Corinth Report: Nezi Field 2007 by Ioannis Sapountzis (2007-05-18 to 2007-06-07)
Collection:   Corinth
Type:   Report
Name:   Nezi Field 2007 by Ioannis Sapountzis (2007-05-18 to 2007-06-07)
Title:   Early Roman to Middle Byzantine Strata in area of Room F, North of Nezi field
Context:   Nezi Field, context 5123
    Nezi Field, context 5143
    Nezi Field, context 5141
    Nezi Field, context 5093
    Nezi Field, context 5118
    Nezi Field, context 5130
    Nezi Field, context 5140
    Nezi Field, context 5145
    Nezi Field, context 5107
    Nezi Field, context 5137
    Nezi Field, context 5084
    Nezi Field, context 5136
    Nezi Field, context 5124
    Nezi Field, context 5112
    Nezi Field, context 5126
    Nezi Field, context 5149
    Nezi Field, context 5104
    Nezi Field, context 5108
    Nezi Field, context 5086
    Nezi Field, context 5156
    Nezi Field, context 5144
    Nezi Field, context 5110
    Nezi Field, context 5138
    Nezi Field, context 5111
    Nezi Field, context 5089
    Nezi Field, context 5096
    Nezi Field, context 5105
    Nezi Field, context 5125
    Nezi Field, context 5134
    Nezi Field, context 5122
    Nezi Field, context 5106
    Nezi Field, context 5114
    Nezi Field, context 5147
    Nezi Field, context 5109
    Nezi Field, context 5133
Area:   Nezi Field
Site:   Corinth
City:   Ancient Corinth
Country:   Greece
References:   Baskets (35)
INTRODUCTION
For three weeks Ioannis Sapountzis worked in the area designated “North of Nezi,” conducting cleaning operations and new excavation. The area where cleaning and excavation took place is located between E 278.30 to the east and E 271.60 to the west, N 1015.32 to the south and N 1022.90 to the north, and it is to the immediate north of the area known as “Nezi field.” Ioannis Sapountzis was the trenchmaster, Athanasios Magourakis the pickman, Panagiotis Stamatis the shovel man and Christos Bolevas the barrowman and sieve operator. Alica Carter was the supervisor and G. D. R. Sanders the director of the excavations.

The objectives of the work in the above said area were to initially clarify the situation as it was left by the 1961 excavations and then proceed into the investigation of the various structures and features that exist, in order to provide a better chronology for them, but also to be able to place them within the space around them.

The area was partially excavated in 1961. Besides that only one cleaning basket (B 5002) was excavated in the above mentioned area by Heidi Broome-Raines in the second training session of 2007. Therefore for the most part the area has remained untouched since 1961. Some of the terminology that was applied in the 1961 archaeological record, mainly the names of walls and other features, was reused by I. Sapountzis.

Excavation and cleaning started in the room that is located to the north of room F, E half (E 271.70-E 276.50, N 1020.70-N 1022.30). Wall 24 (NB 228) (E 271.60-E 274.5, N 1022.30-N 1022.90) that formed the northern wall of this room was removed. Two phases of wall 23 (NB 228) (E 271.15-E 276.60, N 1020.15-N 1020.90), which formed the southern wall for the above said room were also removed?. Then excavation and cleaning proceeded into room F, E half (E 271.60-E 276.75, N 1015.80-N 1020.35). Part of the foundation trench for a pithos (E 273.25-E 274.20, N 1019.15-N 1020.05) that was initially excavated in the 1961 season was dug. The extension of wall 20 (NB 228) (E 272.05-E 273.45, N 1015.80-N 1018.12) was also excavated. Finally wall 21 (NB 228) (E 277.60-E 278.50, N 1016.12-N 1021.45), which connects wall 19 (NB 228) and cuts through the probable extension of wall 23 (NB 228) was also removed.

EARLY ROMAN
The only early Roman contexts were excavated in B5109 and B5110. They were dated based on pottery. Both of them were located in the room north of room F, E half, and they were interrupted on the E by wall 21 (NB 228), and B5110 was interrupted in the S by wall 23 (NB 228). Upon excavating them, B5110 revealed a layer which contained ashes in its matrix, and which was later on linked with room F, E half, in B5141. Since B5141 had a middle Roman date, it is most likely that B5109 and B5110 were reused fill of some kind, probably as a subflooring for the room to the north of room F, E half.

