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"1961 Byzantine House, Courtyard and Surrounding Rooms at Modern through Late Byzantine Levels","","Corinth","Nezi Field 2008 by Jody Cundy and Megan Thompsen (2008-04-07 to 2008-06-13)","The following is a summary of excavations in three areas in North of Nezi: the courtyard of a Byzantine house, the room north of the courtyard, a room south west of the courtyard and a suite of rooms south of the room south west of the courtyard. ; The courtyard of the Byzantine house uncovered in the 1961 season in Agora SW-G by Steven Lattimore (Room 12 NB 230; NB 235) and Agora SW-F by Willam Berg (NB 229) was further excavated all three sessions of 2008.  Excavation of the courtyard was overseen in the first session by Josh Geiske and Laurie Kilker from April 11th to the 23rd, with Cleomenes Didaskalou picking and Vasilis Kollias as barrowman.   In the second session, from May 15th to 23rd,, Jody Cundy and Nate Andrade took over excavation of this area, with Thanasis Notis as pickman and Andreas Oikounomou as barrowman and siever.  In the third session Megan Thomsen replaced Nate Andrade and excavation of the courtyard continued from May 26th to June 13th. The courtyard extends from 1027.85 to 1035.70 N and from 265.20 to 273.5 E. The room North of the courtyard was excavated by Nathaniel Andrade and Jody Cundy in the second session.  It extends from 1035.4 to 1039.4 N and from 265.5 to 270.6 E and was included in Room 12 by Lattimore (NB 230 p.170).  ; The room southwest of the courtyard and rooms south of it were excavated in 1963 as Agora SW-J under the supervision of Daniel Geagan (NB 254; 262).  They were further excavated in the first session of 2008 by Matthew Baumann and Nathaniel Andrade, working with Thanasis Notis as pickman,, Vasilis (Bill) Papanikolao as shovelman and Andreas Oikonomou as barrowman.  Excavation in this area continued in the second session with Jody Cundy replacing Matthew Baumann. The area extends from 1020.00 to 1030.50 N and from 262.00 to 266.00 E.; The goal of excavation in these areas is to clarify the relationships between the various walls in North of Nezi, in particular their phasing, and to isolate the walls and spaces of the Byzantine house for later consolidation and presentation to the public.; This report will be divided both thematically and chronologically. ; ; COURTYARD OF THE 1961 BYZANTINE HOUSE:; Post-Byzantine:; The post-Byzantine levels of the courtyard were excavated by Steven Lattimore in 1961 (NB 230; 235).  Though it is not profitable to summarize all the levels previously excavated here, the features and deposit that have direct bearing on those excavated this season will be briefly discussed.  A marble wellhead, capping the built well 61-9  (NB 230 well #2), was identified on the 15th of May, 1961 at an elevation of 86.85 (NB 230 p.103, 151, 159-60, 170, 176, 180, 193-4, 196; NB 235 p. 16, 27-8, 33-44; neg. 61-6-17; 61-6-19; 61-6-20, photo log 18, p.30) .  The well-head was subsequently removed on  May 27th, 1961 (NB 230, p.167).  Lattimore’s excavation of the fill of well 61-9 (renamed structure context 5864) produced Turkish material, including a coin (61-507).  He interpreted the resting surface of the well-head as a Turkish courtyard (strosis 85.246, NB 230 p. 170).  While it is clear that well #2 was in use in the Turkish period, the date of the construction of the earliest phase of well 61-9 (5864), and the tunnels and vaulted chamber associated with it are earlier. Lattimore detected and excavated the fill of a circular cut around well 5864 (61-9), which produced mid-thirteenth century material lotted as 827 (NB 230 p.176). ; Excavation in 2008 began with the removal of two segments of a pi-shaped terracotta drain (structure 5213) and the vertical stones that lined the exterior of the drain wall. According to the excavation notes of William Berg (NB 229, p.192), the drain, which extended from 1034.16 to 1034.72 N and 271.66 to 272.84 E, with a top elevation of 85.16 and bottom 85.01, was associated with well 61-19 (5864).  The terracotta segments are individually 0.58m in length, 0.26 in width and 0.12 in height.  Though not evident at the onset of the 2008 season, the Travlos plan of the area (1963) shows the course of the drain extending eastward beyond the north-south rubble foundations (wall 5649) to a length equal to its westward extent. A photograph of the newly exposed drain confirms this (61-15-4, vol.18 p.25) and shows the drain overlying the rubble foundations 5649. The foundations for the terracotta drain were removed as contexts 5780 and 5847.  Although no pottery was collected from the removal of the drain segments and the excavation of the foundations produced no precisely datable sherds, the association between the terracotta drain and wall 5649 indicates that the drain was the latest feature in the courtyard left from the 1961 excavation campaigns.  ; Wall 5649 is the rubble foundations of a NS wall with three blocks from the first course preserved at a top elevation of  (@@) and bottom of (@@), extending from 1033.75 to 1035.75 N and 273.31 to 274.20 E.  Wall 5649 abuts the earlier EW wall 5741 (NB 230 wall 59) to the north and the NS wall 34 (NB 229) to the south.  Wall 5649 is interpreted as a blocking off of the entrance corridor to the courtyard from the East.  Permission to dismantle wall 5649 is awaited and it is expected that Frankish or later material will be recovered from that operation.  ; In the first session, a martyr left from the 1961 excavation campaign was excavated. It extended northward from wall 61 (structures 5883 and 5882) from 1030.68 to 1035.19 N and 271.25 to 273.53 E.  The preservation of this strip of unexcavated layers is likely due to the later wall 57 (NB 230, p.166), which overlaid them.  Lattimore established the leveling point GG at 85.515 on a stone in this wall (NB 230, p.166).  William Berg describes the excavation west of wall 34 (NB 229, p.156), he encountered a hard surface at 84.46 and changed baskets to continue down to a clay surface at 84.06 and then to earlier levels (NB 229, p.167).  From this it can be conjectured that the martyr was produced as a result of the pedestalling of wall 57-G and the preservation of leveling point GG.  This can be clearly seen in a post-season photograph of sections F and G (61-27-2, vol.18 p. 35).  Wall 57-G, however was not present at the opening of the 2008 season.  Excavation of the martyr began with a cleaning pass (5191, top elevation 85.25), and concluded with deposit 5264 (bottom elevation 84.91).  Of the thirteen contexts excavated in the martyr (...), the combination of root action and the truncation of the deposits made interpretation of the layers problematic.  Although these deposit produced mostly 12th century pottery, they are likely best understood as part of Lattimore’s strosis 85.246 (NB 230 p.164; 173), which produced the coins 61-794, -795, -795, and was lotted as 1961-827.  Strosis 85.246, was assigned a Frankish date.; Likely contemporary with the rubble wall 5649 that closes off the East entrance to the Byzantine courtyard are two pier rubble foundations identified by Lattimore as part of the EW wall 61.  The West pier foundations (structure 5784) have a top elevation of 85.14 and bottom of 84.59 and occupy the space from 1030.13 to 1030.72 N and 271.49 to 272.19 E. The pier foundations 5784 abut the eastern edge of the north wall of the staircase 5783 (NB 230 61).  The east pier foundations abut wall 34 (NB 229).  They are comparable in terms of elevation and dimensions with the west ones (5784).  Extending between these pier foundations and overlying them was a rubble wall, interpreted by Lattimore as part of wall 61-G, but it has eroded away since it was exposed in 1961.; Further enclosure of the Byzantine courtyard in the Frankish (or later) period is evidenced by the EW rubble wall 5508 (NB 230 wall 61).  Wall 5508 has a top elevation of 85.13 and bottom elevation of 84.80 and extends from 1030.20 to 1030.85 N and 265.85 to 269.65 E, and is composed of two random courses of rough-hewn blocks in reuse and fieldstone. Like the pier foundations 5784, wall 5508 abuts the north wall of the staircase 5783.  Permission to dismantle wall 5508 is awaited and, like wall 5649, expected to produce Frankish or later material.  ; Lattimore uncovered the remaining blocks of a NS wall 71 (renamed 5473) and the fill of the robbing trench for the rest of the wall (NB 235 p.19).   Wall 5473 (NB 235 71) has a top elevation of 85.73 and bottom elevation of 84.72 and extends from 1038.90 to 1037.56 N and 266.10 to 265.31 E. The robbing trench extends from 1037.56 to 1027.90 N and 265.55 to 266.70 E.   The robbing trench, which produced Frankish material, also lotted as 837, is clearly visible in a 1961 post-season photograph (61-26-6, vol 18, p.36).  More of the fill of this robbing trench was detected in the stretch south of wall 5508 (wall 61-G) and was excavated as deposit 5510 with a top elevation of 84.86 and bottom elevation of 84.67.  Consistent with lot 837, it produced Frankish material and was lotted as 2008-52.  It is imagined that wall 71 (5473) formed the west boundary of the level identified as strosis 85.246 by Lattimore.; Just west of well 61-9 (5864) is another EW wall (5443) of unknown function.  It extends from 1033.63 to 1032.95 N and 265.68 to 267.01 E.  Wall 5443, composed one large ashlar block in reuse and random coursed fieldstone, has a top elevation of 85.03 and bottom elevation of 84.57.  It seem that the fill of the foundation trench for wall 5443 was partially excavated in the 1961 campaign, and although no reference to the wall or this trench has been recovered from the excavation notes, the cut of the trench is discernable in the 1961 post-season photograph 61-27-4 (vol. 18, p.36).  The fill of the foundation trench was further excavated as deposit contexts 5550 and 5824 this season.  Though the highest level at which the cut was made for the construction of this wall is unknown, it was at least as high as the fill over highest of a series of pebble surfaces associated with the late Byzantine phase of the courtyard (5298, el. 84.99), to be discused below. The fill of the robbing trench for wall 71 presumably overlaid the western portion of wall 5443 and the foundation trench associated with it or truncated both.  Excavation of the fill of the foundation trench for wall 5443 revealed that this wall is built on top of an earlier structure (wall 5906) that also will be discussed below.;     In the portion of the courtyard that extends southward from the later curtain wall 5508, further enclosure of the space is evidenced by the NS wall 5360.  It extended from 1027.91 to 1030.29 N and 263.94 to 265.59 E with a top elevation of 85.26 and bottom elevation of 84.92.  Wall 5360, which consisted of a single course of rough hewn stones abutted the earlier EW wall 5411 to the S and EW wall @@ to the N.  The dismantling of wall 5360 produced Frankish pottery, lotted as 2008-51 including a Brundisi  proto-majolica bowl with a blue chevron pattern. The fill of an EW robbing trench 5506, that extends from @@ to @@ and produced Frankish material, demarcates the southern extent of the courtyard of the Byzantine house.  Of the Frankish levels associated with wall 5508 and 5360, only a single soft lens abutting wall @@, context 5527 (lot 2008-53) remained at the onset of the 2008 excavations. William Berg reports the excavation of hard fill in the area enclosed by wall 5360 (NB 229 wall 39), 5508 (61-G) to wall 34-F (NB 229, p.190) as basket 18 of the 8th of June (lot 61-680).  