| Collection: | Corinth | |
| Type: | Basket | |
| Name: | Nezi Field, context 738 | |
| Area: | Nezi Field | |
| Title: | Fill over red soil in E end of area | |
| Category: | Deposit | |
| Notebook: | 1106 | |
| Context: | 738 | |
| Page: | 0 | |
| Date: | 2012/04/21 | |
| Stratum: | Inclusions 80%: paving slate(?), large stones, tiles | |
| Description: | The soil color is dark brownish red. The soil compaction is loose. The soil is very poorly sorted. It is clayey silt. | |
| Notes: | After removal of 717, a roughly circular deposit was revealed overlaying a sort of dirt promontory rising up to the NE of our area, just to the south of Disappointment Rock (what might be called Point Sausage, after the soil's passing resemblance to a well-made country sausage, were we coasting in a a sea filling the N of Nezi region). This context, meanwhile, was tucked in to the S of that point, inside the hollow formed as our area ran to the south, down from the NE corner (Point Sausage). This area appeared to be gently cut, perhaps by the excavations that produced pit 634, to the east, while it fitted closely in (or produced for itself) a little depression there in the cove, to continue the nautical theme. The boundaries to the N, W, and S were quite sharp, while the upper boundary was rather more diffuse. Indeed, it has proven difficult to say exactly where 717 ended, if it did. We found it better to switch to a new context, which seems to have been correct, as the similarity to 717 fell away, in terms of inclusions. This context also sits to the east of a really lovely concreted wall. As our pickmen extraordinaire worked away, we found what appeared to be a few slabs of paving slate, as well as large stones, and tiles. The amount of inclusions was quite impressive (as our notes suggest, around 80%). One inclusion, however, offers quite a bit of troubling caution. About halfway between the E edge of this context and the center, our workmen found a spoon. While spoons have been a part of life for thousands of years, this spoon appears, before cleaning, to be at least early modern. Our initial suspicion was, of course, modern contamination of an otherwise lovely context, but it should be noted that the edge of this context to the E was also subject to an aggressive gunk removal scheme, courtesy of 729 (gunk slump). Until the spoon is cleaned and dated, this must remain an open question, but the position of the spoon (named "Spoony" in an attempt to render it a more cheerful figure) must advise the most extreme caution in interpreting this area. As it appears in the vicinity of a most interesting wall, excavation of this area should proceed with all possible care to respect boundaries and to look out for contaminated areas. The edges of the area, perhaps, suffered more from slump than we believed or Panos and Tasos believed, rendering this context perhaps half original and half gunk-slumped. Caution, as noted, is advised. Regardless, the presence of what might be paving slate is extremely interesting, as are the large stones contained within, which, if not contaminated, might related to the structures nearby, including the stony wall mentioned in the notes of 729, and running E-W under Point Sausage. Additional: this context must be considered contaminated. Stratigraphically, it predates 717, which is 8-9th centuries, but, thanks to the presence of the scarp, this has been contaminated, especially with Frankish pottery and the spoon, aka Spoony. | |
| Context Pottery: | Fineware. slipped plain glazed (1100-1300), plate. 1 bodysherd. | |
| Pottery Summary: | 2 frag(s) 0.1 kg. (0% saved) fineware. | |
| 28 frag(s) 0.15 kg. (0% saved) coarseware. | ||
| 6 frag(s) 0.1 kg. (0% saved) cooking ware. | ||
| Context Artifacts: | iron spoon, handle decoration, 1 (saved to lot) | |
| Period: | Byzantine | |
| Grid: | 275.95-275.22E, 1010.09-1010.83N | |
| XMin: | 275.22 | |
| XMax: | 275.95 | |
| YMin: | 1010.09 | |
| YMax: | 1010.83 | |
| Site: | Corinth | |
| City: | Ancient Corinth | |
| Country: | Greece | |
| Masl: | 86.1-86.5m. | |
| References: | Report: Nezi Field 2012 by Andrew Connor and Simon Oswald (2012-04-03 to 2012-04-20) |