Corinth Report: Temple E, Southeast 2015 by Sitz, Anna and Katz, Philip (2015-06-02 to 2015-06-26) Collection: | | Corinth | Type: | | Report | Name: | | Temple E, Southeast 2015 by Sitz, Anna and Katz, Philip (2015-06-02 to 2015-06-26) | Title: | | Unit 2, Room 9: later half of thirteenth century and earlier cistern; Unit 2, Room 6: Frankish burials and 13th century surfaces | Area: | | Temple E, Southeast | Site: | | Corinth | City: | | Ancient Corinth | Country: | | Greece |
Session III Unit 2, Room 9 N: 1086.73, S: 1079.10, E: 132.85, W: 126.83 Unit 2, Room 6 N: 1085.00, S: 1077.00, E: 120.70, W: 116.85
This is the final summary of the third excavation session for 2015 in Rooms 9 and 6 of Unit 2 in the Frankish quarter, Temple E Southeast. Guy Sanders (director) and Larkin Kennedy (field director) supervised. Anna Sitz and Philip Katz (area supervisors) recorded. The workers were Thanassis Sakellariou (pickman), Panagiotis Rontzokos (shovel and barrowman), and Angeliki Stamati (sieve). Cistern excavation during the final week was assisted by most of the workers on site, especially Marios Vathis (pickman for the bottom layers). Grave 201513 was excavated by Elina Salminen during the same period.
Room 9 was previously excavated in Session I 2015 by Danielle Smotherman and in Session II by Danielle Smotherman and Timothy Brannelly; prior to that, the area had been excavated in 1996 (NB 888, pp. 146). Room 6 was previously excavated in Session I 2015 by Emilio RodriguezAlvarez and in Session II by Lucas Stephens. During the 2014 season, the area was excavated in Session I by Sarah Rous and Rebecca Worsham; prior to that, the area had been excavated in 1996 (NB 864, pp. 57119). Excavation in Room 9 was bounded to the North by Wall 700/166 (N 1087.11, S 1086.23, E 126.99, W 130.93), to the East by Wall 659 (N 1087.97, S 1079.86, E 133.18, W 130.68), to the South by Wall 729 (N 1079.62, S 1078.48, E 132.11, W 128.35), and West by Walls 720 (N 1081.05, S 1079.20, E 128.55, W 127.50) and 830 (N 1086.62, S 1081.05, E 128.30, W 125.95). In Room 9, excavation aimed to answer questions about land usage and material culture in the later half of the thirteenth century in the area to the north of the Frankish church. Though our excavation was bounded by the walls of Room 9, these did not engage directly with the contexts dug this session. Our material thus dates to a period when the area was an outdoor space associated with the church to the south and the road to the east. As excavation in Room 9 progressed, the fill of a 12th (?) century Late Byzantine cistern (Structure 833, N 1083.02, S 1081.27, E 131.63, W 130.23) produced promising material. Our aim therefore shifted towards completing the excavation of this structure before the area undergoes conservation.
Room 9
Late Byzantine (10591210)
The earliest feature in the area of Room 9 is an unexcavated white plaster floor visible in the western half of the room, partially exposed in the previous session by the excavation of the late 13th century large pit (733), which used the surface as its base. The plaster floor is also visible in the section of a late Ottoman period pit and therefore extends farther north and east under unexcavated contexts in Room 9. This plaster floor is cut in an arc, an activity related to the construction of the well/cistern perhaps in the first half of the 12th century (hereafter referred to as a cistern; Structure 833 filled by contexts 907904, 898, 895893, 888, 886, 834, and 832). The western portion of the cistern opening was exposed during the previous session when the fill of pit 733 was removed, just as it would have been during the original digging of 733 in the late 13th century.