The removal of basket 18 revealed a surface at an elevation of 84.97 that is associated with a series of stairs rising from W to E.  ; ; Late Byzantine:; The late Byzantine courtyard of the 1961 house extends from the EW walls 5463 and 5741 in the N to walls 5411 and 5519 at it southern limit, from a NS wall indicated by the robbing trench @@ at the western edge, presumably to wall 34-F as the eastern boundary forming a regular rectangle.  The intrusion of later features, such as well 5864 and walls 5508, 5649 and 5543, discussed above as well as earlier excavation, in particular the removal of the deposits that abutted wall 34-F in the SE corner of the courtyard, complicate an understanding of the relationships between the deposits in the courtyard.  Nevertheless, it is possible to suggest the following:  the courtyard is characterized by succession of layers of pebbly and tile cobbled surfaces with evidence of leveling repairs, suggesting continuous use throughout the 12th century.  In this summary, I hope to be able to relate the various surface deposits to one another, to the features of the courtyard (wall 4442, wall 5906 and the EW drain 5863) and to points of communication with the adjacent rooms of the house (thresholds 5462, 5463 and @@)..; It is possible to phase the features associated with the courtyard of the 1961 Byzantine house in the following chronological sequence:; 1.    Walls 5463 and 5741, together with the threshold 586 are the earliest features; 2.    The courtyard installation (possible staircase foundations) wall 5906; 3.    Associated with the same stratum:; a.    The N wall of the staircase 5783; b.    The EW stone-lined drain ; 4.    Threshold with step 5462; 5.    Wall 5442; 6.    Wall 5443; It is worth noting, however, that the sequence of surfaces and repairs in the courtyard of the 1961 Byzantine house reflects continuous use over a period of about 100 years from the 11th through Early 12th centuries according to the pottery dates.; The primary characteristic of the deposits in the courtyard is the superimposition of surfaces.  On the basis of the sequence of floors, it can be said that the latest preserved surface in the courtyard was composed of flat lying roof tile fragments and cobbles excavated in 2 parts: surface 5300 is the segment N of  the EW wall 5508 (61-G) and surface 5630 (lot 2008-70).  Beneath the surface 5300=5630, was another tile-cobbled surface.  The portion N of wall 5508 (61-G) was excavated as deposit 5324 while the portion South of the wall remains to be excavated next season when wall 5508 is dismantled.  The tily surface 5324 transitioned gradually to a hard packed dirt surface excavated as deposit 5327.  Beneath the tile and cobble surface 5324 was a series of shallow lenses and pebbly patches intended to level depressions in the courtyard surface coordinated between deposits 5679 and 5685 (5633; 5634; 5635; 5657; 5661; 5664; 5668; 5669; 5672; 5674; 5665 lotted as 2008-69).;     In the NW corner of the courtyard where the robbing trenches 5549 and @@ intersect, a lens of dumped construction debris 5398 appears to coordinate with the leveling patches under the tile and cobble floor 5324.  Under this lens of debris was the pebble surface 5564 (top elevation 84.84).  It abutted wall 5463 and was cut through by the trench for robbing portions of that same wall (robbing trench fill 5545 and 5852; cut 5549).  The pebble surface 5564 also preserved some cement (5560), which lay on it, presumably residue from the mixing of this material for a construction project. ; Beneath the pebbly surface 4464 was another patched pebbly floor (patch 5565, pebbly surface 5566) and beneath it two more hard packed surfaces..  Because of the cut around well 61-9 (5864) and the cut of the foundation trench for wall 5543, the pebbly surfaces 5564 and 5566 and the dirt surfaces 5616 and 5618 are truncated and their relationship with the deposits on the E side of well 61-9 (5864) must be reconstructed. ; Preserved under pedestal of the terracotta and stone-lined drain (5213) in the NE corner of the courtyard was another sequence of pebble surfaces that continue under the NS rubble foundation (5649 ), 5291, 5293, 5641, 5645 and 5656.  These likely continued northward to meet the north wall of the courtyard 5741 (NB 230 wall 59) but were truncated by excavations in the 1960’s.   Due to comparable elevations and sequence of layers, the surfaces W of the cut for well 61-9 (5864) are imagined to represent the same stratigraphic sequence as those W of the well. ; The sequence of patched pebble surfaces in the NW and NE corners of the courtyard seem to be replicated in the area just N of wall the EW wall 5508.  The sloping surface 5679, surface 5683 (lotted as 2008-67), pebble patch and surfaces 5726, 5730 and 5757.  The foundation trench for the NS wall 5442 cut through a lens of fill 5728, overlying 5730 and abutting 5726.  The NS wall 5442 extends from 1031.83 to 1033.56 N and 267.09 to 267.66 E with a top elevation of 84.95 and bottom elevation of 84.43. The random courses of roughly hewn limestone blocks and a spoliated marble molding abut the EW wall 5443 to the N, forming a corner.  Like wall 5443, wall 5442 appears to be built on an earlier structure.  The function of the walls 5442 and 5443 is not clear.; The pebble surface 5291(?), pebbly surface 5697 and packed dirt surface 5651are cut by an EW trench that extends from under wall 5649 up to the cut around well 61-9 (5864).  This trench appears to mark the clearing out of an earlier EW drain with built stone walls (5863) that follows the same course as the later terracotta drain (5213).  The fill of the drain-clearing trench, deposits 5288, 5289, 5646 and 5908, was lotted as 2008-58. ; Deposit 5697, likely contemporary with the pebble surface 5656, is the resting surface of a limestone step associated with a threshold 5462 in wall 59-G (between wall 5463 and 5741).  The surface 5697 was overlain by 5696, which continued underneath the blocks of the threshold 5462 (1034.93 to 1035.72 N and 268.68 to 270.19 E; top el. 85.08 and bottom el. threshold 84.87, step 84.63).  The raising of the threshold and addition of the step likely marks the raising of the floor in the room N of the courtyard.  The threshold 5462, removed on May 29th, and the coordinated surfaces  (5697, 5656, 5651) appear to be contemporary. ; Under the pebbly surfaces 5697 and 5656 was another uniform surface extending between the drain-clearing trench (cut 5673) and wall 59-G (wall 5741 and threshold 5865), (deposits 5737, 5742 and 5800). Into this surfaces a large pit filled with ash and construction debris was cut (cut context 5702: 1034.08 to 1035.59 N; 268.89 to 272.42 E, top el. 84.72 bottom el. 84.04).  The differentiated fills of the pit, deposits 5699, 5704, 5705 and 5716, were lotted as 2008-59.  ; With the removal of the surface 5751, a series of lenses and patches (5690, 5691, 5692, 5694, 5709, 5748, 5756) and the martyr 5771, a rather continuous surface extending from the N wall of the staircase 5883 the line of the EW drain 5863 was revealed.  The material produced from the excavation of this surface, coordinated between deposits 5773 and 5764, was lotted as 2008-66. ; The excavation of the surface coordinated between 5773 and 5764 revealed an earlier pebbly surface 5803.  Through the surface 5803 S of the drain and 5799 (and perhaps 5797), a shallow linear cut was made outside the N and S line of the built stone drain (cut context 5781, 1033.31 to 1034.10 N, 269.85 to 271.91 E, top el. 84.65, bottom el. 84.56).  This cut appears to be intended for the laying of cover-slabs for the drain that were subsequently robbed out.   The foundation trench for the N wall of the staircase 5783 (NB 230 wall 61-G) was also cut through surface 5803.  The fill of the foundation trench 5795, lotted as 2008-65, was only partially excavated this season; it remains unexcavated where it continues under the rubble pier foundations 5782 and the pedestalled wall 5508. The build courses of limestone blocks and tile stringers that make up N wall of the staircase 5783, first exposed by Lattimore on Date (NB 230 p. wall 61-G) extend from 1030.08 to 1030.68 N and 269.77 to 271.52 E with a top elevation of 85.23 and bottom elevation of 84.39.  The foundation trench fill 5795 was slightly over-dug, revealing an earlier EW wall on top of which wall 5783 is built.  These blocks are also visible in the bottom of a rectangular pit E of the staircase (1029.00 to 1030.25 N and 270.60 to 271.25 E, top el.84.41, bottom el. 84.25) excavated as deposit 5518.  The pit fill 5518 abutted the N wall of the staircase 5783 to the N, the NS wall 38-F (NB 229 p.188) to the E, the rubble packing of the staircase to the W, and the unexcavated layers into which the pit cut 5521 was made to the S.  Excavation of the pit fill 5518, lotted as 2008-55, produced an iron adze (MF-2008-6), an iron ladle (MF-2008-3) and scalloped door plaque with keyhole and latch cuttings (MF- 2008-4).  ; The tops of the stones forming the walls of the drain 5863 (1032.83 to 1034.68 N and 269.35 and 273.60 E top el.84.60 bottom el.84.31) are flush with the surfaces 5823, 5836 and the unexcavated deposit beneath 5799.  Because no cut was discernable outside the line of the stones that line the drain, it is imagined that the walls of the drain 5863 were built directly against the walls of trench cut for its construction.  The drain 5863 appears to continue under wall 5649 into the eastern entrance corridor and the western extent is truncated by cut around well 61-9 (5864) with which the drain does not communicate.  The fill of the drain was excavated as deposits 5592 and 5651.;      The removal of the surface 5902, coordinate with the surfaces 5900 in the NW corner of the courtyard, revealed the foundation trench fill 5905 for the EW wall 5906 on top of which wall 5443 was built.  Both wall 5906, which extends from 1032.91 to 1033.53 N and 265.36 to 267.01 E  (top el. 84.61; bottom el. 84.23), and its foundation trench are truncated to the west by the robbing trench for the NS wall that form the W boundary of the courtyard (cut 5859).  Wall 5906 appears to be part of a courtyard installation of unknown function, perhaps the foundations for a staircase. Another pebble and packed earth surface 5956, 5857 and 5851, picked out with patches 5817, 5819, 5833 and the shallow ash filled pit 5829, was revealed by the removal of the surfaces 5803 and 5815 south of the line of the drain.  A patch of cement (deposit 5827) that is likely residue for cement mixing in the courtyard for a construction project in the house was also revealed.  The surface in the NE part of the courtyard excavated as deposits 5900 and 5902 likely corresponds to the surfaces S of the line of the drain excavated as deposits 5803 and 5815, which in are contemporary with the superimposed surfaces 5823 and 5961 in the NE.  The excavation of the surface 5823 produced a bronze ring with incised decoration (MF-2008-23).; The removal of the surface 5868 in the NW corner of the courtyard revealed the foundation trench fill 5873 running along the south face of wall 5741 (59-G). Wall 5741, also revealed by Lattimore (NB 230 p.178) and built of courses of roughly hewn blocks with tile stringers and half a spoliated column drum, extends from 1035.41 to 1036.52 N and 270.08 to 275.80 E  (top el. 85.16, bottom el. 84.12).  