MIDDLE ROMAN
Against the east face of wall 22 (NB 228) in the room to the north of room F, east half, a foundation trench was excavated (B5106). The date on this foundation trench was based on the pottery. However the excavation of B5106 should be considered incomplete since due to the narrowness of the trench the pickman was forced to stop. Also in the same room, another cut was excavated (B5105) against the N side of wall 23 (NB 228). It was initially thought that B5105 was a foundation trench for an earlier phase of wall 23 (NB 228), however the excavating crew was unable to trace its full extent to the east and the west, and therefore it is possible that this is simply some pit. The only other middle Roman context (B 5107) excavated in the room to the north of room F, east half, was a deposit lying on top of an early Roman context (B5109 and B5110) which subsequently was positioned on top of a late Roman context (B 5140). Therefore B5107 is considered to be out of order stratigraphically, and is most likely reused fill as part of subflooring.

In room F, east half, part of the foundation trench for the large pithos was excavated (B5118). To the N it bordered with an earlier phase of wall 23 (NB 228) and to the W with wall 20 (NB228). The bottom of B5118 does not represent the end of the foundation trench for the pithos. It was simply decided to stop this basket at this point because excavating any deeper could cause the already cracked pithos to collapse and thus endanger the working crew. This is however an important context since it potentially dates the placement of this pithos within the room. The dating of this context was based on pottery and on a middle Roman coin, 2007-398.

A possible robbing trench for the upper courses of wall 20 (NB 228) was excavated by B’s 5123, 5144 and 5145. It is thought that wall 20 (NB 228) could have been robbed out of its upper courses in order to create a leveling area for a floor within room F, east half. The dating of this hypothetical robbing trench is based on pottery and a coin of Valentinian I or Valeus (Coin 2007-396).

The latest phase of wall 23 (NB 228) which separates room F, east half, and the room to its immediate north, was removed (B5156, B5136). The wall consisted of large and medium sized worked stones, field stones, large cobbles, a marble fragment (either part of a fountain or a perrirhanterion), and a fragment of a lintel block. To its east wall 23 (NB 228) is cutting through a north to south wall (E 276.60-E 277.40, N1016.05-N 1020.40), and to its west it is cut by wall 22 (NB228). Upon the removal of the latest phase of wall 23 (NB 228), what potentially could be another phase was noted on its east side and it was subsequently removed by B5137. Both phases of wall 23 (NB 228) mentioned here were dated to the middle Roman period based on pottery.

The second phase (B5137) noted above is a bit problematic, since it is of the same construction technique with the previous phase, removed in B’s 5156 and 5136, but below it instead of another phase of wall 23 (NB 228) there was leveled ground. This area below B5137 is believed to belong to a foundation trench for a third phase of wall 23 (NB 228). This foundation trench was excavated in B5141 and it is located in the south side of wall 23 (NB 228) within room F, east half. To its west it is bordered by the foundation trench of the pithos (B5118) and to the east by the wall which connects wall 23 (NB 228) with wall 19 (NB228) (E 276.60-E 277.40, N1016.05-N 1020.40). It is very possible that the foundation trench for wall 23 (NB228) and the foundation trench for the pithos (B5118) are the same context, since they share similar matrices and have the same dates based on pottery. The foundation trench for wall 23 (NB 228) has not been fully excavated since a change in the matrix of the soil was noted, and it was therefore required to change the basket. However, due to time constraints, the rest of the foundation trench has remained unexcavated. The foundation trench for wall 23 (NB228) is dated based on pottery.

LATE ROMAN
In the room to the north of room F, east half, that is bordered by wall 23 (NB 228) on its south side, wall 22 (NB 228) on its west side, wall 24 (NB 228) on its north side, and the probable continuation of wall 21 (NB 228) on its east side, a significant amount of coins was recovered, 119 in total. The majority are of a late Roman date with some that belong to the middle Roman period. They were mostly concentrated on the east half of the room. B5092 had the largest concentration, 62 in total, all of which were of a late Roman date (Coin 2007-254 is just one example). B5092 together with B5093, B5089 and B5086 revealed a large deposit of roof tile fragments which spread from wall 22 (NB 228) to ca. 0.75 to the west of wall 21 (NB228). This deposit was excavated as B5096 and it also contained 48 coins, the majority of which belonged to the late Roman period. This tile layer is believed to be a leveling course for a floor and not an actual destruction layer. The reasoning behind this is the following. The roof tile fragments were all very small pieces, ca. 0.05 by 0.12, and normally when a roof collapses there are some larger pieces which survive, and in this deposit there were none. Not all of the tile fragments were lying flat on the ground, which means that they were dumped in this room instead of collapsing from the roof. Together with the roof tile fragments there was a large number of medium sized cobbles, which do not seem to belong to any of the construction techniques of the surrounding walls. The date of all of the above baskets, with the exception of B5093, is late Roman, and this is based on pottery and the majority of the coins recovered from this area.