The construction of the cistern began with a large, deep cavity (approximately 2.50m maximum diameter), which cut through the plaster floor to a depth of about 4.31m. The dugout cistern was then lined with roughly hewn or unworked, flatfaced limestone blocks and conglomerate stone with some use of tiles in the interstices and mud mortar. The cistern is honeycomb or bellshaped, with a narrow mouth at the apex and gradually expanding interior diameter. The space between this narrow mouth and the original cavity was then backfilled up to the height of the mouth. Some of the fill of this cut in the plaster floor was dug in the previous session as the lowest layer of fill (773) of the large pit 733, though with some uncertainty about whether it was a continuation of the large pit. It now seems likely that this fill represents deposits made during the construction of the cistern since the sherds found in it did not match the rest of the fill of pit 733. These sherds, however, do not substantially help with the dating of the cistern construction, since the majority of the fineware was preRoman.
The cistern terminates in packed dirt and some pieces of mortar. A drain (0.30 x 0.25m)enters the mouth of the cistern at the south, the top of which is right at or just below the level of the plaster floor. The cistern was filled with clayey soil, pottery, bone, tile, occasional boulders, some charcoal, and other finds. A few pieces of worked marble, including a Byzantine/Frankish type window mullion (A20152, in context 904) were also found. These fills produced a rich pottery assemblage, with several pots having complete or nearly complete profiles.
The earliest deposits (898, 895, and 894) so far analyzed date to the second half of the 12th century and provide a terminus post quem for the cistern’s construction and may indicate use fill, i.e. the cistern was still in use at that time and rubbish gradually accumulated in it, perhaps entering from the drain. The earliest layers of fill contained large quantities of ceramics, decreasing near the middle layers of the cistern before increasing again closer to the opening: a layer near the middle of the well (893) had only had only 0.79 kg of pottery, compared with 4.2kg in the layer below (894) and 11.59 kg in the layer above (888). This middle nearly sterile layer (893) also marks a change in date, with material dated to the second quarter of the 13th century. This suggests a possible lull in activity in the area from the late 12th through the first quarter of the 13th century. The two layers above this nearly sterile layer (888 and 886) also date to the second quarter of the 13th century (dated by pottery and Coin #2015605, a Villehardouin Corintum issue) and represent more dense pottery accumulation (11.59 kg and 16.58 kg, respectively). Though all the fills of the cistern represent a span of approximately 75 years, the dirt throughout was largely homogenous – hard, greyish clay with a dominant greenish/yellowish tinge, suggesting the presence of human or animal waste; samples have been taken for later analysis. Because the dirt was homogenous, it cannot be excled that there was a single filling event of the cistern with soil brought from elsewhere; the stratified nature of the deposits, however, suggests a more gradual accumulation.
Frankish (12101458)
Near the opening of the cistern, two additional layers of fill were dug that dated to the late 13th century (834 and 832). It is likely that both these layers also included material that fell into the cistern opening during the original digging and filling of pit 733 in the late 13th century, by which time the ground level in the area had risen so much that the cistern opening was completely obscured. Therefore, the final deposit in the cistern made while the opening was still visible is 886, from the second quarter of the 13th century. Immediately above and around the mouth of the cistern (but not extending over the opening itself), there was a layer of stones (854) that contained many boulders (including two spoliated pieces of marble, removed as Context 885) and tiles. It is dated by pottery to the mid 13th century. One of the marbles was a half Ionic column base, probably dating from the Roman period, but from an unknown building. The stones around the cistern opening may indicate a rough attempt to raise the opening of the cistern as the ground level around it rose. This stone layer, and a line or cut in the surface perhaps due to slumping of material into the well, was visible in a level, packed surface dating from the third quarter of the 13th century (843, more on this surface below).
By approximately the third quarter of the 13th century, with the cistern out of use, the eastern portion of Room 9 was covered with a series of level, packed surfaces. The earliest, 843, may be connected with a whitish clay floor (contexts 836 and 835) in the northwest corner of Room 9, which extended into the adjoining Room 8 (context 870) and was built up against Wall 850 (later robbed), which runs obliquely NW to SE, perhaps suggesting a different orientation to the space prior to the construction of Room 9’s walls (see below). Subsurface instability, caused by slumping into the cistern, resulted in a small deposit (831) in the surface of 843, and the area was again covered over by a more substantial surface (829), which eliminated any evidence of the cistern. This surface was rich in small finds, coins (33, including 7 Corintum and 4 Corinti Villehardouin coins, see coin list below), and small sherds (18.65 kg) consistent with a trampled surface. Later iterations of these packed level surfaces were dug in the previous session (772 and 792), and each of these surfaces may be associated with the road identified to the east of Wall 659 in the 1990s, which led to the Frankish marketplace south of the church. This series of level, packed surfaces in the eastern half of Room 9 was bordered on its western side by a series of rubbly deposits. Overtime, these level surfaces encroached on the rubble layers along their western border in the south of Room 9.
