Corinth Basket Nezi Field, context 5300

Collection:		Corinth
Type:		Basket
Name:		Nezi Field, context 5300
Area:		Nezi Field
Context Type:		Surface
Title:		floor of 1961 house courtyard
Category:		Deposit
Notebook:		1101
Context:		5300
Page:		0
Date:		2008/04/21
Stratum:		70% pebbles and tile
Description:		The soil color is light brownish black. The soil compaction is firm. The soil is moderately sorted. It is sandy silt. Structure materials: pebbles (medium to large), tile fragments. Material size: see notes. Material finish: unworked. Material bonding: none.
Notes:		In an effort to find the unform floor layer out of the many successive layers that comprise the courtyard floor area, we dug this context along the middle of the south wall. It was a raised section of floor, which was one clue to the fact that it didn’t belong to the tile and cobble floor (5324), which comprised the majority of the courtyard, although this context was itself probably a later tile floor built on top of the earlier one. The other primary difference between this context and the floor (5224) we reached below it was soil composition and compaction. Our context had firm sandy silt soil while the floor below was a hard clayey silt. That our context was a later floor and not debris from the slow deterioration of the house is demonstrated by the fact that it continues under the western half of the south wall of the courtyard, a wall which was added later in the life of the house. The floor was composed of tile fragments (primarily of red clay and a few of yellow) which averaged 2-3 cm thick and 5-10 cm in length. These lay horizontally on the floor and to the south of the context could be found in a double layer. When we sieved, we counted approximately 20 large tile fragments (3cm thick, 7-12 cm long) and 45 smaller fragments, most of slightly thinner tiles (2-2.5cm thick, 2-5cm long). Also in the sieve, we found some large pebble-size river stones, a fragment of blue-pebble-in-concrete floor, a tessera, a small piece of glass, some bones and teeth, and 3 small pieces of construction plaster. One final find of note was a tile fragment, which had been worked into a roughly triangular shape that had a hole (5mm dia.) in its center. This probable loom weight was found lying horizontally as part of the floor.
Context Pottery:		Coarseware. amphora5 bodysherds. ; Coarseware. pitcher5 bodysherds. ; Fineware. ww plain (700-1120), bowl. 1 bodysherd. ; Coarseware. basin1 handle. 1 bodysherd.
Pottery Summary:		1 frag(s) 0.005 kg. (0% saved) fineware.
		43 frag(s) 0.52 kg. (0% saved) coarseware.
		7 frag(s) 0.02 kg. (0% saved) cooking ware.
Context Artifacts:		tessera 1; pebble mosaic floor fragment 1; roof tile 11; glass clear light green unguentarium bottom 1; Bone- complete metatarsal of Sus scrofa (Wild Boar or Domestic Pig) - 1 example(s).; Bone- fragment mandible of Capra aegagrus hircus (Sheep/Goat) - 1 example(s).; Bone- most (nearly complete) tooth of B. taurus (Cattle) - 1 example(s).; Bone- shaft limb bone, undiff. of Capra aegagrus hircus (Sheep/Goat) - 2 example(s).; Bone- shaft limb bone, undiff. of Mammalia, md (Mammal - Medium) - 4 example(s).
Period:		Late Byzantine (1059-1210 AD)
Chronology:		late 11th - early 12th
Grid:		270.17-268.23E, 1030.61-1031.86N
XMin:		268.23
XMax:		270.17
YMin:		1030.61
YMax:		1031.86
Site:		Corinth
City:		Ancient Corinth
Country:		Greece
Masl:		84.8-84.91m.
References:		Report: Nezi Field 2008 by Jody Cundy and Megan Thompsen (2008-04-07 to 2008-06-13) Report: Nezi Field 2008 by Josh Gieske, Laurie Kilker (2008-04-07 to 2008-04-24) Image: digital 2008 0046 Image: digital 2008 0047