Jonida Martini, Larkin Kennedy, and Rachel McCleery
Team Pink Report for May, 2012 season
Session 2, 2012 American School Corinth Excavations (April 30-May 19, 2012 for final report)
Nezi Field, NE Region
E 264 to 275, N 1006 to 1014

Excavations were conducted in the NE area of the Nezi Field region, to the east of N-S wall 540 (E 264.5) and to the north of pit 191 (north of N1006) in the southwest and north of pit 193 (north of N1008.5) in the southeast. The northern edge of this area is bounded by the scarp edge left by previous excavations in the North of Nezi region (south of ca. N1014).

The excavation of this area was under the direction of Dr. G.D.R. Sanders, Director of Excavations, Corinth, and the assistant field director was Ms. Heather Graybehl. Our pickmen were the brothers Panos and Tasos Kakouros; our shovelman and sieve operator was Vasillis Kollias. Jonida Martini and Larkin Kennedy were recorders for the first half of the May session. Jonida Martini and Rachel McCleery were recorders for the second half of the May session. This area was last excavated in April of 2012 by Simon Oswald and Andrew Connor.

Late Antique

In the previous session, a cemented N-S wall (746) was unearthed near the eastern extent of this area at easting 274.5. This wall was considered to have been in use earlier than the 8th to 9th c. AD, as its construction used large, roughly worked bedrock and limestone blocks and cement. It was out of use by the 8th – 9th centuries AC, as fill dating to that time period covers over the wall. In the western half of our area, traces of an E-W wall at 1011 northing (807) appear to be in the same cement block masonry style of wall 746 and therefore have been preliminarily dated to Late Antiquity as well. This designation is preliminary, however, as only the very top course of each wall has been exposed for a little more than a meter. It is possible that wall 807 meets up with wall 746, forming an enclosed area in the late antique period south of the North of Nezi area, and helping to section off a small room in the far northeast of the Nezi field (north of 1013N and east of 274E).

Throughout the excavation area, a wide stretch of reddish material has been exposed which contains large amounts of tile and amphorae sherds which preliminarily date it to the Roman period. A small triangular section of this material lies pedestaled above much of the rest of the trench, and its upper layer (836) has been dated to the Late Roman period (late 5th – early 6th). The rest remains unexcavated. As it overlays these late antique walls (807), it is probably late Roman in origin, though a definite date will need to be assigned after excavation. Fill 812 appears to be a portion of this reddish material that was preemptively excavated near the northwest corner of the trench between wall 807 and the late antique walls in North of Nezi.) Wall 807 was presumably out of use by the 10th to 11th c., since it was immediately overlaid by context 805 (10th-11th c. npd).

Byzantine

In the Early Byzantine period (8th-9th c. AC), a large fill (837, 846) was deposited west of and partially over the remains of the Late Antique wall (746).
This fill contained interesting cookware in a micaceous fabric, as well as handmade beakers.

Later in the Byzantine period (10th century AC), mixed fill was laid down E-W across the extent of this area in a long, rough depression. This fill (previously excavated as context 741, and also comprising contexts 749, 782, and 835) is contained in a long trench that cut directly off of the wall that may have been used for drainage. This depression could also have functioned as a road which was robbed out prior to the 10th century, as a few flattened boulders which could have been used originally to pave the road were found in an apsidal structure immediately to the south of the trench. Shallow deposits of leveling fill south of this trench dating to the 11th century (778, 779) could have been related to the use of this road. Probably also during this time period, contexts 788 and 799 filled a pit next to wall 540.

Walls 313, 334, and 335 may have been built to the south of the 741/748/782/835 trench at this point or earlier, but since they have not been fully excavated, their construction date is unclear. Wall 616 (also not fully excavated) was later added to the north end of wall 334. The plan of this originally rectangular room was further altered by the addition of an apse-shaped structure (538, 539) added to its northern end in the 11th century AC connecting walls 313 and 616/334 (removed as context 773). This apsidal structure had no stone courses, though rounded, smaller cobbles were generally found on the west and larger, roughly hewn boulders mixed with the rounded cobbles on the east. This division in the size of the boulders piled in the apse shape appears to have led previous investigators to assign two context numbers (538 and 539) to the structure, though there does not appear to have been any other difference in the fill. Against the northern end of wall 313, more rounded boulders were loosely piled in order to round the western edge of this apsidal structure (removed as context 801). These cobbles and boulders could have been placed around cut 848 as it was being dug sometime either during the Late Byzantine or Frankish period as they resemble a rock pile or a series of rock piles more than a formal wall. An outer apse or buffer (676) surrounding this structure could have provided a finished façade for the internal rubble. This apse-shape may served as a curb surrounding and containing the series of dumped fills found in and around it (785, 786, 787, 789, 790), which would fit with G. Sanders’ observation about the casual, dumped appearance of the stones in the apse.