Still in the third quarter of the 13th century, but after the other surfaces and rubble deposits in our sector, a small pit (808, 1.00 x 0.90, depth 0.24) was dug in the southwestern corner of Room 9 (filled by deposits 805 and 807). This pit perhaps indicates a shift towards using this outdoor space for rubbish disposal, as seen in the large pit 733, dating from the late 13th century, even with the church located just to the south. Late 13th century The sequence of wall construction in Room 9 is difficult to ascertain because of robbing trenches/pits, varied construction techniques, and incomplete excavation in the spaces to the north and south of the room. The earliest wall in Room 9 is most likely Wall 659 to the east, which runs beyond the bounds of the room farther north and south, alongside the road. Wall 659 thereby distinguishes the property associated with the church from the road. This wall was built with a foundation trench and a layer of foundation stones wider than the face of the wall above. The foundation trench for this wall (cut 673, fill 672) dated to the late 13th/early 14th century based on pottery and stratigraphy. The foundations to the north and south seem to vary in depth when visible, but since these spaces have not been excavated, they do not provide dating information for Wall 659.
The next wall to be constructed in the Room 9 area was likely southern Wall 729 and western Wall 720. Wall 729 makes use of two large worked ashlars at its western terminus; one of these ashlars juts out slightly to the north, indicating that this was planned as a corner. Wall 720 is built on top of this large ashlar and to the same depth (c. 84.50). Wall 720 may terminate after approximately two meters since a block covered with plaster is visible on its north face. Wall 830 then seems to be built against Wall 720, not bonded with it but continuing its line north. It should be noted, however, that the block with plaster may be reused from an earlier structure, and therefore this may not indicate a terminal face of Wall 720. Wall 830 could therefore be a continuation of the same wall after a short break in construction (perhaps the end of one day’s work). In any case, both Walls 720 and 830 have foundations that descend into large pit 733 (which extends into the area of Room 8) and rest on the plaster floor mentioned above, at a maximum depth of 84.05. This indicates that these walls, and joining Wall 729, must have been built after the filling of Pit 733 in the late 13th century. Since the surface level into which the pit was cut, and the fill of the pit, was at a height of approximately 84.71, this indicates that the foundations of these walls were cut straight down into the soil and filled completely with stones, leaving no subsequent sign of a foundation trench. The face of the wall above seems to have been the same width as these foundations, making it difficult to distinguish between the foundations and the visible wall face.
Wall 830 was robbed out in its northern section, where it was built atop the clay floor level discussed above (Contexts 836 and 835). However, a small piece of wall to the north of this robbing trench can be identified as a continuation of Wall 830; its northern side indicates a terminal face because it is flat and makes use of two ashlars (approximately 0.50m in length) at its northwest corner. This section of Wall 830, however, has been previously assumed to be part of Wall 700/166 and is indicated as such on top plans. Wall 700/166 is therefore laid against this preexisting segment of Wall 830. Wall 700/166 retains two structure numbers because it was mistakenly given a new number in the 2015 Session II season without reference to the preexisting number 166 from 2014 Session I. The foundations of Wall 700/166 are at approximately the same depth (84.64) as the segment of Wall 830 it is laid against. Wall 700/166 was constructed with a foundation trench, rather than a straight cut downwards, as in Walls 830, 720, and 729. The fill of the foundation trench of Wall 700/166 dated to the late 13th century based on pottery stratigraphic relationships (foundation cut 708, fill 706). At the east, Wall 700/166 is laid against Wall 659. Each of the walls is constructed of unworked but smoothfac, or lightly worked stones, with occasional use of ashlars, facing on a rubble core with lime mud mortar. Wall 659 also makes use of tiles between the stones.
