period, we believe this is impossible stratigraphically.  Since the pottery recovered from this pit comprises a total of only four coarseware sherds, we interpret the cutting of this pit as an activity much later than the Byzantine period.  The digging and filling of this pit will be able to be more accurately dated when the surrounding fill it cuts is excavated.; ; FRANKISH (1210-1458 CE); ; A multitude of various contexts seem to indicate that Nezi Field was the site of sustained activity during the Frankish period.; ; One distinct area of Frankish activity can be reconstructed in the southwestern area of Nezi field.  Discussed above was a tentatively dated Late Byzantine room bounded by walls 305, 306, 365 and 332.  Excavation of a later floor partially bounded by the limits of this room, fills underneath this floor, and a trench cut for the partial robbing of wall 305 allow us to speculate on the usage of this area during the Frankish period.  Floor 374, which lay partially directly beneath a layer of silty natural deposit (=301) and partially below a small extent of patchy surface(277) datable to the 13th century AD (npd), was bounded by walls 305 and 306 to the south and west, but overlay walls 332 and 365 to the north.  The pottery associated with floor 374 is datable to the early 13th century CE, perhaps around 1230.  Thus, we interpret this floor as part of an early Frankish partial re-usage of the earlier Late Byzantine room.  The contexts below floor 374, however, are somewhat problematic in their pottery dates.  There was some discussion in the field as to whether this context was truly a floor, however, since it was such a hard surface of relatively uniform clayey matrix with 3 small pits were dug into its surface (350, 353, 356) it seems likely that our interpretation of its being a floor is correct. ; ; Two of the three contexts excavated below floor 374 are consistent with our interpretation of the phasing of this part of the site; fill 387 dates to the second quarter of the 13th century, and the patch of red surface excavated as context 378 has a pottery date of early 13th century.  The other (389), however, has been dated by pottery to anywhere between 1250-1340.  Thus, our pottery here is somehow contaminated, the dating of the pottery needs to be re-evaluated, the construction of the floor needs to be pushed back to after 1250, or our entire interpretation needs to be rethought.  It seems that, when floor 374 was put in, the original northern and eastern boundaries of the room (walls 365 and 332) were built over, thus creating a larger space bounded to the west and south by walls 306 and 305.  The northern and western boundaries of this early Frankish space, however, are indeterminate, since floor 374 was not bounded by any visible structures to the north or west.  Cut into floor 374 were a series of three small pits, all placed just north of wall 305 and running along its bearing E-W.  These pits (352, 354 and 357) were all quite shallow, and their fills (350, 353, 356) gave no precise clues about their purpose.  We tentatively interpret these as small garbage pits cut into floor 374, but their alignment along the line of wall 305 does suggest the possibility that these may have been post holes used in the support of some structure for which we have no other evidence.  Unfortunately, the pottery from two of the three pits was lost during a particularly windy day at the pot sheds, and the third did not contain pottery that gave a definitive date. In the second half of the 13th century, wall 305 was partially robbed out by cut 304.  This cut had two distinct fills, 303 and 381, the first of which is datable by pottery to the third quarter of the 13th century, and the second less precisely to the second half of the 13th century.  Our interpretation, based upon stratigraphy and pottery dates, is that wall 305 was partially robbed out after floor 374 fell out of use.; ; The other room discussed above, bounded by walls 365, 306, 366 and 332, has no Frankish floors.  Above 408 and 424 we found two distinct Frankish fills.  331, which has a pottery date of early fourteenth century (?) overlaid 360, which has a pottery date of second quarter of the 13th century.  Below 360 was uncovered wall 332, the eastern wall of our putative Late Byzantine room; this again points to a discontinuance of usage of this room in the Frankish period.  Also below 331 was fill 368, which was of indeterminate Frankish date.  Cut into fill 368 was pit 431, whose fills (336 = 338) date to the mid thirteenth century.  At the bottom of this pit, we discovered a well or cistern head (346), which had pottery datable the second quarter of the 13th century associated with.  It is unclear to what period this structure 346 should date.  A linear stone feature only partially exposed this season may be a stone built drain that is running roughly N-S up to the mouth of the structure – this may suggest it is a cistern rather than a well.; ; Another area where we see Frankish activity is in the area bounded by wall 313 to the east and 332 to the west.  Fill 394, bounded on either side by these two walls, was the lowest context we removed from this area; its pottery date is Frankish, first half of the 13th century.  Below this fill, we came down onto a reddish clay floor, which ran all the way from wall 313 to wall 332, and further to the northwest in a strip that runs along the eastern edge of wall 332. This floor is truncated in the south by pit 310, so we are unable to know its southern boundary.  Its northern boundary is unclear, as it seems to be disturbed to the north by fill 398 (datable by pottery to the second half of the thirteenth century), although we cannot find a cutting at the interface of the two fills, so we cannot explain the disturbance as another pit.  We believe further excavation in this area will reveal more information about the limits and usage of this space, but it does seem clear that we are dealing with some sort of built space in usa before the middle of the thirteenth century CE.  This unexcavated floor upon which fill 394 sits is thus likely either early Frankish or Late Byzantine, and is bounded by both walls 313 and 332. ; ; Above fill 394, we excavated what we interpreted as a rough surface (358), the pottery date of which was also first half of the 13th century.  Above surface 358, we excavated other Frankish contexts: 340 and 344 were rough surfaces dating to the first quarter of the 13th century, and 348 was a lens of blackish fill, whose date is unfortunately unknown due to an accidental post-excavation contamination of the pottery collected with the context.  Directly overlying surface 340 and surface 358 was context 280, dating to the last quarter of the 13th century and abutting a small semi-circular structure (283).  At the SE corner of 280 a small ash deposit (281) and its underlying debris (284), date to the Late Frankish period. The fill inside the semicircular structure, which was directly to the W of the small ashy deposit but not abutting it, dated to the late 13th century, while the fill beneath it (deposit 288) dated to 1280 +/-10 years.  All of these contexts seem to post-date the usage of wall 332, since surface 358 and fill 348 partially covered wall 332.  In contrast, both surfaces 340 and 350 abutted wall 313, leading us to believe that wall 313 was in use when these surfaces were constructed and used.  The southern boundary of surface 358 was cut by pit 310.  The fill of this pit (308) has a pottery date of second quarter of the thirteenth century.  Pit 310, however, is later, and should post-date the usage of surfaces 358 and 340, since pit 310 also cuts fill 302 (=314), which has a pottery date of the last quarter of the 13th century.  Thus, in this area, we believe we have evidence of Frankish activity (340, 348, 350, 394) from the first half of the 13th century, which included a re-use of wall 313.  The cutting of pit 310 sometime during or after the last quarter of the 13th century may indicate a terminus ante quem for the destruction or abandonment period of this space.; ; Directly south of this area, just west of and over top of wall 316, we discovered more evidence of Frankish activity in Nezi Field.  Of Frankish contexts, we found here only fill or destruction levels, i.e. no contexts directly associated with usage periods.  328 was the earliest context we uncovered here; this fill sat directly on top of courses of stone foundations for two walls, 316 and 305.  