Corinth Basket Nezi Field, context 886

Collection:		Corinth
Type:		Basket
Name:		Nezi Field, context 886
Area:		Nezi Field
Title:		Tile Layer with Loose Soil Cutting Red Layer
Category:		Deposit
Notebook:		1106
Context:		886
Page:		0
Date:		2012/06/06
Lot:		Lot 2012-045
Stratum:		tile (20%), cobbles (5%), pebbles, pottery, bone, carbon, iron, shell, plaster, terracotta antefix and moulding, bronze
Description:		The soil color is dark yellowish brown. The soil compaction is very soft. The soil is poorly sorted. It is clayey silt.
Notes:		This context is a continuation of excavation of the tile layer that composed the lower portion of context 879. Tiles and cobbles once again dominate. At the very opening of the context an iron pin (?) was found; shortly thereafter a very large fragment of iron slag was found. Terracotta antefix recovered among the tile. Could all of this be taken from other buildings to be used as fill? Two shards of glass recovered. Noticed carbon in NW portion of context and therefore have taken soil sample (E 271.47, N 1011.93, H 85.72). Context left open at end of day. 7 June 2012: The two boulders at S center and W of context are revealed to be very large, making even Disappointment Rock look like a baby. A very large piece of iron slag recovered (several now recovered from this area), as well as a terracotta moulding. Tiles and cobbles still predominate but the tiles seem more fragmentary. [For convenience's sake we shall refer to S central boulder as "Pappa"; the bedrock SW as "Momma".] In general more pottery has been coming out of this context. Two pieces of glass, one flat and thick. N of "Momma"a bronze obect in the shape of a small tube uncovered. Tiles, larger than those mentioned above, still predominate around "Momma". Much more bone is being uncovered. Waster bound in plaster or cement recovered. Another pieces of clear glass (body). Noticed fine red-glazed ware. Below and to the E of "Momma", another boulder is being exposed. At bottom of context, we believe we have exposed the red layer throughout the area bounded by wall 746 to the E, wall 866 to the W, N of Nezi wall ___ to the N, and the arbitrary baulk line to the S. The relationship of wall 866 to the red layer is unclear. The furthest S that wall 866 can convincingly be called a wall is ca. 1011.95 N At that point, the red layer appears to be sloping up to meet the wall's E face. Further to the S, along the "wall", however, it looks in section like the same tile-heavy matrix we dug as 879. Because we cannot be certain of the stratigraphy here without removing this wall/roof/tile collapse or fill that extends an unknown distance W across the S part of the trench, we are moving back to Frankish pit C848 (inside the former apse) last excavated as 821. Conversation with Guy this afternoon - tomorrow morning (8 June 2012) we will continue briefly with the pit in the morning, then tackle the area S/W of wall 866. 16 June 2012: Sculpted marble fragment, preserving front and back surfaces; broken along sides. Back possibly burnt, roughly finished (shows chisel marks). Carved to form curving inset area as if an arched frame for sculpted relief. Beveled edge on back portion roughly parallel to curve on front.
Context Pottery:		Coarseware. amphora2 rims. (saved to lot) .LR Amphora 2 very late; Fineware. LRC-Form 10A2 rims. (saved to lot) .later 6th century; Cooking ware. stew pot2 rims. (saved to lot) .7th century varieties; Cooking ware. concave thickened rim stewpot (800-950)2 rims. 8 bodysherds. (saved to lot) .silver mica fabric; Coarseware. mug1 rim. (saved to lot) .anthropomorphic handle; Coarseware. amphoras- egyptian1 bodysherd. (saved to lot) .8th century; Fineware. pre 6th century25 bodysherds. (saved to lot) .
Pottery Summary:		25 frag(s) 0.45 kg. (100% saved) fineware.
		988 frag(s) 30.1 kg. (0% saved) coarseware.
		178 frag(s) 3.73 kg. (7% saved) cooking ware.
Context Artifacts:		mortar, marble?, calcined?, non-joining (saved to lot); glass, clear, colorless, milky white patina, bs, 1 (saved to lot); glass, clear, colorless, bs, 1 (saved to lot); glass, clear, green, stemmed goblet, tubular ring foot, steeply sloping bottom, base, 1 (saved to lot); marble, greyish white, carved, joins with 865, see notes for description, painted?, 1 (saved to lot); marble, white, revetment, 8 (saved to lot); schist, 2 (saved to lot); iron, spatulate instrument, shape perhaps similar to Corinth XII 1341, 1 (saved to lot); iron, bloom?, 1 (saved to lot); lamp, handle, 2 (saved to lot); glass, clear, colorless, blue tinge, bs, 1 (saved to lot); glass, clear, green, from large rectangular/flattened form, bs, 1 (saved to lot); tile, diamond shaped, 1 (saved to lot); terracotta, antefix, palmette, 1 (saved to lot); schisty greenish blue marble, 5 (saved to lot); lamp, BS, 5 (saved to lot)
Period:		Early Byzantine (610-802 AD)
Chronology:		8th century?
Grid:		364.13-271.21E, 1009.55-1012.73N
XMin:		271.21
XMax:		364.13
YMin:		1009.55
YMax:		1012.73
Site:		Corinth
City:		Ancient Corinth
Country:		Greece
Masl:		85.97m.
References:		Report: Nezi Field 2012 by Kyle Mahoney and Rachel McCleery (2012-05-28 to 2012-06-15)