| Collection: | Corinth | |
| Type: | Basket | |
| Name: | Temple E, Southeast, context 99 | |
| Area: | Temple E, Southeast | |
| Title: | Fill of Grave 2014-04 in church | |
| Category: | Deposit | |
| Notebook: | 1108 | |
| Context: | 99 | |
| Date: | 2014/04/15 | |
| Lot: | Lot 2014-001 | |
| Stratum: | Small inclusions of greenish clay in soil matrix. Inclusions: roof tile; ceramic; bone; glass; plaster; metal; stone (pebble to cobble). | |
| Description: | The soil color is dark reddish brown. The soil compaction is soft. The soil is poorly sorted. It is sandy silt. | |
| Notes: | Tasos began from the N end of the proposed context 99, removing the soft fill which had frequent inclusions of tile in random orientation, along with some cobbles. As he removed a layer of fill, he came down on a skull. We cleaned the area, and proceeded carefully to try to define the limits of the grave cut - we thus far expect that this is a grave proper, as this is the most complete specimen of human remains we have come across. Panos joined us to help guide Tasos in how to proceed. Tasos is now working to identify the cut. A small iron object was found in the sieve, and another is embedded in the NW edge of the grave, along with a large fragment of painted plaster (more frags have been collected, along with some glass). The boundary seems to be defined by the clayish soil surrounding the cut. 16-4-14: Tasos continued excavating within the cut, removing debris from the fill of the grave and attempting to uncover the skeleton associated with the skull. It became clear over the course of the day that there may not be an articulated body associated with the skull - periodically we have come down on disarticulated bones, however we continue to find inclusions of tile and stone interrupting. A clavicle was found N of the skull. 17-4-14: Today Tasos has come down on a large concentration of disarticulated bones, including femur, at the S end of the pit. This was photographed before we began removal, however it now seems that these bones were placed here in a pile, perhaps a secondary deposit? We have left several in situ in case we want to draw them (Later notes: we eventually decided against this; the photographs will serve as the record). Another iron nail was found along the E side of the pit, towards the center, and a point was taken (123.55/1071.64/85.07). As we neared the end of the day Tasos removed the remaining soil around the skull (Skeleton 121) and we lifted it, revealing several vertebrae as well as the lower jaw, which had sunk to a lower level. These were left in situ for the present moment. Work will continue on Tuesday after the Easter holiday. Current Grid Coordinates: NW: 123.17/1072.05/85.27; NE: 123.61/1072.11/85.25; SW: 123.46/1070.52/85.14; SE: 123.77/1070.53/85.13 22-4-14: Tasos continued articulating the vertebrae uncovered last week. He then moved south, removing more tile and fill, and beginning to remove some of the concentration of bone at the S end of the cut. This has revealed more of the skull visible at the end of last week, as well as part of another, mixed with other bones. It seems that though we have had disarticulated human remains throughout the deposit, there have been significant concentrations at the extreme N and S ends of the cut. A large fragment of marble with decorative band was found at the S end, as well as a small bronze strip, and a coin was found in the sieve [Coin 2014-58]. At the N end, Tasos has revealed what seems to an articulated arm, which potentially could be associated with the skull we removed last week. We are investigating further to see if this is some kind of articulated, associated body. As work progressed, the other arm and part of the ribcage was exposed, confirming that this is the case. 23-4-14: We decided to focus first on removing the secondary (?) of 2 skulls and assorted other bones at the S end of the grave cut, probably overlaying the feet of the primary burial. When this is cleared, articulation overlaying the feet of the primary burial. When this is cleared, articulation of the primary skeleton will proceed. As work progressed, this secondary deposit proved quite extensive, and a third skull was revealed (broken in situ). At this point we became more confused about the true boundary of the cut at the S end, as the in situ articulated legs of our primary burial were revealed, with disarticulated bones intermingled at the same elevation. Because the legs appeared undisturbed, I am disinclined to think that the disarticulated remains were deposited in a stratigraphically later pit, however the feet seem to run further S than what we believed was the S boundary of the cut. Testing of the soil once again in this area was inconclusive - we had definitely removed the soft dark deposit of soil, and the area around was harder with a more clayey character. Our exploration ended up revealing a fourth skull, however, at which point we decided the cut might extend further E and S, and perhaps the soil was differentiated in the deposit, accounting for the change. We removed more soil at this end, but in consultation with Guy Sanders decided to change our approach. Because the cut is not easily identifiable, we will finish clearing the primary burial down to his feet, record, and then proceed further to determine the boundaries of the cut and the stratigraphic relationships. Jody Cundy has suggested the cut might extend E to the area identified in Context 83 where the plaster/cement bedding was cut through. The soil here is much harder with significant clay content, however, clearly differentiated from the fill removed thus far. We thus intend to dig this separately, at which point we hope to be able to reconstruct the relationships. 