The pottery date of 328 is the first half of the 13th century.  On top of this fill, we seem to have encountered destruction debris, which was excavated as contexts 285, 287 and 321.  These contexts were full of tiles and large boulders, which we speculate may have fallen from wall 316 or been dumped here upon the collapse of some other structure(s).  The pottery of this destruction debris dates to the second half of the 13th century.  Context 318 was laid on top of 328, and seems to be a small lens of dumped fill; its pottery date is third quarter of the thirteenth century, and may be related to some sort of post-destruction/abandonment leveling activity.  Context 289 overlaid all of these fills, and is the last deposit of Frankish date in this area; its pottery date is also third quarter of the 13th century.  It is interesting to note that the deposition of 328 on top of the foundations of walls 316 and 305 (pottery date = second half of the 13th century) post-dates the pottery dates of surfaces 340 and 358 to the N (pottery dates = first half of the thirteenth century); perhaps the abrupt truncation of these surfaces, as well as the surface below context 394, is related to the destruction of the superstructures of walls 305 and 316?; ; One of the main goals of excavation in the eastern area of Nezi field (E of robbing trench B54, wall 313, and wall 313) was to remove the overlying contexts of a very large Boney Ashy Layer (BAL).  This deposit is cut by the apsidal structure and underlies much of the Frankish/Late Byzantine deposits in the area.  It was revealed beneath deposits 432, 407, 373, 364, 355, 359, and parts of floor 337 in the northern/central area of Nezi field.  Further excavation is needed to precisely identify the limits of the BAL which will certainly be an excavation priority in 2009. ;  ; Directly E of wall 316 no part of the BAL was uncovered, but there were several areas of Frankish activity.  The most notable are the fills above and around the late Byzantine tile filled destruction debris of 325, which sat atop a floor that extended up to wall 316 at its NE corner, bordered by wall 299, pit cuts 290, and 310 to the N, and the edge of the excavated area to the E and S.   This area also has several natural deposits dating to the Late Byzantine period but their dates are tenuous and could change with further excavation (see above).  ; ; Wall 399, projecting from the eastern edge of excavation, must date to the Frankish period or later, as deposit 375, which dates to the 2nd ¼ of the 13th century, runs beneath it to the S, and possibly the BAL to the N.  Other than the terminus post quem for wall 299, dates for most of the deposits in this part of the site are difficult to fix precisely. The cobble fill of 375 was cut by pit 297 and its fill 292, which dates to the last ¼ of the 13th century or later, as well as pit 293, filled by 291.  Above 375 was a series of fills also dating to the 13th century: 309, 296, and 294.  In this area, however, E of wall 311 several late Byzantine deposits were also uncovered in very close proximity to the Frankish material: deposit 384 also goes beneath wall 299, 380 is bordered by wall 311 to the W and cut by pit 297 to the E, 382 sits directly against the S portion of wall 311, 383 is a small red patch perhaps related to the floor beneath 325, and 388 is an erosional fill that continues into the eastern edge of excavation. Of these Byzantine deposits it is 388 that is best dated, as it had a moderate amount of pottery dating to the 2nd ¼ of the 12th century.  ; ; Just to the S and W of wall 311 deposits continued to be of various dates, with 377 dating to 13th century and 379 abutting it, dating to the 12th.  Deposit 312, which runs into the southern edge of excavation, overlaid deposits 379 (Late Byz.) and 323/322 (Frankish).  The entire area should be clarified when the clay floor revealed beneath 325, 300, and 390 is excavated.  Overall most deposits were small and did not provide much evidence indicating precise dates.  As 375, the largest and most securely dated (2nd ¼ of the 13th century), sat directly above 388, it is likely that all of these small fills and depositional layers date to the Frankish period.  ; ; What does seem clear, however, is that the area E of and abutting wall 316, was disturbed in the Frankish period. The loose rocks of deposit 300, which dates to the early 14th century, were revealed by the bulldozer and sat directly upon the floor mostly revealed beneath 325.  The large context 302/314 overlaid 325 in parts but also ran up to the missing eastern section of wall 316 and dates to the 4th ¼ of the 13th century.  Indeed all contexts abutting the E section of wall 316 date to the Frankish period (307, robbing trench 315/319, 317, 320, 322, and 324) except for 325.; ; A Frankish pit, 286/290 was sunk through both the floor revealed under 325 and the silty fill of 302. The upper fill of this pit (286) should then date no earlier than 302, or the 4th ¼ of the 13th century.   Pit 290 was not completely excavated, however, and its interpretation may change when the bottom layers of fill are examined.  Just to the east of 290 is pit 310 (see above).  Between these two pits (and cut by them) were fills 326 and 327, both dating to the Frankish period.  At the northern edge of 290 parts of a wall are visible running E-W.  This wall had parts of floor 337, inside the apsidal building, running over it.  It seems clear that after the floor beneath 325 was covered in destruction collapse a long period of deposition and natural processes affected the area.  As there is no robbing or foundation trench yet identified for wall 316, the debris and fills over and to the E of the missing eastern half of the wall were most likely deposited after the wall was removed or collapsed.  More excavation is needed to determine this hypothesis.  To the E of wall 311 there are no surfaces and much of the material may have been due to natural processes (esp. 388) or a later leveling operation, perhaps associated with the BAL.  If the Late Byz. Pottery dates of deposits 380 and 382 prove correct then wall 311 must date no later than this, but more excavation is required.; ; Within a room of the apsidal structure bordered to the W by wall 313, the east by wall 334, and the N by wall 335, we excavated a floor (337) and a series of fills S of cut B71 from the 2007 excavations.  Above this floor a few contexts, 329, 330, and 333, must date to the Frankish period, as 337 contained pottery from the 2nd ¼ of the 13th century.  Floor 337 abutted wall 313 to the W, 335 to the N, and 334 to the E.  To the south pit 290 seems to have cut floor 337, as parts of the floor were visible resting atop the E-W wall at the N edge of the cut.  Just beneath floor 337, S of pit B191 (2007 excav.), more of the BAL was revealed along with a reddish layer that may go beneath it.  Wall 334 cuts through the BAL as can be seen in the scarp of robbing trench B216 (2007 excav.).  E of pit B191 and W of wall 334 a series of fills produced a mixture of dates.  Just beneath the floor and over the BAL, fills 359 and 355 yielded a Late Byzantine date for their pottery. However, 339 and 341 abutting them in the NE corner, while containing only late Byzantine pottery, were stratigraphically later than 351, which dated to the 2nd ½ of the 13th century.  Therefore 339 and 341 must be Frankish. The same can be said for 342, which overlies wall 347, but 343 rests against this wall and dates to the Frankish period.  Deposits 345 and 349, furthermore, rest partly over 343, and thereby date to Frankish times.  ; ; All other deposits in this area, 361, 362, 363, 364, 367, 369, 372, and 373 are small and insecure regarding their dates.  Surfaces 361, 363 and 367 may have been misinterpreted in the field as they seem to be part of a series of fills cut into the BAL rather than true surfaces.  Cut 370 was only identifiable when a red matrix was discovered beneath deposit 364 that seems to go beneath the BAL to the S.  The BAL, in addition, seems to be laying within some of this cut, namely, that to the W of the exposed area and beneath deposit 364.  More excavation is needed to clarify these relationships.; ; Between the N edge of the apsidal structure and the baulk left by the 1936 excavations at the extreme N edge of Nezi field, a pit (cut 430), a series of destruction debris layers, possible natural deposits, and floors were excavated around wall 420.  