Excavation of the fill of the foundation trench 5873, revealed that wall 5741 incorporates and is built onto the earlier NS wall 38-G (NB 230 p.95), which forms the E wall of the room N of the courtyard, and with which wall 5741 forms a corner.  The gap between wall 5463 and 5741 represents the doorway that allows for communication between the area of the courtyard and the room N of the courtyard. It is punctuated by a block with a doorjamb cutting, structure 5865.  The surface 5868 is likely contemporary with the surface 5909 in the NE corner of the courtyard as the removal of this surface revealed the fill if the foundation trench that runs along the south face of wall 5463 and the trench for the robbing out of part of that wall (5549).  This foundation trench remains unexcavated.  Wall 5463 extends from 1034.95 to 1035.81 N and 265.58 to 268.81 E (top el. 85.16; bottom el. 84.15.  The eastern portion of wall 5463 was revealed by Lattimore on May 12th, 1961 (NB 230 p.95) and the western portion was revealed by the removal of the fill of the robbing trench 5545 and 5852.  The EW robbing trench 5549, filled by 5546 and 5852, truncates the earlier NS robbing trench 5859. ; The surface 5909 in the NW corner of the courtyard, coordinated with the surfaces 5868 in the NE and the pebble surfaces south of the drain 5851, 5856 and 5857 (lotted as 2008-61) likely represent the first phase of the use of this area as a courtyard associated with the EW wall 5463 and 5471 and the threshold 5865.  The removal of these surfaces mark the end of the pebbly surfaces appropriate to an outdoor area and reveal the foundation trench for the earliest wall associated with the floors above.; ; ROOM NORTH OF THE COURTYARD:; Directly N of the courtyard and in communication with it through two successive thresholds is a room bounded to the N by the EW wall 5562 (58-G NB 230), to the E by the NS wall 38-G (NB 230) to the S by the EW wall 5463 and 5741. The W boundary of the room is likely wall 5473 (71-G NB 230) in the Frankish period that is later largely robbed out (NB 235 p.19).  It is possible that before the construction of wall 5473 (71-G) the room extended westward all the way to the NS wall 5724 (260.12 to 261.59 E), though a NS robbing trench 5830 (264.66 and 265.42 E) presents another candidate for the western boundary of the room.  This season the room was excavated between the NS robbing trench 5830 and wall 38-G running W to E and wall 5562 (58-G) and the N face of 5463 running N to S, except a few deposit that communicate with the courtyard to the S via a threshold. Lattimore reports ceasing excavation in Room 12, which includes both the Byzantine courtyard and the room N of the courtyard at the strosis 84.765 (NB 235 p. 178).  Excavation in this room began with the removal of what appeared to be a wheelbarrow ramp from the excavation in the 60’s abutting wall 5473 and wall 5562 (deposits 5459, 5461 and 5465).; The later of the two thresholds between wall 5463 and 4741 (5462), which overlaid the latest deposits in the room, was removed and subsequently revealed an earlier threshold (5865).  A series of floors and leveling fills (5569, 5570, 5571, 5572, 5585 and 5587) were removed.   The excavation of 5572 and 5585 revealed a small area of tile cobbling where wall 5473 (71-G) abuts wall 5562 (58-G).  The tiles can be seen to continue westward underneath wall 5473 (71-G). Both deposits 5585 and 5587 were martyred during excavation. to prevent contamination from the scarp to the west.  These martyrs remain to be excavated at a later date. The removal of the fill 5587 revealed a chunky layer of broken tile and marble as well as cobbles, because this deposit runs underneath the tile floor along wall 5562, excavation of this fill is delayed until wall 5473 (71-G) can be removed. ; The removal of the fills and floors of higher elevation in the west part of the room was followed by the excavation of a trench along the N face of wall 5463 (fill 55573; cut 5574).  The removal of the fill of this trench revealed second cut at a lower elevation, which appeared to be the foundation trench on the N side of wall 5463 (5910).  The fill of the lower cut was excavated as deposit 5613.  The level at which the cut was made and width of the trench are comparable with the foundation trench on the S side of wall 5741 (5874).   However, the cut seems to end at 267.6 E and does not extend along the length of wall 5463.  Further excavation of the deposits to the west is necessary to clarify the issue. ; A series of small pits and trenches were excavated on both the N and S sides of Wall 5463 (5712, 5721, 5725, 5904, 5898, 5610, 5557).   Their function is unknown.  A larger pit filled with cobbles and boulders that abutted wall 38-G was also isolated and excavated (5583, 5584). ; Two more lenses of fill were excavated in this room 5578 (lotted as 2008-60) and 5800.  Resting on the fill 5800 was a block with three rectangular cuttings, possibly for a small tripod, it was removed as structure 5809 and placed on top of wall 5562 (58-F).; The threshold 5865 consists of a rectangular block with doorjamb cutting set in the gap between the walls 5471 and 5463.  The block rests on a surface that slopes to ward the S into the area of the courtyard.  The courtyard floor 5800, which bridged both spaces also assures communication between the lower courtyard surface and raised floor of the room N of the courtyard.  This like explains the addition of a step in the later threshold (5462).; ; ; ; ; ROOM SW OF THE COURTYARD:; Daniel Geagan conducted excavations in this area (Agora SW-J) in the 1963 season (NB 254; 262).  The room bounded by wall 50-J to the N, wall 51-J (structure 5360) to the E, wall 52-J to the S (structure 5285, 5411; 5866) and truncated by the foundations for Turkish  wall 2-J.  Geagan dicovered a built pithos (pithos #1) in the center of the room (NB262 p.35, 38-9).  The elevation of the mouth was reported as 84.664.  He excavated this room down from 84.91 to a floor level at 84.663 (Fill A; lot 1293; NB 262 p.36) and notes a foundation trench along the N face of wall 52-J (structure 5285, 5411, 5866) but does not excavate it.  In the 2008 season, we removed the backfill in this room, revealing the floor described by Geagan.; ; FRANKISH BASEMENT WITH IRON OBJECTS:; Immediately south of the room SW of the courtyard of the 1961 Byzantine house is an adjacent room bounded to N by wall 52-J (structure 5285, 5411; 5866), to the E by wall 49-J (structure 5284), to the S by wall 23-J (structure 5216). ;  Geagan excavated this room in the 1963 season down to a floor at 84.377.  He left a martyr along the NS wall 5284 (49-J) that wrapped along half the stretch of the EW wall 5411 and it is this martyr and floor that we excavated this season after removing the backfill from the area.  A post-season photograph (63-18-25, vol.19 p.8) shows the extent of Geagan’s excavation of the room.; Excavation of the stratigraphic deposits in this area began with the removal of structure 5285 (1027.33 to 1027.77 N; 263.70 to 264.80 E;  top el.85.18 bottom el. 85.03).  Structure 5285 is the filling-in of a doorway that communicated with the room to the N.  The removal of structure 5285 revealed a plaster floor that covered the threshold block and doorjamb cuttings of the earlier doorway (5415).  The removal of this surface revealed a packed dirt floor (5416), which also covered the doorjamb cuttings.  Beneath the floor 5416 was another floor 5429 that appears to be associated with the threshold (structure 5866).  The structure 5866 consists of a threshold block set in a gap punched through the earlier EW wall 5411.  On either side of the threshold block are rectangular cuttings for the insertion of wooden doorjambs.  These are cut into blocks that belong to the earlier wall 5411.   ; Beneath the floor 5429 were a series of fills (5432, 5441, 5448, 5452, 5453).  This sequence of leveling fills appears to correspond to Geagan’s fill G (lot 1289; coins 63-340, 63-340a; NB 262, p.56 #14 and 19 for notes; NB 254 p.182 for section).  The removal of these fills revealed an ashy floor (5456).  The removal of the ashy floor (5456) and two lenses of leveling fill beneath it (5458, 5460) revealed a layer of fill with many rooftile inclusions.  The broken tiles were reserved during excavation to look for joining fragments, but the mixed tile types and lack of joins indicated that this lens (5472) was re-deposited destruction debris rather than a destruction layer.  The tile layer 5477 appears to correspond to Geagan’s fill G2 (lot 1290; coin 63-351; NB 262, p.67 #3 for notes; NB 254 p.182 for section).  The tile-filled layer was cut through by the foundation trench (cut 5471; fill 5466) for the NS wall 5484. ; Wall 5484 (49-J), which extends from 1023.80 to 1027.20 N and 265.32 to 265.80 E  (top 85.77; bottom 84.31), was uncovered by Geagan on May 29th (NB 262 p.55-55).  Beneath the tily layer was another layer of fill (5477).  The fill 5477 corresponds to Geagan’s fill H (lot 1291; NB 262, p.70 #7 for notes; NB 254 p.182 for section).  The excavation of the fill 5477 produced a glass bead necklace (MF-2008- 18) and revealed a packed dirt floor 5891 (el. 84.35).  This is the same floor (el. 84.377) that Geagan exposed in the SW corner of the room and ceased excavation in 1963 (NB 262 p70).  An iron axe (MF-2008-9), iron spearhead (MF-2008-8), iron sickle (MF-2008- ), a handle and a nearly complete coarse mug (C-2008-7) were found in situ next to three articulated goat vertebrae in the NW corner of the room where the EW wall 5411 is truncated by the Turkish wall 2-J (5217).  The objects were removed as context 5507.  A shallow pit (5890) cut through the floor 5891. The fill was excavated as deposit 5889 and produced a base fragment of a zeuxippus bowl. The removal of the floor 5891 revealed a NS robbing trench, likely associated with a roman wall 62-J (NB 262 p.156 ff.).  The fill of the robbing trench remains unexcavated.  The bottom of the EW wall 5411 (52-J) has not yet been reached, nor has a foundation trench for this wall been isolated along its S face.  Wall 5411 extends from 1027.28 to 1027.89 N and 262.64 to 265.88 E (top el. 85.73).  It is abutted by wall 5284 with which it forms a corner, and truncated to the W by the Turkish wall 2-J (5217).; Wall 5216 (23-J) runs EW from 1023.24 to 1023.88 N and 263.00 to 265.60 E.  It is built against wall 5284 and on to wall 32-F (NB229, p.181), which runs along the same orientation as 5216, and is truncated by the Turkish wall 2-J to the W.  Geagan excavated the foundation trench for wall 5216 on the S side of the wall (lot 1408; NB 262, p.15 #15-16; p.26 #16 for notes; NB 264, p. 182 for section, disturbance V).  ; Because of the elevations of the fill 5477 and floor 5891, which both produces Frankish material, and the lack of a foundation trench on the N side of wall 5216, this space is interpreted as a basement.; ; ROMAN WALLS: ; ; Late Roman; The walls whose foundation trenches we have excavated have been dated to the Late Roman Period.  The foundation trench of 5218 was excavated in two discrete deposits (5221, 5235).  