Corinth Basket South Stoa, context 96

Collection:		Corinth
Type:		Basket
Name:		South Stoa, context 96
Area:		South Stoa
Context Type:		deposit
Title:		Fill of drainage channel 89, W side of N-S Wall 38
Category:		Deposit
Notebook:		1109
Context:		96
Date:		2015/05/24
Lot:		Lot 2015-057
Stratum:		10% cobbles, 5% small pebbles, 2% charcoal, 2% snail shells
Description:		Top slope of the context is uneven down to the N. The soil color is light brownish brown. The soil compaction is loose. The soil is poorly sorted. It is silty sand.
Notes:		This context was opened to excavate the compacted soil within the drainage channel. The material unearthed may assist in our dating of the drainage channel (89) that runs alongside the N-S wall (38). A martyr (approx. 40cm wide) was left in place along the northern edge to avoid cross contamination with context 84. The soil is easily removed with a pick and contains a great deal of snail shells (2%). A bedrock shelf juts out past the cut for the drainage channel in the middle portion of the context, approx 73cm in leanthy and 17cm in width. The southern tip seperates the n-s channel from the e-w. Below the silty sand soil, a light brownish brown sandy silt was revealed. It contains the same inclusions as the previous soil and also has the same frequency of decaying small branches. A large pocket of carbon was discovered in the soil, very close to the wall and approximately at the halfway point. Due to the carbon and shells, a 20L water sieve sample was taken. Beneath and within the soft soil, flat stones were discovered. These stones ave been revealed across the south end of the drain, but no stones were found at the north end. Where the stones stop, a bit north of the center point, the fill goes much deeper (ca. 3cm). A more compacted clayey soil lines the western edge of this context, and is not the same. It is more yellowish and lighter, but also has carbon inclusions. The top of the second course of the Greek wall 38 has been revealed. This yellowish soil was determined to be a cut, and so we will stop and change contexts. Before changing contexts, it was determined that the rocks on the southern side were on top of the cut fill, and thus the same as the rest of this context (96). The rocks will be removed as part of 96's rubble fill. Underneath these rocks there was bedrock, and a distinct cut into it on its northern boundary. This is the bottom of the drain, and the next context (98) will explore the darker, more charcoal filled soil of the cut fill.
Context Pottery:		Fineware. Rom- Ital. sig., bowl. 1 rim. (saved to lot) .sim to conspectus form 24; Fineware. mold made bowl. 1 rim. 1 bodysherd. (saved to lot) .; Fineware. Rom- Thinwalled ware1 bodysherd. (saved to lot) .; Cooking ware. Hellenistic, stewpot. 2 rims. 2 bodysherds. (saved to lot) .; Fineware. echinus bowl. 1 rim. (saved to lot) .
Pottery Summary:		32 frag(s) 0.22 kg. (100% saved) fineware.
		45 frag(s) 0.7 kg. (100% saved) coarseware.
		30 frag(s) 0.32 kg. (100% saved) cooking ware.
Context Artifacts:		plaster, white pigment, 1 (saved to lot); many frgts of wood (saved to lot); plaster cement 6 (saved to lot); pebble flooring, 2 (saved to lot); white gypsum 1 (saved to lot); tile frgt 8 (saved to lot); wall plaster, white with purple stripe, 2 (saved to lot); shell almond 1 (saved to lot); bone unid 6 (saved to lot); shell land snail 0.1kg (saved to lot); iron nail 2 (saved to lot)
Period:		1 st c. A.C.
Chronology:		mid-1st c. AD
Grid:		326.9-325.6E, 1079.25-1081.55N
XMin:		325.6
XMax:		326.9
YMin:		1079.25
YMax:		1081.55
Site:		Corinth
City:		Ancient Corinth
Country:		Greece
Masl:		81.075-81.3m.
References:		Image: digital 2015 1072 Image: digital 2015 1073 Image: digital 2015 1074