Pit cut 430 was sunk into part of wall 420 and probably dates to the Frankish period, though it has not been completely excavated.  From this pit we removed 9 layers of fill that followed a pattern of a central slumping in the central portion (in this case extending to the southern edge) and a softer lens draping over the harder central cone.  A hard clayey layer was left at a higher elevation when excavation ceased.  The harder central cone slump consisted of contexts, 427, 423, 422, 421 (which was pure clay), and 418.  The softer strata around these included possibly 428, although parts of 427 seemed to overlie it, 419, and 417. The top layer of fill within pit 430 was 416.  To reveal the cut of this pit several layers had to be taken off (412, 414) and around (415) wall 420.  These were of firm to hard compaction and possibly related to the destruction debris to the N as they were composed mainly of clay and degraded mudbrick. They might be the result of weathering of the walls in this area – the building material being washed off the walls and pooling on the surface below.  ; ; Excavation N of wall 420 began with an obvious destruction layer intermingled with clay slumping and erosional deposition from a structure that we were not able to identify.  Above the tile layer 395 several clay fills (391,393) and some erosional debris (392) were removed, all dating to the 2nd ¼ of the 13th century.  395 was bordered to the south by a much disturbed robbing trench, 396, revealed in 2007.  Some of the tiles associated with 295 were visible in the bottom of robbing trench 396.  It was clear that there was a series of overlying phases of destruction.  S of 395, deposit 397 also represents a tile destruction layer that was visible in robbing trench 396, but its pottery dated to the Late Byz. Period.  Deposits in the area that are stratigraphically earlier than 397, however, provide Frankish dates.  These include 399, 400, 404, and 402 (another tile collapse).  The earliest of these, 402, dated from the late 12th to the mid 13th century. Cleaning E and N of wall 420, deposit 403, also yielded a date in the mid 13th century.  Beneath 395 a small patch of soil, 413, at a higher elevation than the Frankish layers around it, dated to the late Byzantine period but with very little pottery.  It will most likely be dated to the Frankish period after further excavations needed to fully decipher this area and its relation to the BAL are carried out.; ; Near the E edge of robbing trench B54 (2007 excav.) and the N limits of Nezi field, what may be either floor surfaces or erosional debris were revealed.  These contexts (425=433) were the same fully rounded pebble mixture with a few boulders projecting above their strosis.  There is no structure associated with the surface so it may be erosional.  Whatever the case, 433/425 dates to the 1st ¼ of the 13th century and so the stratigraphically later fills in the area, 404, 405, 406, 409, and 410 must all be after this date.; ; South of wall 420  deposit 432, which abuts the wall and sits directly on a portion of the BAL, dated to the 2nd ½ of the 13th century.  To the E, N, and overlying parts of 420, deposit 429 was ceramically dated to the 12th century but not precisely datable.  It stands to reason, then, that 429 should be re-dated to after 432 and is therefore Frankish.; The only deposit that cannot be proven Frankish at this time is 407, just NE of the apsidal structure.  This sat directly upon the BAL and will need further investigation before a precise date can be given.  The fact that 375 ran beneath wall 299 in the S edge of the trench, however, that the BAL seems to run up against the N face of 299, and that the cleaning pass of the BAL, 267, yielded a Frankish date, strongly suggests that the BAL is Frankish.  If this is correct 407 would need to be dated to the Frankish period.  More excavation is needed.; ; NATURAL DEPOSIT:  POST-FRANKISH TO EARLY MODERN; ; Above the various Frankish levels uncovered in Nezi field during the 2008 excavation season, we encountered throughout the area thick silty deposits that consistently contained pottery of various time periods.  Our current interpretation of all these contexts is that they are natural deposits created by the erosion of soil from further uphill over the course of hundreds of years.  Implied in this interpretation is that in these areas of Nezi Field, very little non-agricultural activity occurred between the end of the Frankish and beginning of the Early Modern periods.  We dealt with these deposits on an ad hoc basis, not fully realizing with what we were dealing until near the very end of the season.  Some were removed as cleaning contexts (e.g. 264 and 267), while others were excavated more carefully and are entered into to our Harris matrix (=257, 260, 262, 273, 278, 301, 371, 401, 411).  As a consequence of the random nature of these deposits, the pottery dates from context to context can vary widely, e.g. 371 has a pottery date of 12th century CE, 411 of Ottoman II, and 257 of 19th century CE.  ; ; EARLY MODERN; ; In the northern portion of the excavation area, the earliest feature is a pit (Context 248), which cut through a yet unexcavated layer containing lime and pebbles used for cement mixing. Because of the large boulders present in the fill of the pit, it seems possible that the superstructure of the N-S portion of Structure 243 was destroyed and placed in the pit. AB and CG dug one lense of fill in this pit (247), which was early 20th century CE according to its pottery date.  We dug three more lenses of fill in this pit (249, 251 and 252), two of which had pottery dates of Early Modern, and one of which had a pottery date of Frankish.  We discontinued excavation in this pit, in large part because its northern edge had been disturbed during the course of the 1960’s excavations carried on North of Nezi Field.  We were not confident that we were digging in sequence, and we took the decision to delay excavation inside this pit until such time as the contexts surrounding it could be better defined, which did not happen during the 2008 season.  We support the original presumption of AB and CG that it seems likely that this pit was contemporaneous with the construction of the Giambouranis house located just north of Nezi field because of the unexcavated layer containing construction debris (the lime and pebbles). ; ; Sometime after pit 248 was cut a cementy fill layer, represented by contexts 250, 252, 265, and 274 was deposited, the pottery from which dated to the late 19th-early 20th centuries.  This cementy dumped fill layer was found in pit 248 and was also cut by the laying of the E-W wall 243.  Wall 243 is represented chronologically by its cuts, 272 for the E-W portion, and 276 for the N-S return.  The lower fills for the cuts, 268, 269, and 275 (the N return foundations), contained flecks of the cementy fill through which they were dug.  The foundation course, 266, was exposed during the beginning of the 2007 excavations while searching for the foundation trench.  Pottery from the foundation courses of wall 243 dates to the 1st ½ of 19th century, but as this wall cut through the cementy dumped fill it must date to the late 19th/early 20th century.  Sometime after the original construction of wall 243 a S return, 244, was added, but not bonded.  An aerial photograph from 1909 does not show the southern extension and the pottery dates to early modern NPD.  A more precise date is not attainable.; ; A water pipe, 258, cut 261, was punched through wall 243 sometime in the late 19th, early 20th century.  The sections of repair to the superstructure of wall 243, 253 for the superstructure, 254 cementy fill beneath 253, and 255 (concrete directly over water pipe 258), provide this date, as does the packing over the pipe to the S, 256, and the fills for the installation of the pipe (259 and 263).  Notably the silty fill in this area, 257, 260, and 262, through which the pipe was cut, also date to the early modern period (and so too that to the E of 243, deposit 273).  The pipe itself (258) brought water from somewhere S/SE of Nezi to the Giamboranis house, and extended from the N edge of the excavation area to the south as far as wall 306 (see above), which it overlaid for several meters.  North of wall 243 the pipe sat upon the cementy dumped fill (274), which also seemed to have been deposited over the pipe. Clearly the cementy dumped fill was too soft to preserve any sort of cutting.  