The upper layer was dated by pottery and coinage to the 5th and 6th centuries and the lower one to the 4th. In any case, the deposits from this foundation trench show that Wall 5218 was constructed during the Late Roman Period, no later than the end of the sixth century C.E. This interpretation supplements the previous work done by Heidi Broome-Raines, who gave the trench for the E face of this same wall in the room N of room F,West a Late Roman date based on a coin deposited in it from the late 4th century (context 5060). This coin gives a secure terminus post quem for the trench and wall. The pottery and coin finds from the west side of the wall locate this trench and its wall within the fifth or sixth centuries. Geagan also reports excavating the foundation trench for wall 5218 (wall 22-J NB254, p.146 #16 for notes; p.197 for section; lot 1389), though it appears that he excavated on the portion S of wall 5215 (56-J=38-E). ; ; Middle Roman; The Middle Roman period is represented in our area by the fills bounded by Walls 5216 (NB 254 23-J), 5218 (NB 254 22-J), 5215 (NB254 56-J=38-E), and 5217 (NB254 2-J) and starting securely at 85.47 El. (5248).   None of the these wall abut or bond with one another, however walls 5218 and 5215 are separated by gap that appears to be a doorway emphasized with an orthostate and likely belong to the same phase of use.   There were many contexts below 5248 that were all Middle Roman and seemed to be associated leveling fill (5248, 5266, 5277, 5311, and 5320).  After taking only a thin layer off we started to come down on a large secondary deposit of tile (5311 lotted as 2008-46).  This along with the contexts below it down to 85.02 El. (5320 lotted as 2008-47), where we stopped digging, turned up dates to 300 +/- 25 CE.  This all seems to be part of a leveling fill. ; A pit (Fill 5171, 5183 (lotted as 2008-44), 5351, 5350, 5331; cut 5175) containing material dating to the first half of the fourth century CE was filled along the north face of Wall 5215. The excavation of the pit fill 5331 (lotted as 2008-45) produced a plastic terracotta lamp (L-2008-1), a seated muse figurine fragment (MF-2008-24) and a fragment of a terracotta comic mask.  Beneath the pit fill the foundation trench for wall 5215 was detected and excavated (fill 5352; 5254 cut).  The E edge of the foundation trench for wall 5215 (cut 5354) is formed by an ashlar limestone block.  This block is on the same orientation as Geagan’s NS wall 62-J (NB 262 p.197 for cross-section) exposed on the S side of wall 5215. A similar block is visible in the bottom of the foundation trench for the EW wall 5216.  Both blocks are in alignment with an unexcavated NS robbing trench N of wall 5216.","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Nezi Field","Corinth:Report:Nezi Field 2008 by Jody Cundy and Megan Thompsen (2008-04-07 to 2008-06-13)","","","","","","","Report"
"2009 Excavation summary","","Corinth","Nezi Field 2009 by Martin Wells, Katie Rask (2009-06-17 to 2009-06-18)","Katie Rask, Marty Wells; ASCSA Corinth Excavations; End of Season Report; Blue Team; North of Nezi; ; The following is a summary of the excavations carried out in the area north of Nezi field during the 2009 season. Three teams worked in this area over the three sessions. In the first session, 29 March – 24 April, Ryan Boehm and Joanna Potenza were supervisors. They focused on four areas: the westernmost room bounded by walls 5631 and W54; the room bounded by walls 10080, 10076, 10077, 10087 and W55, both east of the central courtyard of a Byzantine house (E: 274.70 – 281.69; N: 1026.30 – 1032.55 including the southern walls); the room bounded by walls 10081, 10082, 10083, 10086, and 10079, an addition built outside of the eastern edge of the house (E: 282.15 – 284.95; N: 1027.15 – 1030.25); and a series of roads running N-S east of this addition (E: 285.4 – 286.65; N: 1029.30 – 1032.40). In the second session, 27 April - 22 May, Katie Rask, Dreya Mihaloew and Martin Wells were supervisors. They focused on the room between walls W55 on the north (N 1034.30), 6267 on the south (N 1026.97), 10086 on the east (E 282.15) and W54 on the west (E 273.95). Rask and Wells continued supervising in the same room during the third session, 25 May -12 June. This report provides a summary and interpretation based on the season as a whole.; ; Our objective this season was to expose the 11th century levels for the purpose of opening up this house for public display. The director was Guy Sanders, the field director Alicia Carter, the pickman Thanasis Notis, the shovelman Tasos Kakouros and the barrowman Vasilis Kollias. The dry sieve was operated primarily by Sula Anastasopoulou, Kollias, Rask, Mihaloew, and Wells.; ; Previous Activity: 1961; ; Under the directorship of Henry Robinson, Section F of the Byzantine house was explored by William Berg III in the spring of 1961. At some time after the completion of excavation (either in 1961 or later in the 60s when excavation in the Agora Southwest was closed) portions of the room were back-filled, while other areas were left exposed. Following his work, no archaeological activity was undertaken in the area except for a cleaning in 2007, when it was weeded, covered with plastic, and back-filled.; ; In the room which was the focus of our excavation throughout all three 2009 sessions, Berg had exposed walls W54, W55, 10080, 10083, 10086, 10088,10094, 5631,  an E-W drain (5938), and well 6288. Additionally, he sunk trenches in all four corners of the room; these may have been further excavated while searching for the Roman road. The combination of back-filled and exposed areas, as well as the recording practices in the 1960s, had an effect on our ability to interpret the pre-60s stratigraphy. For this reason, extensive study of Berg’s photographs and excavation notebooks was undertaken in order to determine how his activity impacted the space of the room prior to our renewed excavations. A detailed discussion of the four corner trenches is attached as Appendix B of this report. More general references to Berg’s results are included in the pertinent discussions below.; ; ; Frankish (1210-1458); ; The Frankish period seems to have witnessed a great deal of activity and renovation in our space, with the most active period being the second half of the 13th century. Of the features dated to this period, most can be placed either in the third quarter or in the later part of the century. During this time span, the form and use of the room changed on several occasions. A wide variety of new or changed elements in the room indicate this, including the addition of rooms, walls, a drain, thresholds, floors and fills. ; ; Well 6288; ; One of the main actions pointing to the changing use of space was the closing of well 6288, which was filled sometime in the third quarter of the 13th century. Because the excavation and processing of the well was a significant part of the season’s work, and because its contents will be the subject of considerable further study, in what follows we will provide a detailed description of our results from the well’s excavation. Afterwards, the discussion will return to the other 13th century activity. ; ; The well had originally been examined on May 13, 1961 (NB 229, p. 109) and designated Well OA-107 (coordinate designation) at that time. Berg excavated it for less than a meter and recorded no finds. He postulated that it belonged to the Turkish period and did not excavate deeper because of its narrowness. Our own investigation began by removing 0.45 m of backfill and debris before excavation. Initially we attempted to determine context changes based on differences in soil composition and inclusions; however, after approximately 2.0 meters of excavation, the Director advised that we should change contexts approximately every 0.30 m. This was our primary method of excavation, but we also changed contexts when stratigraphically necessary.  All the material from the well was dry sieved with 7mm screens and 3mm starting with context 6420. Water flotation samples (15 L) were also collected from every context. 32 contexts were removed in total, but the bottom of the well was not reached nor was the structure (6288) itself excavated.; ; The material removed from the well indicates three discernible dumping actions dating to the Frankish period, between 1270-1290 C.E. The character of these deposits, however, suggests that the well was filled over a short time. The latest dumping layer (6286, 6291, 6297, 6360, 6361, 6365, 6368) fills the top 2.75 meters of the well. The contexts comprising the layer included a large amount of pottery, bone material, and various smaller finds such as iron nails, glass, and bronze objects. The proceeding (and underlying) dumping action revealed a dramatic decrease in the number of inclusions, with a very small amount of pottery and bone, and a significant increase in the ash and charcoal content of the soil (6369, 6371, 6374, 6378, 6383, 6386). Below and proceeding the ash deposit was another dumping action (6394, 6400, 6405, 6412, 6416, 6420, 6430, 6438, 6447); this deposit was characterized by soil with a high clay content and very little ash, extremely large amounts of pottery (with a high proportion of fine ware) and a very large amount of animal bone. ; ; At a depth of 11.70 m (elev. 73.40 m) we reached the water table (context 6518). The pottery and bones were still present at their normal high amounts so we continued excavating for another 37 cm, to a depth of 11.88 (elev. 73.03 m), at which point we felt that it was unsafe to continue. The last context was 6524.  ; ; The latest pottery found in the well dates to a twenty-year span (1270-1290), but the three dumping actions apparent amongst the contexts are not chronologically separate, despite their stratigraphic relationships.  In addition, the presence of complete vessels suggests primary deposition, but the occurrence of incomplete and fragmentary body sherds also indicates the secondary deposition of pottery. This interpretation is supported by the bone material. The excellent preservation of delicate and small bones (e.g., of fish, cats, birds), as well of the articulation of some bones, can be indicative of primary deposition; on the other hand, a large amount of weathered and fragmentary bones suggests the secondary deposition of animal remains.; Personal communication with Thanos Webb, the excavation’s zooarchaeologist, emphasized the distinct nature of the bone material that had been removed from the well. The preservation was very good, with little weathering and the presence of smaller and more fragile elements. There was an abundance of different anatomical elements, representing parts from the entire skeleton. The surface modification of the bones was also distinctive, with the butchery marks on multiple elements being far more extensive than that on bones from areas outside the well. Finally, the species representation from the well was also conspicuous, ranging from common domesticates to large birds and fish, and with an age distribution ranging from fetal to mature.  Additionally, large amounts of microfaunal remains and fish scales were collected from the dry sieve.  