To the north of the apse, a large pit (C784) was filled with a series of dumped deposits. The chronology here is somewhat confused and will require further investigation; at the moment, however, pit C784 appears to be a Late Byzantine (or possibly very early Frankish) construction. The pottery from much of its fill (752, 753, 754, 756, and 758) was contaminated by the contents of a later Frankish pit (C847) which was dug together with them accidentally; but contexts 764, 765, 810, and 812 should represent the uncontaminated fills of pit C784. C784 contained secondary fills (752, 753, 754, 756, 758, 764, 765, and 810, and 812) with a number of broken pots, bones, tile, glass shards, a ceramic waster, marble fragments, and iron slag. 752 contained coin 58 (1030-1042 AC) and 764 contained coin 64 (post-335 AC). 754 contained a cylindrical glass bead (MF 2012-16), while a lion muzzle from a marble sima (A 2012-1) was recovered from context 765. C784 cut the northern portion of 770 and ashy fill 783, a shallow ashy lens under 770. C784 may still be Late Byzantine despite the Frankish pottery date of 770, because context 770 was a cleaning which extended across the entirety of the trench from north to south, east of wall 540. The removal of the fill within pit C784 had left a baulk (to the north of what would later be identified as wall 807) very similar to the baulk to the south that had been created by the partial removal of context 218. The apparent similarity of the two areas led to the northern portion of 770 being excavated together with the Frankish material to the south.

Frankish

In the northernmost portion of our excavation area, a number of contexts were excavated that had been affected by their proximity to the scarp. They had slumped slightly down the hill so that portions of later contexts near the scarp had collapsed to the same elevation as the early contexts further south of the scarp. Contexts 750 and 751 accordingly contain pottery the majority of which dates to the Frankish period, but which is highly disturbed. Each also contains many glass fragments and other rubble as well as significant amounts of Late Roman pottery. 750 also contained an imitation African lamp handle and 751 contained coin 2012-57 (1287-1308 AC).

Around the end of the 13th/beginning of the 14th c., pit C848 inside the apsidal structure was filled (contexts 792, 793, 796, 820, and 821). Coin 2012-70 (1060? AC) was discovered in 793, as well as a wealth of fine pottery and cook pots which securely date these contexts. This pit extends further below the lowest depth excavated, and should be investigated further to determine the date of the lowest fill and thus a more definite construction date for the pit.
During the Frankish period, pit C847 was dug to the north of the apsidal structure through the remnants of Byzantine pit C784 as well as through the stub of a Byzantine wall (694). Contexts 761 and 763, which filled pit C847, contained coin 2012-62 (4th c. AC) as well as iron debris, an iron knife missing its handle and some glass along with pottery. (The upper levels of fill in this Frankish pit C847 were mistakenly excavated with the fill of the larger Byzantine pit C784, thus contaminating the pottery dates for 752, 753, 754, 756, and 758. The Frankish pit can be clearly distinguished from C784 in photos 2012-213, 2012-215, and 2012-216.)

An area of fill was laid down in the southwest part of the trench just east of wall 540. This context (the southern portion of 770) was equivalent to context 218 which had been incompletely excavated at the end of the 2007 season, leaving a baulk of the same soil east of wall 540. This had been assigned context number 644 by the 2012 session 1 excavators, but was not excavated until session 2, when it was lumped in with additional material to the north.
Yet another Frankish pit (430) was dug just to the southwest of C847. This pit was not completely excavated in the 2008 season, and in the shallow remnants of this pit (803 and 804) we found very little pottery but one gold gilded tessera (MF 2012-20) that is comparable to a similar one found in the Nezi area in a previous year. This pit was also lined with lime. In the bottom of the pit were visible two more of the large blocks from wall 807.