53 sections of pipe are preserved varying in length from 0.30-0.36m. with a thick layer of lime incrustation inside.  Male ends were generally pointed north except for the portion in the repaired section of 243, where the pipe was deposited at a slightly higher elevation.  ; ; Beneath the cementy dumped fill and just N of wall 243 a small oval pit, cut 271 filled by 270, must predate the wall and the pipe.  Very little pottery in this pit emerged, but what did exist dated to late Frankish (late 13th) times.  The chronological relation of this pit to 248 is unclear at this time and needs further excavation.  ; ; One other area of early modern activity is 279, a small ashy deposit revealed by the bulldozer W of 313.  This patch was too small to suggest any conclusions with confidence.  ; ; CONCLUSIONS; ; While many of the walls uncovered in the 2008 excavation season will most likely prove to be of Late Byzantine or earlier date, there is little evidence of securely dated Pre-Frankish activity in the Nezi field.  In the western half of excavation, what appear to be three small rooms with shared cross-walls yielded a few Late Byzantine deposits but the period of construction or first use phases have not yet been revealed.  These rooms, bounded by N-S wall 306 to the W and 332 to the E, are divided by the E-W walls 366 in the N, 365, and 305 in the S.  On the last day of excavation what may be another wall appeared N of 366 that could prove to be part of the same complex.  Wall 376, which runs W of 306, is in line with wall 305 to the E and may prove to be another room of this structure.  It should be noted, however, that while several pre-Frankish fills were found inside these rooms (371, 408, 424) nothing unearthed conclusively indicated a Byzantine period of use.  ; ; To the E of wall 316 the only possible period of Late Byzantine activity is deposit 325 and the floor revealed beneath it and deposits 300, and 390.  This area may prove to be another Late Byzantine building, bordered by wall 316 to the W, 311 to the E, and the wall visible in the N face of pit cut 290 to the N (the edge of excavations limits our knowledge of any southern delineation.  Indeed north and on top of the wall in pit 290 was floor 337, which dated to the 2nd ¼ of the 13th Century.  Most of the SE area is heavily disturbed and eroded, however, with fills primarily dating to the Frankish period.  More excavation is needed.; ; In the central and north sections of Nezi field activity centered around trying to define the limits and relationships of surrounding contexts to the Boney Ashy Layer (BAL), which is visible inside, to the E, and to the N of the apsidal building.  The BAL may be part of a Frankish leveling operation across most of the E ½ of Nezi field.  A Frankish date is suggested for the BAL by deposit 375, a large fill layer at the SE edge of excavation that could be seen to run beneath the S face of wall 299.  The N face of 299 appears to have the BAL poured up against it.  A cleaning pass probing the limits of the BAL also yielded a Frankish date.  Notably the E wall of the apsidal structure, 334, cuts through the BAL, making everything contextually associated with this structure Frankish.  The floor and fills generally followed this rule, although many deposits beneath floor 337 north and east of pit B191 were small and insignificant, sometimes giving late Byzantine pottery dates.  Stratigraphically, however, this area should date to the Frankish Period.  One exception, which may well prove itself Byzantine, is cut 370, discovered beneath deposit 364, which itself was one of a series of disturbances into the BAL.  More excavation is needed.; ; Pursuing the N limit of the BAL led us to a series of destruction and fill layers N of wall 420.  These all can be tentatively dated to the Frankish Period, although a few small deposits did not have pottery past Late Byzantine.  Much tile and clay destruction collapse was removed near the Northern limits of Nezi field which extended S as far as wall 420.  The pit that removed part of 420, while not fully excavated, will probably prove Frankish as well, though this is by no means certain.  Running against the S face of 420 and sitting in part over the BAL was deposit 432, which dated to the late 13th century.  Although more excavation may show the BAL also present N of 420, a red layer beneath the E portion of 432 seems to go under the BAL, suggesting that perhaps wall 420 is the Northern limit.  Before excavating the BAL more excavation is needed to the N and E of 420, explorations should be carried out in the N room of the apsidal structure, and several patches to the E, left by the 2007 excavations, should be removed.  ; ; Evidence of modern activity came primarily from the NW corner of Nezi field and dates to the end of the 19th/early 20th century.  These included a wall and several pits cut through the silty erosional debris that was mostly removed by bulldozer to the S.  The E-W wall 243 was removed with its bonded N return and later, unbonded, S extension.  This wall 243 was cut through a layer of soft concrete fill (250) that sat above the silty debris and ran into pit 248.  Through this wall was punched a pipe (258) that was preserved running S as far as the possible Byzantine wall 306.  Another pit (271), shallow and with little pottery, was found beneath the concrete fill but the relationship of this pit to the larger 248 requires further excavation."
"","Corinth","","","Report","","Nezi Field 2007 by Ioannis Sapountzis (2007-05-18 to 2007-06-07)","","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Nezi Field","Corinth:Report:Nezi Field 2007 by Ioannis Sapountzis (2007-05-18 to 2007-06-07)","Early Roman to Middle Byzantine Strata in area of Room F, North of Nezi field","","","INTRODUCTION; For three weeks Ioannis Sapountzis worked in the area designated “North of Nezi,” conducting cleaning operations and new excavation. The area where cleaning and excavation took place is located between E 278.30 to the east and E 271.60 to the west, N 1015.32 to the south and N 1022.90 to the north, and it is to the immediate north of the area known as “Nezi field.”  Ioannis Sapountzis was the trenchmaster, Athanasios Magourakis the pickman, Panagiotis Stamatis the shovel man and Christos Bolevas the barrowman and sieve operator.  Alica Carter was the supervisor and G. D. R. Sanders the director of the excavations.; ; The objectives of the work in the above said area were to initially clarify the situation as it was left by the 1961 excavations and then proceed into the investigation of the various structures and features that exist, in order to provide a better chronology for them, but also to be able to place them within the space around them.; ; The area was partially excavated in 1961.  Besides that only one cleaning basket (B 5002) was excavated in the above mentioned area by Heidi Broome-Raines in the second training session of 2007.  Therefore for the most part the area has remained untouched since 1961. Some of the terminology that was applied in the 1961 archaeological record, mainly the names of walls and other features, was reused by I. Sapountzis.; ; Excavation and cleaning started in the room that is located to the north of room F, E half (E 271.70-E 276.50, N 1020.70-N 1022.30).  Wall 24 (NB 228) (E 271.60-E 274.5, N 1022.30-N 1022.90) that formed the northern wall of this room was removed. Two phases of wall 23 (NB 228) (E 271.15-E 276.60, N 1020.15-N 1020.90), which formed the southern wall for the above said room were also removed?. Then excavation and cleaning proceeded into room F, E half (E 271.60-E 276.75, N 1015.80-N 1020.35). Part of the foundation trench for a pithos (E 273.25-E 274.20, N 1019.15-N 1020.05) that was initially excavated in the 1961 season was dug. The extension of wall 20 (NB 228) (E 272.05-E 273.45, N 1015.80-N 1018.12) was also excavated.  Finally wall 21 (NB 228) (E 277.60-E 278.50, N 1016.12-N 1021.45), which connects wall 19 (NB 228) and cuts through the probable extension of wall 23 (NB 228) was also removed.; ; EARLY ROMAN; The only early Roman contexts were excavated in B5109 and B5110.  They were dated based on pottery.  Both of them were located in the room north of room F, E half, and they were interrupted on the E by wall 21 (NB 228), and B5110 was interrupted in the S by wall 23 (NB 228).  