These have yet to be analyzed.; ; In addition to the pottery and bones, we recovered small finds of both a utilitarian and luxury nature. These included stone and bone tools, iron nails, bronze lumps, worked bone artifacts, spindle hooks and whorls, and glass. Twenty-seven coins were recovered. Nearly half of these were illegible, and of those which we could date, most were Late Byzantine and Frankish. None need to be later than the 3rd quarter of the 13th century, chronology in agreement with our pottery. A complete list of the contexts and coin dates can be found in Appendix A of this summary.; ; The well structure itself was not excavated, so our only evidence for the construction date of the well comes from our limited excavation of the fill (6536) inside the construction cut (6535). The pottery from this context dated to the 10th/11th centuries. Given the large amount of dumped 10/11th century fill in other parts of the room which stratigraphically date to the 12th century (see below), the small sample provided by the construction trench cannot assuredly date the well’s first use phase. Still, if one considers the dating of the contexts surrounding the well (see below), we can speculate that well was in use from the 10th/11th centuries until it was closed at the third quarter of the 13th century.; Other 13th century activity; ; The character of the other 13th century actions in the room also reflects an alteration of the space. In the 3rd quarter of the century, sometime around the closing of the well, a long drain (5938) was laid running E-W and extending eastward out of the room. In order to extend the drain completely to the road, a small portion of wall 10083 had to be removed. The pebble/cement floor associated with the drain (5934) suggests that the room continued to act as an outdoor space, as it had previously in the 12th century. Two piers (5957, 10077) set up at the room’s south east boundary and a threshold (5919) placed between served to monumentalize the passageway between our room and the one to the south. At the same time, another pier (6148) was placed to the north on an axis with the eastern pier; it was placed against the west end of wall 10087 and can be dated by the fill which it cuts to the south (6141). Together the three piers must have served a supporting function for an upper level or arch.  By the end of the century the threshold had been walled up and two connecting N-S walls (10094, 10080) were added at the western pier to slice the entire room in half, separating the well and staircase from the room’s eastern portion. ; ; In order to build wall 10094 it seems that digging activity of some sort was undertaken, probably to clear the space for construction. We have not settled on a firm interpretation of the activity here, however. Originally we believed we had found a robbing trench for another pier foundation (6273), located on an axis with the other three. Further excavation revealed that the pier foundation cut was part of a longer N-S cut (6254/5, 6240, 6565, 6569) truncated by Berg’s corner trench (6570). The lower portion of the cut contains fill with 12th century dates (6274, 6581); the robbing of the upper portion, evidently begun at the southern end, can be associated with the 13th century (6225, 6240). Conclusions about the history of activity in this region are tenuous, but may include, for example: a) an earlier wall was robbed out in the 12th century, another placed in the same cut at a higher layer, and that robbed out in the 13th century, b) a wall was removed at some point and a pier foundation was sunk in its place to coincide with the other three, then removed for 10094. ; The removal of other features was also necessary to reshape the space. For example, an E-W wall (6052) ending at 10086 must have been removed to accommodate the threshold placed just at its south. The robbing trench left behind by the wall’s removal was later cut by pit 5935. This pit may have been dug to remove a large pithos, evidenced at the south end of the pit by its deeper circular depression, perhaps located at the corner of  walls 6052 and 6424 and therefore outside the boundary of our room and adjacent to its south (see Appendix B).; ; 12th century; ; Whereas the 13th century activity in the room involved the movement and construction of numerous built features, at present it seems that the 12th century activity, while extensive, cannot be linked to any extant architectural elements within the room. Instead, the 12th century activity is marked by a series of leveling and dumping activities that can be situated in two general time periods, the early 12th century and the second half of the century.; The most dramatic of these is a deep layer of multiple dumping actions in the southern part of the room. In the early part of the century, an extensive cut was made that truncated a grey clay floor in the west and extended to the eastern edge of the space. The cut was filled with many deposits of a mixed nature; in particular, several lenses of fill contained pottery of multiple periods and included large dumps of roof tiles (e.g., 6191: 21.4kg, 6186: 24.9kg). The mixed nature of the pottery deposit suggests that it was removed from another context before deposition in the room. In fact, the majority of the lenses were dated by pottery to the 10th/11th century (6629, 6626, 6622, 6194, 6196, 6198, 6225), while the dumping activity can be securely dated to the 12th century by the lowest fill level (6662). ; ; Redeposited 10th/11th century material was also used to make up the matrix of a series of pebble floors in the room’s NE corner (6593, 6592, 6591). The floors were truncated on all sides, but can be dated by a deep fill beneath (6605) containing early 12th century pottery and very well-preserved bones (with nearly complete and fragile examples, suggesting primary deposition).  Because the patchy pebble floors exhibited wear patterns compatible with the pooling of water, during the early part of the century we suspect the room to have been an outdoor space. ; The evidence for architectural adaption in the courtyard during the twelfth century is scanty. A feature running N-S east of the well may have been removed (see above). An E-W wall (6426) may also have been removed, since a series of robbing trenches were found (6042, 6046), but since the wall has not been fully excavated, we cannot be certain of its chronology. ; ; 10th/11th century; ; Our understanding of the 10th and 11th century phases of the room is currently incomplete, since our efforts have focused primarily on removing 12th and 13th century remains. As mentioned, many of the dumped fills that we have encountered were dated by pottery to the 10th/11th century, but belong stratigraphically to later periods. We also have 10th/11th century dates for the patchy floors and some of the fills below them in the NE part of the room, but these are stratigraphically dated to the 12th century as well. ; ; A large drain was located outside the room, east of wall 10086 under the later additions to the Byzantine house, curving from the southwest (10079) north and west to 10083. Situated under what was once the wider Medieval road, the drain was covered by squared limestone slabs probably removed from the nearby Roman road. The fill and surface above the drain contained pottery of the 10th and 11th century, but as the cut and fill excavated seems to have been related to a later repair, we are not able to establish a firm chronology for the drain’s construction. Moreover, given the stratigraphically later 10th/11th century fills common in the room, the date should probably remain speculative for the time being.; Otherwise, we have no structures that can be assuredly dated to the 10th and 11th centuries. In the western portion of the room, a grey clay floor has been uncovered through which the well was cut. The fill inside the well construction cut was dated to the 10th/11th century, as were the fills above this floor and the cut. However, as stated above, given the limited excavation of the construction cut, the unexcavated well structure, and the disturbed nature of this part of the room, we only tentatively date the well construction to this period. ; ; Suggestions for further excavation; ; One area of particular interest for future research is the architectural phasing of the area. This is especially relevant since the room appears to have served as a courtyard in the 12th century and its boundaries seem to have shifted on several occasions. For this reason, it might be worth considering the room’s relationship to the other external courtyards. It is also a possibility that the space’s form and function changed as the larger building was broken into smaller units. ; ; In keeping with the premises of open-area excavation, we have endeavored to extract all 13th century and later levels from the room (the exception being the unexcavated well deposits below the water table). Nearly all 12th century levels have been removed. We recommend that the following steps be taken to clear any remaining 12th century evidence before proceeding to the earlier Byzantine periods. ; ; 1)Any remaining fill from the unfinished portion of 6662 should be removed, particularly the dumped fill in the area north of 5935 and west of 6556/7. The relationship between that fill and the eastern area of the room should be further clarified (particularly in the region of wall 10086 and cut 5935). ; 2)If permission to remove wall 6426 has been acquired, then it should be taken out and the area beneath it examined in more detail. It may have been partly robbed out in the 12th century, but its construction date has not yet been identified.; 3)The staircase (6324, 6325, 6333) can be further examined by excavating the space between the lower and upper steps. It is probable that the staircase was added after the well was closed, since it partly overlies the well packing, but a more precise date for its construction would be helpful.; 4)The triangular area 6648 laid against walls 10086 and 10087 should be excavated. We believed that it may have been outside cut 6678, but its stratigraphic make-up should be determined more precisely, since its last level to be removed was part of the larger context 6648.; 5)The grey floor south of the well should be examined in an effort to understand its use phases, the date and function of wall 6422 and the collection of rocks visible in the 1960s sondage section.; 6)The uneven fills in the northeast part of the room should be removed to explore their make-up and to determine if they actually date to the 10th/11th century or if they are part of the 12th century leveling action. Their removal will also allow the investigation of the floors beneath them that had been cut by 6678. ; 7) If the lower levels of the room are reached, three particular questions that have been created by earlier excavation might be addressed:; A. What were the circumstances of the skeleton’s deposition in the NE corner? (See Appendix B) Why was the body haphazardly laid out and why was its skull covered by 10087?; B. What is identification of the line of stones at the bottom of the N-S cut (6273)? The soil south of the stones seemed to be full of hollows. Might it be an earlier well, as Thanasis has suggested, or another type of open space?; C. A N-S wall was uncovered by Berg in the NW trench (6570) and re-found in 2009. It appears to be a finely constructed wall abutting the earlier phase of W55, forming a precise corner. How does this change the plan of the building and the understanding of the long entrance alley to the north? Does the wall have any relation to the Byzantine house at all or is it entirely pre-Medieval?; ; ; Appendix A: Well coin dates; ; Context   Coin # and date; 6286; #123 Corinth medieval 1245-1250; 6291; 6297; 6360; 6361; 6365; 6368; 6369; 6371; 6374; 6378; 6383; 6386; 6394; 6400; 6405; #99 medieval illeg.; #102 Manuel I 1167-1183; 6412; #103 medieval illeg. 