24-4-14: Tasos has cleared the area above the feet - the right foot may be missing, perhaps truncated by Grave 1990-41C? He has moved to begin articulating the rest of the body of the primary burial. While removing the deposit directly over the left leg, he found a small gold and pearl earring! (123.64/1071.16/84.93). More disarticulated bone is also present in this fill, as well as some tile, including several pieces placed (?) horizontally over the midsection of the body, including one embedded in the pelvic cavity. Near the crook of the right arm we found a coin [123.39/1071.73/84.96, Coin 2014-68]. We finished the day having fully articulated the skeleton, which will be drawn, recorded and lifted tomorrow. 25-4-14: James Herbst drew the in situ remains, and we took a series of elevations to provide grid coordinates for the burial, as well as to record the position of the skeleton, whose head and upper body are significantly elevated. These are as follows: Skeleton 121 (Grave 2014-04): top of R shoulder = 123.28/1071.85/85.07 top of L shoulder = 123.58/1071.90/85.08 top of R elbow = 123.37/1071.54/84.98 top of L elbow = 123.63/1071.59/84.91 top of R pelvis = 123.38/1071.40/84.96 top of L pelvis = 123.62/1071.47/84.98 end of R leg = 123.69/1070.56/84.95 end of L leg = 123.81/1070.57/84.98 end of L foot = 123.79/1070.46/84.94 side of L foot = 123.86/1070.53/85.00 Tasos and I worked from either end to lift the primary burial. I removed the lower jaw and the arms and hands, and Tasos began with the remains of the left foot and worked up to the trunk of the skeleton. Nicole the conservator completed the removal of the ribs, R scapula and spinal column while Tasos cleared soil around the broken skull at the SW corner of the cut for Nicole to remove it. Removal of the primary burial revealed human remains beneath: below the pelvis the top of a child's skull has been revealed (other small bones have been recovered above, perhaps associated.) Perhaps we have a similar situation to Grave 1990-41A-C directly to the S, which had an adult buried w/ disarticulated human remains including skulls, with a child burial beneath (NB 835, p. 93-96, 113-115). Removal of the material that propped up the head of Skeleton 121 revealed an upside down lower jaw bone. We may not have reached the base of the cut, which is still also undefined to the E. Work will continue Monday to hopefully resolve this. 29-4-14: Due to heavy rain over the weekend, we were unable to continue excavation. We have taken 'closing' elevations for Context 99, with the understanding that another excavator will continue and complete excavation of Context 99, with the goal of defining Cut 188 fully (bottom and E boundary TBD, see Cut 188 notes for details), and removal of the remaining human remains left in situ (adult skull to SE, 123.88/1070.67/85.09, possibly associated with secondary deposit, covered in geophasma for preservation; possible child/baby burial, top of skull uncovered in our work, 123.39/1071.50/84.89, reburied with sterile soil; other disarticulated remains including jawbone to N of cut, underneath the area of the skull of Skeleton 121). Bone lots were assigned to the excavated human remains as follows: Bone Lot 2014-04: Skeleton 121 (5 trays) Bone Lot 2014-07: Skull & Lower Jaw (secondary deposit) Bone Lot 2014-08: Skull broken in-situ (secondary deposit) Bone Lot 2014-09: Skull without lower jaw (secondary deposit) Bone Lot 2014-12: Disarticulated bone (incl. secondary deposit; 4 trays) Each excavated disarticulated skull was assigned an individual lot number, the remainder was grouped in 2014-12 for further study. Should the child/baby skull prove to be another articulated burial (as 1990-41 A-C, adjacent to S), it may be assigned a separate grave number. Closing elevations at end of work, top and bottom of excavated area, as follows: Top: NW: 123.20/1072.16/85.23 NE: 123.63/1072.21/85.25 SE: 124.08/1070.87/85.26 SW: 123.50/1070.45/84.97 Bottom: NW: 123.24/1072.13/85.02 NE: 123.58/1072.15/85.02 SE: 123.82/1070.47/84.95 SW: 123.50/1070.48/84.91 Center: 123.53/1071.37/84.85 Pottery reading produced a base of a small bowl with painted green decoration of which another fragment was found in Context 83, perhaps suggesting an association between these fills. Two joining sherds were found in Context 52, this bowl will be inventoried. | |
| Context Pottery: | Fineware. slipped plain glazed (1100-1300), pitcher. 1 bodysherd. very glossy green glaze; Fineware. Pre-Roman11 bodysherds. ; Fineware. slipped plain glazed (1100-1300), bowl. 1 rim. 2 bodysherds. ; Fineware. sgraffito IV (1300-1400), bowl. 1 bodysherd. ; Coarseware. matte painted, stamnos. 1 rim. 6 bodysherds. ; Fineware. 13th century16 bodysherds. ; Coarseware. matte painted, bowl. 1 bodysherd. ; Fineware. Green glaze painted, bowl. (saved to lot) .local; joining context, 52; Fineware. Pre-Medieval1 bodysherd. ; Fineware. metallic ware, unslipped (1275-1335), pitcher. 2 bodysherds. ; Fineware. slipped plain glazed (1100-1300), pitcher. 1 bodysherd. ; Fineware. 12th century2 bodysherds. | |
| Pottery Summary: | 30 frag(s) 0.35 kg. (3% saved) fineware. | |
| 482 frag(s) 3.2 kg. (0% saved) coarseware. | ||
| 90 frag(s) 0.4 kg. (0% saved) cooking ware. | ||
| Context Artifacts: | tile, 84; painted plaster, yellow and white bands, 2; painted plaster, red, 7; glass, clear, greenish blue, rim, 3; cosmati floor, black, 3 (saved to lot); painted plaster, black, 52; painted plaster, gray and red, 4; architectural fragment, white marble, decorated band, 1 (saved to lot); glass, clear, colorless, applied thread, bs, 1; glass, clear, colorless, bs, 7, rim, 1; painted plaster, black and white bands, 3; iron, nail, square shank, 9; glass, clear, green, bs 1; bronze, strip, 2 | |
| Period: | Frankish (1210-1458 AD) | |
| Grid: | 123.77-123.17E, 1070.52-1072.11N | |
| XMin: | 123.17 | |
| XMax: | 123.77 | |
| YMin: | 1070.52 | |
| YMax: | 1072.11 | |
| Site: | Corinth | |
| City: | Ancient Corinth | |
| Country: | Greece | |
| Masl: | 85.27m. | |
| References: | Images (13) Object: C 2014 6 Object: MF 2014 3 Coin: 2014 58 Coin: 2014 68 |
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