Upon excavating them, B5110 revealed a layer which contained ashes in its matrix, and which was later on linked with room F, E half, in B5141.  Since B5141 had a middle Roman date, it is most likely that B5109 and B5110 were reused fill of some kind, probably as a subflooring for the room to the north of room F, E half.; ; MIDDLE ROMAN ; Against the east face of wall 22 (NB 228) in the room to the north of room F, east half, a foundation trench was excavated (B5106).  The date on this foundation trench was based on the pottery.  However the excavation of B5106 should be considered incomplete since due to the narrowness of the trench the pickman was forced to stop.  Also in the same room, another cut was excavated (B5105) against the N side of wall 23 (NB 228).  It was initially thought that B5105 was a foundation trench for an earlier phase of wall 23 (NB 228), however the excavating crew was unable to trace its full extent to the east and the west, and therefore it is possible that this is simply some pit.  The only other middle Roman context (B 5107) excavated in the room to the north of room F, east half, was a deposit lying on top of an early Roman context (B5109 and B5110) which subsequently was positioned on top of a late Roman context (B 5140).  Therefore B5107 is considered to be out of order stratigraphically, and is most likely reused fill as part of subflooring.; ; In room F, east half, part of the foundation trench for the large pithos was excavated (B5118).  To the N it bordered with an earlier phase of wall 23 (NB 228) and to the W with wall 20 (NB228).  The bottom of B5118 does not represent the end of the foundation trench for the pithos. It was simply decided to stop this basket at this point because excavating any deeper could cause the already cracked pithos to collapse and thus endanger the working crew.  This is however an important context since it potentially dates the placement of this pithos within the room.  The dating of this context was based on pottery and on a middle Roman coin, 2007-398.; ; A possible robbing trench for the upper courses of wall 20 (NB 228) was excavated by B’s 5123, 5144 and 5145.  It is thought that wall 20 (NB 228) could have been robbed out of its upper courses in order to create a leveling area for a floor within room F, east half.  The dating of this hypothetical robbing trench is based on pottery and a coin of Valentinian I or Valeus (Coin 2007-396).; ; The latest phase of wall 23 (NB 228) which separates room F, east half, and the room to its immediate north, was removed (B5156, B5136).  The wall consisted of large and medium sized worked stones, field stones, large cobbles, a marble fragment (either part of a fountain or a perrirhanterion), and a fragment of a lintel block.  To its east wall 23 (NB 228) is cutting through a north to south wall (E 276.60-E 277.40, N1016.05-N 1020.40), and to its west it is cut by wall 22 (NB228). Upon the removal of the latest phase of wall 23 (NB 228), what potentially could be another phase was noted on its east side and it was subsequently removed by B5137.  Both phases of wall 23 (NB 228) mentioned here were dated to the middle Roman period based on pottery.  ; ; The second phase (B5137) noted above is a bit problematic, since it is of the same construction technique with the previous phase, removed in B’s 5156 and 5136, but below it instead of another phase of wall 23 (NB 228) there was leveled ground.  This area below B5137 is believed to belong to a foundation trench for a third phase of wall 23 (NB 228).  This foundation trench was excavated in B5141 and it is located in the south side of wall 23 (NB 228) within room F, east half.  To its west it is bordered by the foundation trench of the pithos (B5118) and to the east by the wall which connects wall 23 (NB 228) with wall 19 (NB228) (E 276.60-E 277.40, N1016.05-N 1020.40).  It is very possible that the foundation trench for wall 23 (NB228) and the foundation trench for the pithos (B5118) are the same context, since they share similar matrices and have the same dates based on pottery.  The foundation trench for wall 23 (NB 228) has not been fully excavated since a change in the matrix of the soil was noted, and it was therefore required to change the basket. However, due to time constraints, the rest of the foundation trench has remained unexcavated.  The foundation trench for wall 23 (NB228) is dated based on pottery.; ; LATE ROMAN; In the room to the north of room F, east half, that is bordered by wall 23 (NB 228) on its south side, wall 22 (NB 228) on its west side, wall 24 (NB 228) on its north side, and the probable continuation of wall 21 (NB 228) on its east side, a significant amount of coins was recovered, 119 in total.  The majority are of a late Roman date with some that belong to the middle Roman period.  They were mostly concentrated on the east half of the room.  B5092 had the largest concentration, 62 in total, all of which were of a late Roman date (Coin 2007-254 is just one example).  B5092 together with B5093, B5089 and B5086 revealed a large deposit of roof tile fragments which spread from wall 22 (NB 228) to ca. 0.75 to the west of wall 21 (NB228).  This deposit was excavated as B5096 and it also contained 48 coins, the majority of which belonged to the late Roman period.  This tile layer is believed to be a leveling course for a floor and not an actual destruction layer. The reasoning behind this is the following.  The roof tile fragments were all very small pieces, ca. 0.05 by 0.12, and normally when a roof collapses there are some larger pieces which survive, and in this deposit there were none.  Not all of the tile fragments were lying flat on the ground, which means that they were dumped in this room instead of collapsing from the roof.  Together with the roof tile fragments there was a large number of medium sized cobbles, which do not seem to belong to any of the construction techniques of the surrounding walls.  The date of all of the above baskets, with the exception of B5093, is late Roman, and this is based on pottery and the majority of the coins recovered from this area.; ; Wall 21 (NB 228) which is interrupted on its south end by wall 19 (NB228), and on its north end appears to be cutting through an extension of wall 23 (NB228) only to fall apart at ca. 0.90 of that, was removed in B5126. The decision was made upon noting that the wall was sitting on earth, and therefore following a stratigraphic sequence it made sense to remove it.  Wall 21 (NB228) was constructed of large orthostate blocks, spaced in between with smaller worked stones, field stones, and mud.  This construction technique can be seen elsewhere in the “N of Nezi” area.  It measured 5.33 in length, 0.65 in width, and had a maximum preserved height of 1.15.  Wall 21 probably formed the west wall of what is referred to as room E (NB 228).  A large number of coins (33) were retrieved from the dirt that formed the bonding material for the wall and from the floor on which wall 21 was placed (14 coins from B5130).  The majority of the coins are of a late Roman date (such as 2007-411), with some middle Roman ones (such as 2007-433).  Wall 21 (NB228) was dated as late Roman based on pottery and coins.  The floor on which the wall was resting (B5130) was also dated as late Roman based on pottery and coins.; ; MIDDLE BYZANTINE; After excavating B 5089 in the room to the north of room F, E half (E 271.70-E 276.50, N 1020.70-N 1022.30) it was noted that a layer which contained numerous tile fragments was continuing underneath wall 24 (NB 228).  It was therefore decided to remove wall 24 before excavating the tile layer.  Wall 24 (B 5093) was constructed with a mix of worked and field stones, all of which were average sized. It was randomly coursed and its faces had a mix of fair faced and rough faced stones.  It measured 2.95 in length, 0.65 on its maximum preserved width, and 0.35 at its maximum preserved height. To the W it was interrupted by wall 22 (NB 228) and to the E it was destroyed.  If it were to continue to the E it would probably merge with wall 21 (NB 228).  On its N side due to excavation work that took place in 1961 another wall (E 271.65-E 275.00, N1022.80-N 1023.40) could be detected on which wall 24 was partially positioned atop.  Upon the removal of wall 24 the upper course of this lower wall was exposed.  Wall 24 was partially incorporated in this upper course, but it also lay on the leveling layer created by the roof tile fragments.  