1092-1399; #104 Villehardouin 1250-1260; #107 illeg.; 6416; #114 illeg. 1092-1261; #115 Roman Imperial; 6420; 6430; #119 Manuel I 1143-1180; #120 medieval illeg. 1092-1261; #121 illeg 324-599; #122 Greek – Corinth 400-146 BC; 6438; 6447; #126 illeg. 1092-1261; #127 illeg. 1092-1399; #128 illeg. 1250-1330; #161 illeg.; 6455; 6469; #137 Alexius I 1085-1092; #139 illeg.; #140 illeg. 1204-1261; 6474; #142 Manuel 1 1143-1180; 6483; #149 illeg.; 6486; #146 medieval illeg.; #150 illeg.; #151 Byzantine illeg.; 6492; 6497; #153 medieval; #154 Byzantine; #155 Byzantine; 6515; 6518; 6524; ; Appendix B; NB = Berg’s notebook, #229.; PV = Photograph volume 18, 1960 II; ; Berg included a number of plans of Section F, which he updated throughout the season as new information came to light. His drawings have been useful for reconstructing his activity at the time, although his plans do often focus on architecture to the expense of other important features (e.g., he never depicts well 6288). His adherence to the overall grid is often inexact. It appears that his elevations, in contrast, are quite accurate; they can be tested both at the 13th century drain (5938) and at the bottom of 6173.; ; Two of the corner trenches were cleaned during 2009’s Session1 by Potenza and Boehm, that in the southwest (5935) and southeast (6223).; ; 5935: This area was originally excavated by Berg on June 10th, 1961 (NB: 192, 195). He mentions working in the area between his walls #33 (10080/10094), #27 (10086/10087), and #23 (10076/10077). Although Berg does not describe the excavation of a deep pit or bothros, a figure-eight-shaped pit is visible in the end-of-excavation photographs (PV: p 32, 61-24-4); it was cleaned, defined and recorded by Potenza and Boehm as cut 5935. Berg’s silence on the issue of the pit may be due to the fact that its excavation was done on the last day of the season, with work ending at noon. The material was saved as Lot 662. Because the stratigraphy was so disturbed by both Berg’s excavation and by later weathering, 5935’s original digging cannot be placed securely in the room’s sequence of events. It clearly occurred after the filling of 6042/6046 (RT for 6052), which it truncates, but otherwise we can not exactly place it on the Harris Matrix and have thus left it floating.; ; 6623: Berg refers to this area, excavated on June 6th, 1961 (NB: p. 182), as the space between his walls #34 (W54), #33 (10080/10094), and #25. No photographs of the specific area were taken, but it is depicted in the post-season views found in PV. The photos indicate that in this area, Berg excavated everything to the level of the top of the well, with two specific features down to a lower level. The first is the sondage taken at the corners of W54 and 6267/5361; it was cleaned by Potenza and Boehm but not given a number. According to the photos, Berg’s excavation of the sondage revealed the northern face of 6267/5361, the wall located about a meter or so north of Berg's Wall #25 and the southwest boundary of our own trench. Berg did not include wall 6267/5361 on his plans, but it does seem to have been drawn on the 2009 Nezi field plan. The pit that he excavated at this time has a large number of jumbled rocks on its east face (under wall 6422). It is unclear if 6422 was excavated by Berg, but on his final plan (p. 188) he draws a small structure that jogs east and then south from W54 in a similar way to how we originally interpreted 6422; this may be a reference to his sondage and the jumbled rocks therein, or to 6422. Also likely, however, is that the structure drawn by Berg refers to a pile of larger rocks possibly visible north of the sondage and south of the staircase in photo 61-26-5 (p35); again, this interpretation is based on a general photograph of the area as there was no detailed description in Berg’s notebook. ; ; The second delineated feature visible in the photographs is a circular pit to the east of the sondage and up against Berg's wall #33 (our 10080). This is probably what Berg refers to on p. 182 as a circular pit just west of his wall #33 and north of his wall #25. He indicates that the pit had a plastered southern face and was filled with fine white ash. The pottery was saved as Lot 683. He excavated the pit to an elevation of 84.16m. Our season’s closing elevation was 84.18m, a difference of only .02m, and was taken approximately under the pit’s location as visible in the photographs (at the bottom of 6662). ; ; The placement of Berg’s corner sondage had some bearing in our interpretation of contexts 6620 and 6338. 6620 was made of an extremely soft and ashy fill that was exposed by Potenza and Boehm’s cleaning at the beginning of the season, and was partly removed by 6338 and further sweeping. Its softness and the its straight northern boundary suggested that it might be back-fill. In the 1961 photographs, the sondage does not appear to be located so far north, leaving the possibility that the softness of the soil was a result of exposure to the elements, foot traffic and other 2009 excavation activity. Nevertheless, it is still possible that the area was excavated further after the 1961 end-of-season photos were taken and that 6620 was composed of re-deposited earth - if so, the excavation activity must have been completed after Berg's 1961 efforts. See PV: p. 34, 61-26-4; p. 35, 61-27-1, 61-27-2, 61-26-5.; ; The two corners in the northwest (6570) and northeast (6173) were cleaned by Rask and Wells in 2009’s Session 2 and 3: ; ; 6173: This northeast corner was originally excavated by Berg on June 9th, 1961 (NB: p. 192) and continued on June 10th, the final day of the season. Berg stopped digging at a hard surface found at 84.20m, at which point the wall foundation trenches for W55 (#34) and 10086 (#27) were visible. At this level he also uncovered a skeleton lying in a disheveled E-W position with its head beneath10087 (PV: p. 25: 61-15-3). Berg makes clear in his notebook that the area would not be excavated any further beyond their stopping point at 84.20m, the level of the skeleton. Our excavation has shown, however, that some time later digging must have taken place, as an irregular pit cuts through the hard surface at which Berg stopped (our measurement shows the disturbed hard surface to be 84.10m, slightly lower than Berg’s stopping point at 84.20m). The later digging cut through the wall foundation trench noted by Berg and continued to a presently undetermined depth. It is unclear when this digging happened and by whom it was undertaken.; ; 6570: The northwest area was originally exposed on May 26, 1961 (PV: p. 35, 61-27-7). It began as a soft fill that was excavated to a hard level at 84.06m. He speculated that the soft fill was W54/55's foundation trench (p.151). The hard soil was then removed from W54 eastward towards Berg's wall #33 (10094/10080). Berg originally drew #33 as extending from our room northward beyond W55 (plan, p. 101); if the wall truly extended that far north than its northern portion must have been removed by Berg. Unfortunately, the end-of-excavation photographs do not clarify the matter, although they do seem to indicate that Berg excavated a N-S trench possibly crossing over W55 that terminated in a large round pit to the north (PV: p. 36, 61-27-3). It is not possible to say much more from the photographs nor to determine if that cut/pit had any relation to the activity in our room. Moreover, no mention is made in Berg's notebook of the wall we designate 10095 and which seems to have been the easternmost point of their trench here. It is drawn on two of his plans, although it seems to be indicated in the wrong spot on his last plan (p. 157 and 188).   The area of 6570 was excavated down “to levels of obviously Roman or Classical date"" (p. 167) and was presumably closed on May 30th, 1961. The pottery from Berg's exploration was saved as Lots 672, 673, 675.; ; Our interpretation of the N-S cut 6273 was affected by 6570, since Berg’s excavations truncated the cut. It is also unclear if Berg partially exposed the line of rocks at the preserved northern end of 6273.","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Nezi Field","Corinth:Report:Nezi Field 2009 by Martin Wells, Katie Rask (2009-06-17 to 2009-06-18)","","","","","","","Report"
"Final Report 2009 - rooms south of the courtyard of the Byzantine House, first  phase of the Byz House","","Corinth","Nezi Field 2009 by Sarah Lima (2009-05-25 to 2009-06-15)","Sarah Lima; Session 3 ; End of Season Report; 15 June, 2009; ; Between the dates of May 25, 2009 and June 15, 2009 (Session III), our excavation team  comprised of Sarah Lima (recorder), Panos Kakouros (pickman), Panos Stamatis (barrow man), and Agamemnon (siever) continued investigating several rooms south of the courtyard of the Byzantine house previously excavated by Lattimore (NB 229) and Berg (NB 229) in the 1960s. In 2008, Panos Kakouros excavated in the same area with Anne Feltovich, Emily Rush, and Catherine Person recording; in 2009 session I, Dan Leon and Ben Sullivan recorded there; and in 2009 session II, excavations were conducted by Mark Hammond, Kierston Spongberg, and Sarah Lima. The aim for Session III was to understand the phasing of the three rooms where our team had worked - how the space had been manipulated to serve the needs of the people inhabiting and using the area, and how people would have moved from room to room at different times.  In particular, we were interested in reaching 10th century levels in order to understand the earliest phases of the rooms south of the courtyard area, which once served as the hub of the house.   ; ; During Sessions II and III, we worked in three rooms: the “Central Room” (in Session II summary, the “East Room”) bounded by walls 5483, 5403, 6027/6284/6300, and 6267/5631/5671 with foundations 6245 (271.10-277.70 E, 1027.70-1023.67 N); the “West Room” bounded by walls 5483, 5484, 5284, and 5519 (265.90-270.70 E, 1028.00-1023.65N); and the “East Room” bounded by walls 10078/10085, 6624, 6027/6285/6300, and 5341 (1027.24-1022.98 N, 281.50-277.62 E).; ; East Room; ; We began our work in the East Room by excavating a surface exposed by DB and BS during Session I 2009. A majority of the room, primarily the central and western portion, was excavated during the 1960s. Several deep pits cut most of the southern half of the room, and on the northern edge of the room, two deep pier cuttings cut the remaining surfaces from higher elevations, leaving just a thin balk available for excavation. Joanna Potenza and Ryan Boehm had recorded the removal of a threshold of the Frankish period on the northern boundary of the room [5919], which may have been in use along with walls 10077 and 10076 to the east and with walls 5552 and its superstructure 5922 to the west. While JP and RB did uncover a floor surface in contemporary use with the threshold on the northern side of the room’s boundary (5290), only floor surfaces predating the installation of the threshold were uncovered by BL and DB to the south, the final of which was 6080; the room was then left for future excavation. ; ; The first surface that we excavated was surface 6445, which was contemporary with the use of wall segment 6426. Excavation of 6445 revealed what may be the foundation trench for that wall. The closeness of the wall to the numerous pier cuts made excavation impossible without toppling the entire balk, so the foundation trench was not further explored; we made every effort not to include fill from near the wall in our subsequent deposits. ; Several subsequent surfaces, 6468 and 6488, were excavated, prior to uncovering a large built storage pit (cut 6557, fills 6495, 6466, and 6452 built components 6594 and 6558), which would have occupied the room during its 12th century phase. We decided to cease excavation of the balk at this point because the east-west wall segment 6624 had become pedestalled, and permission has not yet been obtained for its removal. ; ; We turned our attention to the eastern boundary of the room, removing wall and threshold 10085 and its underlying foundations (6475 and 6476). At the time that we excavated these contexts, we believed that 10085 was a separate construction from wall 10078, based both on the appearance of the foundations and on the style of the wall itself. We envisioned wall 10085 as installed especially to accommodate a much later threshold construction, as a part of already-existent wall 10078. However, upon excavating the section and seeing how deeply subfoundations 6476 lay (at an equal depth to the foundations of wall 10078’s), we concluded the opposite: that 10078 and 10085 were probably of contemporary construction. Further support for this idea is the fact that there were two surfaces (6451 and 6445 ) running against foundations, suggesting that the foundations predated those deposits. However, this was unclear at the time, since those surfaces were at significantly lower elevations than the wall sections in situ.  