The northern and southern walls of Room 8 to the west, which abut Wall 729 and the segment of Wall 830, are built at significantly higher levels (0.40m higher for northern Walls 154 and Wall 830; 0.13m higher for southern Walls 156 and 729). These walls therefore postdate the walls of Room 9. It is possible that the robbing trench of Wall 830 dated to the period when Room 8 was enclosed by these walls, creating a threshold between these two rooms. Since Room 8 southern Wall 156 dates later than Wall 729, there was no full north corridor of the church prior to that time.
Room 6
Frankish Period (12101458)
As noted by Bennett and Stephens, the area of Room 6 was used throughout the 13th and 14th centuries as a burial ground, with surfaces and leveling fills intermittently laid over the graves. The earliest level reached during our work was the unexcavated surface exposed beneath context 872, which dates to the early 14th century. Into this surface was cut the earliest burial excavated this session, grave 201513 (cut context 903; preserved coordinates: N. 1081.48, S. 1080.59, E. 120.00, W. 119.62; preserved depth: 0.20; fill context 882). It contained the skeleton (context 902, Bone Lot 201520) of a subadult laid supine, oriented northsouth, and covered from the waist up by a terracotta cover tile (structure 901). The skeleton, structure, and grave cut were later truncated to the north and east by the robbing trench of Wall 59, the eastern wall of the room; the absent skull would have been at the north. At the time of burial, the grave would thus have directly abutted the western face of the nowmissing wall.
After the southern area of the room was covered by surface 872, Grave 201511 (cut context 899; preserved coordinates: N. 1080.39, S. 1078.68, E. 119.80, W. 119.02; preserved depth: 0.35; fill context 881) was cut into the center of the room. This grave contained the skeletal remains of at least three individuals: an articulated skeleton, truncated at the waist with a disarticulated skull to the west, which initial osteological inventory suggests may belong to a second individual (both recorded in the field as context 883, Bone Lot 201516), and a second disarticulated skull to the east (context 884, Bone Lot 201517), added at a later period. After the initial burial, the grave was significantly disturbed: it was truncated to the east by Grave 201510 and south by 1996 01, and directly above was later placed Grave 199602. This degree of disturbance unfortunately removed much of the burial fill, and makes it difficult to determine the grave’s original extent.
During the course of the 14th century, a variety of surfaces were laid above the level of these graves. Unlike those in Room 9, however, these surfaces contained few coins and no notable small finds. In the southern portion of the room, drainage or slumping issues seem to have arisen due to the density of graves and other cuttings, resulting in patchy surfaces (contexts 872, 868, 861) with numerous irregular deposits (contexts 865, 867, 87. At the north, however, the relative lack of burials allowed for more stable, regular floors (contexts 861, 874).
Conclusion
Room 9
Our excavation in Room 9 uncovered a series of deposits dating primarily from the second half of the 13th century, indicating rapid accumulation of fills in that area and a quickly rising ground level at a time when the area was still an outdoor space just north of the Frankish church. The excavation of the Late Byzantine cistern produced a large amount of material that can aid in refining the pottery chronology for that period as well as the opportunity to study water management in the area prior to the Frankish period. With the foundation courses for all the walls of Room 9 now exposed, these structures can now be placed in sequence. Further excavation in Room 9, down to the level of the plaster floor could provide a more precise date for the construction of the cistern and a better picture of the possible lull in activity between the late 12th century and early 13th century.
Room 6
The phasing of Room 6 remains difficult due to the patchiness of the surfaces, number of disturbances, and the nature of the excavation, which has focused on the removal of burials. Continued excavation of surfaces would help elucidate the relationship between the north and south sections of the room, and the chronology of the surrounding walls. Further work should also include the osteological analysis of the human remains from these graves, and their comparison with contemporary populations.