Wall 24 is dated to the 11th century AD on the basis of the pottery that was retrieved from its matrix.  It is very possible that wall 24 together with wall 22 and the upper most phase of wall 23 (NB 228) created a room.  What is important to note is that out of these three walls only wall 24 was resting partially on the roof tile layer, and therefore wall 22 and the upper phase of wall 23 could be earlier than wall 24.; ; B5133 is the only other context with a middle Byzantine date.  B5133 is thought to be a foundation trench for the west end of wall 28 (NB 228) (E 277.00-E 278.30, N1022.30-N 1022.75).  The bottom of B5133 does not represent the bottom of the foundation trench, but excavation had to be stopped because it was becoming too narrow for the pickman to proceed.  Since this area has not been excavated since 1961 it is very likely that this is a contaminated deposit, therefore the middle Byzantine date is not a certain one, and middle Roman is another suggestion made by the director.; ; CONCLUSIONS; Some of the features excavated during this final session remain incomplete, and will therefore be part of the problems to be solved by future excavators.  In the room to the north of room F, east half, there is an unfinished foundation trench excavated in B5106.  This is the foundation trench for the west face of wall 22 (NB 228), and it was stopped because it was too constricted for the pickman to work.  So far the material from there has placed it in the middle Roman period. Completing the excavation of this foundation trench could provide a date of construction for wall 22 (NB 228).  ; ; Another unfinished foundation trench is in the area that is formed by wall 28 (NB 228) to its north, the probable continuation of wall 23 (NB 228) to the east, and wall 21(NB228) to the west.  In this area the foundation trench for the south face of wall 28 was partially excavated.  Completing the excavation of this trench could provide some useful dates for the construction of wall 28 and the structure that it creates to its immediate north.; ; In room F, east half, the foundation trench for the placement of the large pithos was also partially excavated.  Until this point it provided with a middle Roman date for the placement of the pithos, but excavating it in its entirety is crucial in order to get a precise date for the use of this pithos.  This is very important, since it was noted in the beginning of the session by the director that this pithos could potentially date to the 5th century BC, and thus if it is in use during the middle Roman period, then it is possible to get very useful information about the use and reuse of pithoi in antiquity.; ; Finally the foundation trench of the south face of wall 23 (NB 228) was partially excavated and provided a middle Roman date.  Since it is bordering with the foundation trench for the bordering of the pithos, and they share the same dates, it will be important to excavate this context since it can provide useful information regarding the pithos and its relation to wall 23 (NB228).; ; Excavating below the floor on which the tile layer was lying on in the room to the north of room F, east half, is crucial in order to further investigate the existence, or not, of middle and late Roman coins.  The concentration of such coins within a very limited space is very interesting, and further study of them in combination with other material culture, and the surrounding architecture could provide some useful information about activity in the N of Nezi area during these periods."
"","Agora","","","Webpage","","Publications: Picture Books","","","Agora:Webpage:13d1c3f4a073ae9908f4b8a37cf3f883","","","http://agathe.gr/publications/picture_books.html","Picture Books The Athenian Agora Picture Book series, started in 1951, aims to make information about life in the ancient commercial and political center of Athens available to a wide audience. Each booklet describes a particular aspect of everyday activity, as revealed through the work of archaeologists and historians. The authors are all experts in their fields and many of the books are written by the original excavators. The texts are illustrated with material from the Agora excavations, much of which is either on display at the site or in the museum. Physical copies of these books are easy to obtain from our distributors in either the USA or UK. By clicking on the associated links, you will be transferred to your nearest outlet. Class sets can be ordered via bookstores. You can also immediately download low resolution PDFs by clicking on the download links. These are free for personal use. For permission to use in course packs, or for other commercial purposes, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01983, USA; Tel: 978 750 8400; Fax: 978 750 4250; http://www.copyright.com. Pots and Pans of Classical Athens Authors: Sparkes, B., Talcott, L.Publication Date: 1958ISBN: 0876616015Picture Book: 1 By mingling images on well-preserved Greek vases with the more fragmentary ceramics recovered during excavations at the Agora, the authors show how different vessel forms were used in Classical Athens. By linking the shapes of pots with their social functions, this book gives meaning to the ancient names, such as skyphos, olpe, kantharos, lekane, and hydria, that one encounters when visiting museums. The booklet is illustrated with over 60 black and white photographs. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside The Stoa of Attalos II in Athens Author: Thompson, H. A. T.Publication Date: 1992ISBN: 0876616341Picture Book: 2 Named after its donor, the King of Pergamon, the Stoa of Attalos was originally built around 150 B.C. Between 1953 and 1956 this long, columned, marble building was rebuilt by the American School of Classical Studies to store and display finds from the Agora excavations. Using original materials and techniques, the modern builders learned much about the construction and purpose of stoas, a ubiquitous classical building type. This heavily illustrated account presents some of their findings. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside Miniature Sculpture from the Athenian Agora Author: Thompson, D. B.Publication Date: 1959ISBN: 0876616031Picture Book: 3 Small sculptured figures of humans and animals have been found all over the Agora, ranging in date from the earliest occupation of Athens to the end of the Late Roman period. This booklet presents a representative sample of these carvings, ranging from elegant ivory figures of Apollo to small toy horses recovered from children’s graves. Illustrated with almost 80 black and white photographs. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside The Athenian Citizen. Democracy in the Athenian Agora Author: Lang, M.Publication Date: 2004ISBN: 0876616325Picture Book: 4 The artifacts and monuments of the Athenian Agora provide our best evidence for the workings of ancient democracy. As a concise introduction to these physical traces, this book has been a bestseller since it was first published almost 20 years ago. Showing how tribal identity was central to all aspects of civic life, the text guides the reader through the duties of citizenship; as soldier in times of war and as juror during the peace. The checks and balances that protected Athenian society from tyrants, such as legal assassination and ostracism, are described. Selected inscriptions are illustrated and discussed, as are ingenious devices such as allotment machines and water clocks, which ensured fairness in the courts. The book ends with some of the lasting products of classical administration; the silver coins accepted around the known world, and the standard weights and measures that continue to protect the consumer from unscrupulous merchants. Now illustrated entirely in color, with updates and revisions by the current director of excavations at the Agora, this new edition of an acknowledged classic will inform and fascinate visitors and students for many years to come. Online Version | Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside Ancient Portraits from the Athenian Agora Author: Harrison, E. B.Publication Date: 1960ISBN: 0876616058Picture Book: 5 Although the famous bronze statues seen by the Roman tourist Pausanias have been melted down, the Agora preserves a number of fine portraits in stone. While a few of these are named, most of the portraits in this booklet represent ordinary men and women; priests, athletes, and officials. Referring to over 40 black and white photos, the author discusses hairstyles, clothing and facial expressions to shed light on the individuals depicted. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside Amphoras and the Ancient Wine Trade Author: Grace, V. RPublication Date: 1961ISBN: 0876616198Picture Book: 6 Although this booklet is based on broken pottery found during the excavation of the Agora, the author ranges far beyond the confines of Athens in her discussion of the purpose and significance of different amphora types. She shows how chronological variations in shape and the geographical clues offered by stamped handles make amphoras a fascinating source of economic information. The booklet illustrates many different forms of amphora, all set into context by the well-written text. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside The Middle Ages in the Athenian Agora Author: Frantz, A.Publication Date: 1961ISBN: 0876616074Picture Book: 7 The story of the Agora did not end in A.D. 267, when the Herulians invaded the city. This booklet illustrates the ornate Early Christian carving and colorful green and brown glazed pottery that distinguished medieval Athens. Finds and architecture from the private houses that covered over the Classical remains are discussed, and the book ends with a survey of the Church of the Holy Apostles, the 11th-century church that stands at the southeast corner of the Agora. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside Garden Lore of Ancient Athens Authors: Burr Thompson, D., Griswold, R. E.Publication Date: 1963ISBN: 0876616082Picture Book: 8 In the spring, the ground of the Agora archaeological park is covered in poppies and daisies while poplars and oaks shade many of the pathways. Some of these plants are wild and some were deliberately introduced to Athens in Classical times. This booklet presents evidence for ancient horticulture in the Agora (for example, structured antique gardens were uncovered around the Temple of Hephaistos). Its color plates also provide a useful guide to identifying modern Greek vegetation. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside Lamps from the Athenian Agora Author: Perlzweig, J.Publication Date: 1963ISBN: 0876616090Picture Book: 9 At night, the darkness of the ancient Agora would have been pierced by the lights of oil lamps, and thousands of fragments of these distinctive objects have been found. This booklet presents the development of different styles of lamps and includes a very useful identification guide. The author discusses the manufacture of lamps in Athens, a major industry with over 50 known workshops in the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D. She also provides illustrations of particularly fine examples, including ornate festival lamps with many nozzles and bizarre shapes. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside Inscriptions from the Athenian Agora Author: Meritt, B. D.Publication Date: 1966ISBN: 0876616104Picture Book: 10 Many types of written records are found in the Agora, and this booklet presents a sample of more than 10,000 inventoried inscriptions on stone. The texts illustrated include diplomatic agreements, commemorative plaques for athletic victories, records of court judgements, boundary stones identifying different buildings, and fragmentary inscriptions featuring names (over 30,000 individual Athenians are now recorded). In a city of letters, even the problems faced by the librarians of the Library of Pantainos seem familiar: “No book shall be taken out for we have sworn an oath. Open from the first hour to the sixth.” Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside Waterworks in the Athenian Agora Author: Lang, M.Publication Date: 1968ISBN: 0876616112Picture Book: 11 Preserved beneath the surface of the Agora are thousands of terracotta pipes, stone drainage channels, and lead pressure lines. These form a complex chain of waterworks, constructed and repaired over many different periods. This book discusses the complex engineering that channeled fresh water into the Agora and disposed of waste water, and shows some of the ornate wells and fountain houses where ancient Athenians gathered to drink and bathe. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside An Ancient Shopping Center: The Athenian Agora Author: Burr Thompson, D.Publication Date: 1971ISBN: 087661635XPicture Book: 12 As well as being a political center, the Agora was the focus of a noisy and varied commercial life. This booklet illustrates the archaeological, documentary, and pictorial evidence for such diverse trades as shoe-making, fishmongering, weaving, and the manufacture of luxury goods and perfumes. Shopping was just one aspect of this public space: ancient Athenians would also have received medical treatment, been married and buried, made sacrifices, and received education in the Agora. The material remains from all of these activities are also discussed. Vivid illustrations and useful resources, such as a table of prices and coinage, bring the bustling marketplace to life. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside Early Burials from the Agora Cemeteries Author: Immerwahr, S. A.Publication Date: 1973ISBN: 0876616139Picture Book: 13 Before the creation of the Agora as a civic center in the 7th century B.C., the region northwest of the Acropolis was a vast cemetery. Over 150 ancient burial places have been found by excavators, and a few of the more remarkable are described here. These range from a wealthy Mycenaean chamber tomb, filled with the vases and jewelry of a rich noblewoman, to the poignant pithos burial of an infant from around 725 B.C., accompanied by eight tiny vases. As well as describing the assemblages found, the author discusses the symbolism of funeral rites and the information about social status and identity that burials reveal. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside Graffiti in the Athenian Agora Author: Lang, M.Publication Date: 1988ISBN: 0876616333Picture Book: 14 “Return the stamnos to Philippa’s brother Philip,” “cheap wine,” “Alkaios seems beautiful to Melis,” “Of Tharrios I am the cup.” Like fragments of overheard conversations, the thousands of informal inscriptions scratched and painted on potsherds, tiles, and other objects give us a unique insight into the everyday life of the Athenian Agora. Some are marks of ownership, or the notes of merchants, but many are sexual innuendos, often accompanied by graphic illustrations. Using her wide contextual knowledge, the author suggests why these scraps of sentences were written, and what they can tell us about one of the first widely literate societies. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside Greek and Roman Coins in the Athenian Agora Author: Kleiner, F. S.Publication Date: 1975ISBN: 0876616155Picture Book: 15 Over 75,000 coins have been found during excavations at the Agora, many minted in the city but others brought from Athens’s far-flung commercial contacts. In addition to the mostly bronze and copper coins themselves, a building that may have served as the Athenian mint is described in this booklet. After describing the physical techniques of production, the author takes a chronological approach and includes numerous black and white photographs, making this concise guide a useful aid to the identification of lower-value Greek and Roman coinage. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside The Athenian Agora, A Short Guide in Color Author: Camp, J.Publication Date: 2003ISBN: 0876616430Picture Book: 16 In a newly revised version of this popular site guide, the current director of excavations in the Athenian Agora gives a brief account of the history of the ancient center of Athens. The text has been updated and expanded to cover the most recent archaeological discoveries, and the guide now features numerous color illustrations. Each monument still visible on the site is described in turn, and helpful maps and plans are a particular feature of this edition. Birthplace of democracy, the Agora remains one of the most fascinating archaeological sites in the world, and this is the essential companion for any visitor. Online Version | Google Books | English PDF | Greek PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside Socrates in the Agora Author: Lang, M.Publication Date: 1978ISBN: 0876616171Picture Book: 17 As far as we know, the 5th-century B.C. Greek philosopher Socrates himself wrote nothing. We discover his thoughts and deeds entirely through the writings of his followers, disciples who accompanied him on his walks through the Athenian Agora or engaged in dialogue with him in the Stoa Basileios. Rather than examining his ideas in abstract, this stimulating little book aims to place Socrates in his physical setting, using textual references to follow his progress through the material remains still visible. The author not only sheds new light on the great philosopher’s life, but also provides a vivid reconstruction, through following the career of one of its most famous citizens, of daily life at the center of classical Athens. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside Mediaeval and Modern Coins in the Athenian Agora Author: Kleiner, F. S.Publication Date: 1978ISBN: 087661618XPicture Book: 18 From the thousands of pieces of Late Roman “small change” discovered trodden into beaten earth floors and dropped into wells to the hoards of 19th-century A.D. silver French francs discovered beneath modern houses, many post-classical coins have been discovered during excavations at the Agora. This booklet presents Byzantine, Frankish, Venetian, Turkish, and modern Greek coins, with many pieces illustrated with clear black and white photos of both obverse and reverse. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside Gods and Heroes in the Athenian Agora Author: Camp, J.Publication Date: 1980ISBN: 0876616236Picture Book: 19 Religion played a part in almost every aspect of civic life, so shrines, temples, altars, and dedications are conspicuous at almost every turn during a visit to the Agora. The author of this booklet shows where and how the major Olympian gods were worshipped, and then turns his attention to lesser known deities, such as Hekate, the triple-bodied goddess of the crossroads. He argues that the cults of heroes, such as Theseus, one of the legendary founders of Athens, were much more popular than the official state religion focused on the Olympian gods. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside Bronzeworkers in the Athenian Agora Author: Mattusch, C. C.Publication Date: 1982ISBN: 0876616244Picture Book: 20 The conspicuous Temple of Hephaistos, Greek god of metalworkers, prominently situated on the western side of the Agora, reflects the esteem in which bronzeworkers were held by the Athenians. Although many of the objects these craftsmen produced have now been melted down, the statues, lamps, and vessels that remain testify to the high standards of their craftsmanship. As well as illustrating some of the surviving finished products, the author discusses the techniques used to cast bronze and the level of skill involved in producing complex metal statuary. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside Ancient Athenian Building Methods Authors: Camp, J., Dinsmoor Jr., W. B.Publication Date: 1984ISBN: 0876616260Picture Book: 21 While this booklet is illustrated solely with materials from the Athenian Agora, it also provides a concise introduction to building styles and techniques that will be useful to anyone interested in ancient Greek architecture. From financing to tools, and from mason’s marks to the clamps that held blocks together, no detail is ommitted in this well-illustrated text. The different parts of monumental buildings, from the foundations to the tile roofs, are all discussed with clear drawings to indicate how the whole was constructed. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside Birds of the Athenian Agora Authors: Lamberton, R. D., Rotroff, S. I.Publication Date: 1985ISBN: 0876616279Picture Book: 22 As well as the Little Owl, or glaux, so often seen accompanying the goddess Athena, many other birds played an important role in Greek art and symbolism. This booklet describes the ways in which the Greeks viewed birds, from useful hawks and fowl to exotic parakeets and peacocks. Some of the birds most often depicted are imaginary—from the griffin to the “phallos bird,” whose head and neck consisted of an erect penis. The book ends with a birder’s guide to species likely to be seen on a visit to the Agora archaeological park today. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside Life, Death, and Litigation in the Athenian Agora Author: Lang, M.Publication Date: 1994ISBN: 0876616376Picture Book: 23 Athens was a famously litigious city in antiquity, as the sheer quantity of evidence for legal activity found in the Agora makes clear. Every kind of case, from assault and battery to murder, and from small debts to contested fortunes, were heard in various buildings and spaces around the civic center, and the speeches given in defence and prosecution remain some of the masterpieces of Greek literature. As well as describing the spaces where judgments were made (such as the Stoa Basileios, office of the King Archon), the author discusses the progress of some famous cases (known from the speeches of orators like Demosthenes), such as the patrimony suit of a woman named Plangon against the nobleman Mantias, or the assault charge leveled by Ariston against Konon and his sons. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside Horses and Horsemanship in the Athenian Agora Author: Camp, J.Publication Date: 1998ISBN: 0876616392Picture Book: 24 This concise and beautifully illustrated book demonstrates the many roles played by the horse in the lives of the Greeks, from its place in myth and early history to its significance as a marker of social status and its use in warfare, transportation, games, and festivals. From their arrival in Greece, at the start of the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2000 B.C.), horses were a powerful symbol of rank. Bridles and other horse trappings are often found in graves, alongside vases depicting horses grazing, racing, and parading. Sculpture is also full of horse imagery, from monumental equestrian statues (a bronze leg and gilded sword are all that remain from one of these) to tiny terracotta figurines, perhaps a child’s toys. As well as presenting many examples of horse imagery found in the Agora, the author reports on recent finds near the ancient hipparcheion, the stables of the Athenian cavalry. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside The Games at Athens Authors: Neils, J., Tracy, S. V.Publication Date: 2003ISBN: 0876616414Picture Book: 25 This attractive book presents a general introduction to the Greater Panathenaia, the week-long religious and civic festival held at Athens every four years in honor of the city’s patron goddess, Athena. The highlight of the city’s festival calendar, with its musical, athletic, and equestrian contests, tribal events, processions, sacrifices, and other activities, the Greater Panathenaia involved all the residents of Athens—not just adult males but women, children, metics (resident aliens), foreigners, and even slaves. The facilities, administration, program events, prizes, and associated monuments are described. Google Books | English PDF | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside Women in the Agora Authors: Rotroff, S., Lamberton. R.Publication Date: 2006ISBN: 0876616449Picture Book: 26 Using evidence from the Athenian Agora, the authors show how objects discovered during excavations provide a vivid picture of women’s lives. The book is structured according to the social roles women played—as owners of property, companions (in and outside of marriage), participants in ritual, craftspeople, producers, and consumers. A final section moves from the ancient world to the modern, discussing the role of women as archaeologists in the early years of the Agora excavations. Google Books | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside Marbleworkers in the Athenian Agora Author: Lawton, C.Publication Date: 2006ISBN: 0876616547Picture Book: 27 The 5th-century B.C. poet Pindar remarked on the rich sculptural decoration of the Athenian Agora, and, indeed, over 3,500 pieces of various types of sculpture have been uncovered during its excavation. This full-color guide sheds new light on the marble industry in and around the Agora, including rich evidence for sculptors’ workshops, their tools, and techniques. The text discusses the works of both famous and anonymous artists. Google Books | Buy Online | Search for Items Inside"