The pottery from foundations 6676 dated to the late 12th or early 13th century. ; ; The upper blocks used in the construction of remaining wall section 10078 are very substantial in size and appear to be reused Roman road blocks of the Late Roman period; one interesting feature of these eastern sections of wall is that one block that remains in situ appears to have been cut to corner westward about 4 m from the southern terrace wall 5341, dividing the room nearly in half (we assigned this wall the number 6522). We began excavating strata that were positioned around the place where the wall projected from the section, and the excavation of fill 6521 revealed the line of a long east-west robbing or foundation trench cut running nearly the lengh of the room (cut 6523). The reason that the foundation versus robbing cut identification remains ambiguous is that pit cuts have truncated that part of the room badly, so all that we can understand is that the wall existed, and that based on the foundations that were uncovered, it was a substantial, load-bearing wall.  I propose that wall 6522 functioned as a terrace wall and was the earlier Roman terrace wall that existed before wall 5341 was constructed immediately to the south in the medieval period for the same purpose. The evidence for this is that  it is set into reddish-colored colluvium above bedrock and rests at a lower level than the foundation trench 6509 for wall section 6027, which bounds the room to the west (foundation trench fills 6530 and 6506, covered by fill 6504). Further, the first medieval floor in the room immediately to the west is constructed right atop the red colluvium (this is a course pebble  floor that is only partially visible under paving stones 6190 and would have been in use with threshold 6285); there was no earlier phase of use of this space. This changes our impression of the construction of threshold 6285, excavated during Session II; we had envisioned the entire wall section comprised of 6300/6285/6027 to be earlier than the features of the East Room, but if the east-west wall 6522 once existed at an early period, holding back red colluvium on its south-facing side, there is no way that threshold 6285, given its physical position, could have been in use during that period for purposes of communicating with the East Room. However, after the east-west wall was robbed out (at whatever elevation and time that that event occurred), the East room would have received a new terrace wall to the south (i.e., the wall 5341, now in situ), and the space would have been expanded to the south(and therefore open for communication with the east room via threshold 6285). The best guess for when this event may have occurred is Late Byzantine, based on the scant amount of ceramic material available from foundation trench fill from 6530 and 6506 and overlying 6504; additionally, if the cut indicating the course of early east-west terrace wall 6522 is a robbing event, then the date of that event can be further narrowed to the 10th/11th century. Therefore the earliest medieval phase of this part of the house began with a massive reorganization of space and great effort spent at expanding the usable space by moving the Roman terrace wall 4 m to the south. ; ; Future Considerations ; ; The balk cannot be explored further until wall 6624 is documented and removed, since the wall is pedestalled as it currently lies. The relationship between the wall sections 6300, 6285, and 6027 is not yet fully understood, as foundation trenches have not yet been revealed for 6300 and 6285; recovery of foundation events for those sections could confirm or refute our speculations about how the East and Central Room construction sequences work. Another question worthy of further attention is whether wall 10078 truly represented the easternmost extent of the East Room or not; while the blocks that comprise the wall as it stands are extremely large, there does appear to be another wall running behind it; are there multiple eastern wall phases for this room? Finally, the section of 10078 immediately to the north of the cut for excavated foundations 6476 and 6475 for wall/threshold 10085 should be considered together with those construction events if and when it is removed. ; Western Room; ; The Western Room was excavated in 1960s excavations by Lattimore and Berg (NB 229, p. 180). As was the case in the East Room, this room featured several deep Frankish-period storage pits (labeled as “bothroi” in the 1960s notebooks) that truncated many of the earlier features within the room. In the case of the Western Room, those two storage pits (cuts 6380 and 6363 which terminated on bedrock) were confined in the southern half of the room. The space was further restricted by two large Frankish north-south wall sections, 5485 and 5490, which lay against north-south wall 5284. In 2008, AF and ER excavated within the Western Room, reaching levels that ran beneath wall 5490. Because permission had not been obtained from the Byzantine Ephoria to remove the two later wall sections, they were pedistalled so that excavation could continue east of them. Our efforts during Session II were focused on cleaning and investigating the previously-excavated storage pits, and on excavating contexts preserved in the balk under the walls once they were removed. We wanted to reveal and excavate the floor revealed by 6428 (=5887), which represented the same stopping point that AF and ER reached in 2008. Additionally, a Frankish period cooking pot was excavated from one of the surfaces that we excavated (surface: 6393, cook pot: 6397).; Our excavations of the surfaces to the north had, in turn, left a balk of higher elevation on the southern side of the room, since it was difficult to reach and excavate the thin deposits surrounding the two storage pits and running up against walls 5284, 5484, and 5483. In Session III, we began our excavations of the southern strata with fill 6439, uncovering the remaining fill of foundation trench 6427 (fill 6552) for wall 5284. 6439 was assigned a date of the 2nd or 3rd quarter of the 12th century on the basis of its ceramics, while the surface that was cut was 2nd quarter of the 12th century, dating the construction of wall 5284 to that period. This does not match the date of the foundation trench found on the other side of the wall by JC and NA in 2008; their foundation trench was dated to the 13th century by stratigraphic relationships. This situation  is worthy of further consideration in light of the potential shifting of dates posed by lower fills from this room (explained in more detail below). ; ; One goal in excavating the Western Room was to understand the nature of the robbing event that took place on wall 5519. The east-west wall 5519, which bounds the northern side of the Western Room, features a significant gap of approximately 1.5 m on its eastern side, near its junction with north-south wall 5519, bounding the eastern side of the room. It was our intention to compare the surfaces that we uncovered within the western room with the surfaces recorded to the north of 5519 by Scott Gallimore and Will Bruce during Session II of 2009. The last surface that they excavated to the north of 5519 revealed the edge of a cut that appeared to be part of the robbing event of the wall, and they expected that we would find a similar cut on our side beneath floor surface 6540 (84.54 MASL). We did not find a cut on our side of the wall, but other pieces of evidence suggest how the robbing event may have taken place, and how the use of the space may have changed after the removal of the wall section. Our investigations revealed that not only were our surface deposits below 6540 (i.e., surfaces 6572, and 6589) different in composition from those revealed to the north of the wall (beaten earth in the western room, pebbled and tiled surfaces in the courtyard), but their elevations were different as well, by approximately 0.50 m (surface deposit 6572, 84.49 MASL, and surface deposit 6589, 84.41 MASL). One possible explanation for this difference is that perhaps it was a threshold that was robbed from wall 5519, mediating between the space in the courtyard and the space within the Western Room. In that scenario, differences in elevations and in composition could be accounted for because the spaces were bounded by a wall, with communication between the two rooms offered by a door and possibly a step downward into the Western Room. After the section of 5519 (putatively a threshold) had been robbed, the space where the door had been would have still remained, allowing access into and out of the room, but the floor levels would have had to be brought to the same level to allow movement in and out. Fill 6628, underlying 6540, demonstrates how this would have been done; its location near the missing section of wall suggests that the threshold blocks were removed, and that the resulting hole was filled with tile and debris as a means of raising the floor level to accommodate the resulting height differences between the surfaces to the north and to the south. 