Wall 21 (NB 228) which is interrupted on its south end by wall 19 (NB228), and on its north end appears to be cutting through an extension of wall 23 (NB228) only to fall apart at ca. 0.90 of that, was removed in B5126. The decision was made upon noting that the wall was sitting on earth, and therefore following a stratigraphic sequence it made sense to remove it. Wall 21 (NB228) was constructed of large orthostate blocks, spaced in between with smaller worked stones, field stones, and mud. This construction technique can be seen elsewhere in the “N of Nezi” area. It measured 5.33 in length, 0.65 in width, and had a maximum preserved height of 1.15. Wall 21 probably formed the west wall of what is referred to as room E (NB 228). A large number of coins (33) were retrieved from the dirt that formed the bonding material for the wall and from the floor on which wall 21 was placed (14 coins from B5130). The majority of the coins are of a late Roman date (such as 2007-411), with some middle Roman ones (such as 2007-433). Wall 21 (NB228) was dated as late Roman based on pottery and coins. The floor on which the wall was resting (B5130) was also dated as late Roman based on pottery and coins.

MIDDLE BYZANTINE
After excavating B 5089 in the room to the north of room F, E half (E 271.70-E 276.50, N 1020.70-N 1022.30) it was noted that a layer which contained numerous tile fragments was continuing underneath wall 24 (NB 228). It was therefore decided to remove wall 24 before excavating the tile layer. Wall 24 (B 5093) was constructed with a mix of worked and field stones, all of which were average sized. It was randomly coursed and its faces had a mix of fair faced and rough faced stones. It measured 2.95 in length, 0.65 on its maximum preserved width, and 0.35 at its maximum preserved height. To the W it was interrupted by wall 22 (NB 228) and to the E it was destroyed. If it were to continue to the E it would probably merge with wall 21 (NB 228). On its N side due to excavation work that took place in 1961 another wall (E 271.65-E 275.00, N1022.80-N 1023.40) could be detected on which wall 24 was partially positioned atop. Upon the removal of wall 24 the upper course of this lower wall was exposed. Wall 24 was partially incorporated in this upper course, but it also lay on the leveling layer created by the roof tile fragments. Wall 24 is dated to the 11th century AD on the basis of the pottery that was retrieved from its matrix. It is very possible that wall 24 together with wall 22 and the upper most phase of wall 23 (NB 228) created a room. What is important to note is that out of these three walls only wall 24 was resting partially on the roof tile layer, and therefore wall 22 and the upper phase of wall 23 could be earlier than wall 24.

B5133 is the only other context with a middle Byzantine date. B5133 is thought to be a foundation trench for the west end of wall 28 (NB 228) (E 277.00-E 278.30, N1022.30-N 1022.75). The bottom of B5133 does not represent the bottom of the foundation trench, but excavation had to be stopped because it was becoming too narrow for the pickman to proceed. Since this area has not been excavated since 1961 it is very likely that this is a contaminated deposit, therefore the middle Byzantine date is not a certain one, and middle Roman is another suggestion made by the director.

CONCLUSIONS
Some of the features excavated during this final session remain incomplete, and will therefore be part of the problems to be solved by future excavators. In the room to the north of room F, east half, there is an unfinished foundation trench excavated in B5106. This is the foundation trench for the west face of wall 22 (NB 228), and it was stopped because it was too constricted for the pickman to work. So far the material from there has placed it in the middle Roman period. Completing the excavation of this foundation trench could provide a date of construction for wall 22 (NB 228).

Another unfinished foundation trench is in the area that is formed by wall 28 (NB 228) to its north, the probable continuation of wall 23 (NB 228) to the east, and wall 21(NB228) to the west. In this area the foundation trench for the south face of wall 28 was partially excavated. Completing the excavation of this trench could provide some useful dates for the construction of wall 28 and the structure that it creates to its immediate north.

In room F, east half, the foundation trench for the placement of the large pithos was also partially excavated. Until this point it provided with a middle Roman date for the placement of the pithos, but excavating it in its entirety is crucial in order to get a precise date for the use of this pithos. This is very important, since it was noted in the beginning of the session by the director that this pithos could potentially date to the 5th century BC, and thus if it is in use during the middle Roman period, then it is possible to get very useful information about the use and reuse of pithoi in antiquity.

Finally the foundation trench of the south face of wall 23 (NB 228) was partially excavated and provided a middle Roman date. Since it is bordering with the foundation trench for the bordering of the pithos, and they share the same dates, it will be important to excavate this context since it can provide useful information regarding the pithos and its relation to wall 23 (NB228).

Excavating below the floor on which the tile layer was lying on in the room to the north of room F, east half, is crucial in order to further investigate the existence, or not, of middle and late Roman coins. The concentration of such coins within a very limited space is very interesting, and further study of them in combination with other material culture, and the surrounding architecture could provide some useful information about activity in the N of Nezi area during these periods.