Coin List, TESE 2015 Sesssion III Blue
Context 805 2015431 (findspot): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015433 (sieve): Roman imperial (4th century), AE 2015436 (findspot): Byzantine (10781081), AE, Anonymous Folles I 2015438 (sieve): Byzantine (11431180), AE, Manuel I
Context 809 2015440 (findspot): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015441 (findspot): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015443 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth
Context 814 2015444 (sieve): Frankish (12001300), BI, St. Martin of Tours, Castle Tournois 2015445 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE 2015446 (sieve): Byzantine, AE 2015447 (sieve): Byzantine, AE
Context 816 2015448 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth
Context 817 2015449 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015450 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTI, Genoese Gate 2015451 (sieve): Byzantine (11431180), AE, Manuel I
Context 820 2015461 (findspot): Latin Imitative (12041261), AE 2015462 (findspot): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTI, Genoese Gate
Context 822 2015464 (findspot): Frankish (12501278), AE 2015465 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015466 (sieve): Byzantine (11431180), AE, Manuel I 2015467 (findspot): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTI, Genoese Gate
Context 826 2015468 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTI, Genoese Gate 2015469 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015470 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015471 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015472 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth
Context 829 2015473 (sieve): Byzantine, AE 2015499 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, Genoese Gate (?) 2015500 (findspot): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015502 (sieve): Latin Imitative (12041261), AE 2015503 (sieve): Byzantine (11431180), AE, Manuel I 2015504 (sieve): Greek, AE 2015505 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015506 (sieve): Byzantine, AE 2015507 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015508 (sieve): Byzantine, AE 2015509 (sieve): Greek, AE 2015510 (sieve): Illegible, AE 2015511 (sieve): Byzantine (11431180), AE, Manuel I 2015512 (sieve): Byzantine (11431180), AE, Manuel I 2015513 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015514 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTI, Genoese Gate 2015515 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTI, Genoese Gate 2015516 (findspot): Latin Imitative (12041261), AE 2015517 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), BI, St. Martin of Tours, Castle Tournois 2015518 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015519 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, Genoese Gate (?) 2015522 (sieve): Byzantine (11431180), AE, Manuel I 2015523 (sieve): Byzantine (11431180), AE, Manuel I 2015524 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTI, Genoese Gate 2015525 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTI, Genoese Gate 2015526 (sieve): Byzantine, AE 2015527 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015528 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015529 (sieve): Illegible, AE 2015530 (sieve): Illegible, AE 2015531 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015532 (sieve): Latin or Bulgarian Imitative (?), AE 2015533 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTI, Genoese Gate
Context 831 2015535 (sieve): Not a coin
Context 832 2015536 (sieve): Illegible, AE 2015537 (sieve): Latin or Bulgarian Imitative (?), AE
Context 834 2015543 (findspot): Roman Imperial, AE
Context 836 2015544 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTI, Genoese Gate
Context 838 2015546 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015547 (sieve): Disintegrated
Context 840 2015548 (findspot): Not a coin
Context 841 2015549 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, Genoese Gate (?) 2015550 (sieve): Byzantine (11431180), AE, Manuel I
Context 843 2015553 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTI, Genoese Gate 2015554 (findspot): Latin Imitative (?), AE Context 847 2015556 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015557 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTI, Genoese Gate 2015558 (sieve): Byzantine (11431180), AE, Manuel I 2015559 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTI, Genoese Gate 2015560 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTI, Genoese Gate
Context 848 2015561 (sieve): Illegible, AE 2015562 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015563 (sieve): Illegible, AE 2015564 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015565 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015566 (sieve): Illegible, AE
Context 861 2015585 (findspot): Illegible, AE 2015587 (sieve): Not a coin (?)
Context 867 2015590 (sieve): Roman imperial (?), AE
Context 868 2015592 (sieve): Not a coin 2015593 (sieve): Corroded 2015594 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth 2015595 (sieve): Latin Imitative or Anonymous Folles (?), AE
Context 874 2015597 (sieve): Effaced, AE 2015600 (sieve): Latin imitative (?), AE
Context 881 2015604 (sieve): Byzantine (11431180), AE, Manuel I
Context 886 2015605 (sieve): Frankish (12501278), AE, CORINTUM, Acrocorinth
Context 888 2015615 (sieve): Byzantine (11431180), AE, Manuel I 2015616 (sieve): Illegible, AE
Context 898 2015628 (sieve): Byzantine (919944), AE, Romanos I 2015636 (sieve): Anonymous Folles (?), AE
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