6540, then, would represent the first surface in the Western Room after the putative threshold was removed. The pottery of 6540 dates to the 12th century, and its overlying fill deposits 5887 and 6428 are from the first half of the 12th century. ; ; The foundation trenches for walls 5483 and 5519/foundations 6575 were uncovered at lower elevations, below the level of both surface deposit 6572 and surface deposit 6589; these surfaces may be considered to have been in use with 5483 and 5519 wall sections after they were founded. Ceramics from all three surfaces date to the 12th century. As far as the sequencing of the walls of the room go, wall 5483 is stratigraphically the earliest, although the elevation of its foundation trench is almost identical to the lowest foundation trench of wall 5519 [cut 6677 at elevation 83.98 versus cut 6646 at 84.00 MASL]; since the upper courses of the walls appear to bond, it would make sense for their foundation events to have occurred at the same time. Wall 5519 does show evidence for at least two foundation events, indicating that it had an earlier phase on its eastern side (cut 6677, fill 6646) and a second phase to the west of that, cutting the earlier foundation (cut 6616, fill 6611, revealed by late Byzantine fill 6578). Finally, the foundation trench 6427 cut the foundation fill 6616 for wall 5519, indicating that that 12th century foundation event is a terminus ante quem for the other two sections. ; ; The earliest surface excavated was 6624, revealing a hard, light pinkish brown surface that appeared to be composed of the colluvium that has been observed to rest above bedrock levels throughout the North of Nezi area. This unnumbered and as yet unexcavated surface appears to have been cut by numerous features, including the earliest foundation trench for wall 5519 (trench cut 6647, fill 6646) and the foundation trench for wall 5483 (trench cut 6677, fill 6675), which came down onto bedrock. Additionally, the unnumbered pinkish brown surface was cut by a large ashy pit that was revealed in the northeastern corner of the room (pit cut 6645, fill 6639, overlying fill 6639), truncating both early foundation trenches in addition to cutting a much larger robbing trench cut 6665 (putative), to the south. Overlying surface 6624 has pottery from the 11th century, which would potentially provide a terminus ante quem for these earliest foundation events- but there is an inconsistency with the pottery from fills from the truncated east-west robbing trench 6665. Two fills from robbing trench 6665 (6649 and 6663) yielded joining coarse incised sherds of the mid-13th century, potentially shifting the dates of all of the previously discussed contexts (and other contexts from the room) two centuries later. This warrants a more detailed discussion of how the putative robbing trench was discovered, how we approached its excavation, and the potential scenarios by which these inconsistencies may be interpreted. ; ; The cut of the putative robbing trench 6665 was first noticed in the section of storage pit cuts 6380 and 6353 as a straight line appearing to run the length of the room from east to west. We noticed the cut before it was exposed in plan on either its northern or southern sides, and speculated variously about its length, suggesting at times that it ran all the way across the southern side of the room, and at other times that it was thinner in width, perhaps in connection with robbing cuts 6381 (for north-south wall 6157 visible below wall 5411) and with robbing cut 6674 (east-west cut, visible below wall 5284). In context 6587, the difference in strata to the north versus south of the cut line became more visible (but the cut was not revealed in plan), and immediately after, surface 6589 was excavated with knowledge that the strata south of the line of excavation were different from the surface that was excavated. In these contexts, the line of the cut may have been visible, but its full extent was not yet defined in plan, so it was left unexcavated. It was only visible as a straight line in the south-facing section of the two storage pit cuts, making it impossible to use the sections to try to determine its extent and shape; however, since virgin red colluvium had been cut for the construction of the two storage pits and had preserved their round shapes on all sides, it is certain that the cut could not have stretched completely across the southern half of the room at the levels we were excavating. What’s more, we were steered away from thinking that the cut related to cuts 6381 and 6674 by the fact that the cut continued further east past the point where it would have cornered to rob wall 6157. ; ; The cut became clearly exposed in plan after the excavation of surface 6624, cutting into the hard pinkish brown surface truncated by numerous earlier pits. The excavation of 6619 was an effort to find the southern line of the cut, but was unsuccessful, as was the excavation of fill 6631, which revealed the southern edge of pit 6645, making it stratigraphically later than the robbing trench cut 6665.  Pit 6645 cut into fill 6649 to the south, which was one of the aforementioned contexts in which one of two joining 13th century coarse incised sherds was collected. Three more fills south of the cut line, 6657, 6660, and 6663 (the other context from which a joining coarse incised ware was collected) were then excavated before the southern extent of the robbing event 6665 appeared clearly in plan, along with the foundation trench for wall 5483 (foundation cut 6677, fill 6675, overlying fill 6663). The excavation of lowest fill 6676 within cut 6665 revealed a hard, brownish yellow surface, likely the floor associated with an earlier architectural phase of which wall 6157 is part prior to the foundation of wall 5483, while the excavation of lowest fill 6675 within foundation trench 6677 revealed bedrock. ; There are at least three possible conclusions to draw from the stratigraphy as we have defined it and the ceramics that have come from these contexts, in light of the discrepancies we have discovered:; ; Scenario 1) The stratigraphy was excavated correctly and the dates of the ceramics from stratigraphically later contexts need to have their dates bumped up to account for their stratigraphic relationships. In support of this are findings from Jody Cundy and Nate Andrade’s 2008 records of the room directly west of the Western Room. While many of their upper strata were found to be 12th century, a Frankish strap handle was found at the bottom of a pit cutting lower strata in the room, thus altering the date of all overlying contexts. There is further support for this idea in the pottery from fill 6676, the bottommost fill of cut 6665; it dates to the 12th/13th century.  Finally, the fact that the 13th century levels were found in lowest stratified levels of the room, and were all excavated on the same day in a limited amount of time makes the possibility of contamination (e.g., through tumble or long-term exposure) less likely.; ; Scenario 2) We missed the line of the robbing trench cut 6665 at a higher elevation and needed to treat the fills within it as fills lying on each other within a cut, rather than relating them variously to surfaces to the north, potentially across the putative cut line. This would also mean that the final cut line that we identified after excavation of 6663 relates to another cutting event, and not to the line of the robbing event. Further supporting this scenario is the fact that a boundary was defined for the northern side of the cut as early as context 5343/5345 during session II; however, it remains that the entirety of the cut was not exposed until the excavation of context 6663. ; ; Scenario 3) The area was significantly disturbed by 1960s excavation events, in ways that we did not fully perceive while excavating during both Session II and Session III. In this scenario, the stratigraphy could have been cut in order to accommodate the excavation of pits 6353 and 6380. The cutting events involved could have been anything from half-sectioning, to creating steps out from the storage pit cuts during excavation to facilitate getting in and out of them, and to prevent the walls from collapsing. In this scenario, the fills we dug south of cut 6665 were actually backfill from the 1960s. In support of this scenario are two facts: A) 1960s records (NB 229, p. 180) mention that the southern portions of north-south walls 5490 and 5485 were removed in order to accommodate the excavation of the storage pit cut 6353; additional disturbance could have occurred at the same time. B) Contexts 6343 and 6345, excavated during Session II, uncovered a cut in the same place that the cut 6665 begins to the west, and at the time that we were recording it, it was speculated that the cut might have been for a half-section created to facilitate 1960s excavations within the Western Room; if that small cut represents the beginning of cut 6665, we would be able to place it significantly later in our stratigraphic understanding of the room. ; ; Future Considerations ; ; Pit 6645, cut 6665, and foundation trench cut 6677 which were the last contexts recorded cut the unnamed pink surface revealed by 6624 to the north, but 6665 and 6677 also cut a smaller level of fill revealed by 6660 in the southeastern corner of the room. Provided that these fills are not found to belong to very early levels truncated by an erroneously defined cut, the fill in the southeastern corner should be prioritized for removal in 2010. Likewise, the fill of robbing event 6381, heretofore only visible in the northern and southern facing sections of pit 6380, but revealed by the excavation of fill 6676 and cut 6665, should be exposed in plan and removed. After those contexts are excavated, it will be possible to consider exploring beneath the pink surface. ; ; Conclusions; ; The way that the discrepancy between the Frankish lower fills and the Byzantine upper fills is interpreted has implications for the way that the courtyard area is phased, since one of the questions that this excavation addresses is how the area changes through time, and when those changes take place. One scenario is that construction activities occurred in two phases: the 10th/11th century, and the 13th century, with less activity in the 12th century. A second possibility is that development was steady and gradual, occurring from the early Byantine through the Frankish period. ; Until the lower Frankish fills were uncovered in the West Room, that space showed strong evidence for some early activity (evidenced by the robbing events 6381 and 6674 visible below walls 5411 and 5284, as well as the early surface uncovered below pit cut 6665, predating wall 5483), a great deal of construction  activity in the 12th century, and subsequent Frankish building activity as well.   ; ; The levels in the East Room are early and definitely reflect “phase one” constructions of the 10th and 11th centuries, prior to a subsequent restructuring of the room that involved relocating the southern terrace wall to open the East Room for communication with the Central Room via threshold 6285. There is little evidence for 12th century activity in the East Room as it currently survives, but the eastern wall section that we removed, 10085, featured foundations (6575, 6576) that contained 12th/13th century pottery, supporting the idea of Frankish period reuse of the space. ; ; The Central Room, like the West Room, features up to three phases of development. The earliest floor surfaces there are directly on top of the red colluvium soil, meaning that they are quite early and probably date to the 10th century, and the east-west wall 6120 would have divided the room. The walls 5483 and 5631/6425 date to the 10th/11th century as well, and would have represented part of the room’s expansion, since 5631 lies further north. Then, the Central Room opened up to the East Room via the construction of 11th century threshold 6285, expanding movement still further; subsequently, the threshold was blocked off by fills 6278 and 6277, and Frankish constructions such as walls 5552 and 5553 would have constricted the Central Room again.","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Nezi Field","Corinth:Report:Nezi Field 2009 by Sarah Lima (2009-05-25 to 2009-06-15)","","","","","","","Report"