Corinth Basket Nezi Field, context 847

Collection:		Corinth
Type:		Basket
Name:		Nezi Field, context 847
Area:		Nezi Field
Title:		Cut for Frankish pit 763
Notebook:		1106
Context:		847
Page:		0
Date:		2012/05/24
Description:		The context shape in plan is circular. The top break of the cut is sharp. The sides of the cut are concave. The break at the base of the cut is sharp. The base of the cut is flat.
Notes:		Coordinates/elevations at bottom: 1) 268.21 E, 1012.11 N, 86.11 H 2) 267.54 E, 1012.54 N, 86.05 H 3) 268.13 E, 1013.24 N, 86.03 H 4) 268.69 E, 1012.62 N, 86.10 H This is the cut of a pit filled by Frankish material, first excavated as context 691. Below 691, the continuation of the pit went unrecognized until context 758, because its E boundary overlapped with the earlier cut of a Byzantine (?) pit (C784), while its W boundary did not. It was therefore excavated along with the contents of the Byzantine pit in contexts 752, 753, 754, 756, and 758. It is still clearly visible, however, in photos taken of these contexts: 2012-215, 2012-216, 2012-219, and 2012-223. In further support of the identification of 691, 761, 763, and portions of the intervening layers as fills in a single cut, we found a join between the lotted pottery from pit fill 691 from session 1 (lot 2012-12) and our context 756 (lot 2012-34). Since the rest of the pottery from 691 has already been thrown, we were not able to look for further joins. 25 May 2012: 752 seems to have been overlaid by session 1 contexts 689, 699, and 700. In further support of our theory that 752, 753, 754, 756, and 758 have been contaminated by material from Frankish pit C847, the pottey from 689, 699, and 700 is all either 12th (689 and 699) or 11th (700) century. While these pottery dates cannot be used as a firm terminus ante quem for the fills originally below them in pit C784, they do support our relative chronology for the area. - RM 4 June 2012: In section, the cut was concave and sloped slightly outward as it went down, so that the dimensions preserved at bottom are greater than those recorded for 691. Compare: N: 1013.08 N at top, 1013.24 N at bottom (bottom = greater by 0.16) S: 1012.21 N at top, 1012.11 N at bottom (bottom = greater by 0.10) E: 268.47 E at top, 268.69 E at bottom (bottom = greater by 0.22) W: 267.57 E at top, 267.54 E at bottom (bottom = greater by 0.03) We also believe, comparing it to other cuts for Frankish pits in the area (esp. C867), that C847 deliberately cut into and partially undercut wall 694. Its builders made use of the remaining stones of wall 694 to partially close the mouth of the pit on the E side, with the remains of the wall still in the ground functioning as a sort of cantilevered roof. Presumably this means that the superstructure of wall 694 was still visible in the Frankish period, and the removal of any stones above the foundation level may perhaps be dated to this time. - RM
Grid:		268.69-267.54E, 1012.11-1013.24N
XMin:		267.54
XMax:		268.69
YMin:		1012.11
YMax:		1013.24
Site:		Corinth
City:		Ancient Corinth
Country:		Greece
Masl:		86.03-86.84m.