Corinth Northeast of Theater Trench 16C Report
Director of Excavations: Christopher Pfaff
Assistant Director: Ioulia Tzonou
Trench Supervisors: Kaia Brose and David Picker-Kille
Area Excavated: Northeast of Theater (NET), Trench 16C; 35.0-41.0 E, 1385.0-1387.5 N

Dates of Excavation: 9-20 May, 2022.

25 May 2022
Excavators and Workers: Argyrios Tsirikis, Thanasis Notis, Angela Stamati, Sotiris Raftopoulos, Ilias Tsolis, and Agamemnon Karvouniarkis.

NET 16C Final Report

Introduction: Trench 16C was opened to the east of Trench 16B and to the north-east of Trench 17B, both of which had revealed several layers of road surfaces from the Roman through Byzantine periods in the 2021 field season. The trench was a 6.0 × 2.5 m rectangle, with the coordinates 35.0E, 1385.0N; 41.0E, 1385.0N; 35.0E, 1387.5N; 41.0E, 1387.5N. The primary excavators were Argyrios Tsirikis, Agamemnon Karvouniarkis, as well as the foreman Thanasis Notis, and the primary sievers were Angela Stamati, Ilias Tsolis, and in the latter half of the season, Sotiris Raftopoulos. The trench supervisors were Kaia Brose and David Picker-Kille, under the direction of Christopher Pfaff (Director), Manolis Papadakis (Director Assistant), and James Herbst (Architect). Excavations started on 9 May 2022 and concluded on 20 May 2022. The purpose of the excavation of Trench 16C was to locate the continuation of the ancient road(s) previously unearthed in the adjacent trenches in the 2021 field season. Of particular interest was the possibility that the Byzantine Road layer(s) in this area started to deviate further to the southwest from the earlier Roman and late Roman trajectories.

The western half of Trench 16C is characterized by a series of layers of gravel and dirt road layers that reached below the lowest layer reached by the adjacent trench 16B. The numbering system of road levels used in iDig is, in retrospect, not indicative of distinct road phases, but rather of changes in road makeup or type identified at the time by the excavators. After digging what was identified as road level 5 (Deposit 26) and then a disturbed portion of what was identified as road level 6 (Deposit 27), for instance, an intermediary road level (Deposit 29) was identified below the “fifth” road level in the NW corner of the trench. By the conclusion of excavation, it became apparent that that these various layers were more likely the result of the accumulation of repairs or modifications to existing road surfaces than explicit successive phases of road construction. In any case, over 12 such layers have currently been identified. Across nearly one meter (elevation 61.189 – 60.199) of road levels, however, certain characteristics were noticeably consistent. Firstly, none of these roads revealed any indication of paving. With the potential exception of the spoliated material for Wall 27 (Structure 8, see below), no clear evidence of paving stones was discovered, and as mentioned above, all the road surfaces appear to have been made of some combination of dirt, gravel, and occasionally small cobbles (for the latter, see esp. Deposits 34-37). Another common feature was that several of these road layers were greatly disturbed on their eastern halves (see Deposits 20-21, 26, 29-30, 34-35). The lowest two road levels excavated (Deposits 38 & 40) were also straddled on the west by two layers of fill (Deposits 39 & 41)

The above area, starting from immediately below the ploughsoil (Deposit 6), which was cut by a pair of modern irrigation pipes running N-S through each side of the deposit, is bisected from the eastern half of Trench 16C by Wall 27 (Structure 8), which runs roughly three degrees east of north through the entirety of the trench, with a width of roughly 0.65 m. On its eastern face, the wall is most noticeably defined by two large, worked stones that are smooth on their front-facing surfaces. The one to the south is likely marble, whose front face has a border carved down its south-east edge, and a recession of about 0.1 m, carved down the height of its north-east edge. The top and northern faces also show clear signs of anathyrosis – the former having a border carved along its southern and eastern edges, and the eastern half of the latter just as well-smoothed as its front face – suggesting that it was likely spoliated from an even earlier structure or monument. The stone to the north is similarly smooth on its front face, but unlike its counterpart, is still partially unexcavated and what has been unearthed is much more damaged. Thus, so far, no signs of anathyrosis or any additional workmanship on the stone has been identified, and the irregularity of the visible portions of its rear face might suggest that it had originally been a paving stone of a street or court area. Below the former stone and continuing on either side of the pair are a row of smaller flat stones that have yet to be excavated.
The western face of Wall 27 is constructed of loosely packed cobbles and stones, and is best preserved behind the two large stones mentioned above. Elsewhere, namely to the north and south, the structure appears to have been destroyed or disturbed by later activity. Running N-S along the western side of Wall 27 is a small trench (Deposit 19) that appears to have cut the road(s) as a foundation trench for Wall 27. As of writing, the bottom of this cut, as well as that of Wall 27, has yet to be confirmed.

No evidence of road construction was found eastern of Wall 27. Apart from a roughly N-S line of stones between 38.698-39.207E at an elevation of 61.054-60.870 m (Deposit 10), as well as Wall 28 (Structure 25, discussed below), the entire area consisted of various depositions of fill, nearly all of which contained significant quantities of Byzantine material, although lower contexts saw the appearance of sizeable amounts of Roman, and occasionally Greek, pottery as well. Deposit 24 was the lowest context excavated on this half of the trench, the bottom of which sloped noticeably downward to the east. Upon completing the excavation of Deposits 23-24, Wall 28 (Structure 25) was discovered straddling and protruding from (approximately 0.35 m) the southern trench wall at nearly a perfect E-W orientation, from the southeast corner of the trench until reaching Wall 27, forming a slightly acute angle. Wall 28 is generally more uniform than Wall 27, in terms of stone construction as well as preserved height, but like the bottom of Deposit 24, slopes downward to the east. As was the case with Wall 27, the bottom of Wall 28 has yet to be reached.

The pottery throughout the trench primarily dates to the Byzantine period with a handful of contexts datable to the twelfth century. To the east of Wall 27, the twelfth century dating appears in contexts that are fills over primary structures and fill areas. To the west of Wall 27, the road layers primarily produced Byzantine mpd pottery with Roman and Classical pottery appearing. Lower road levels like Context 37: Road Level 11 are datable to the twelfth century during the Byzantine period before Byzantine fragments disappear and Roman contexts begin to emerge. Roman levels appear in Context 38: Road Level 11 on Westernmost Edge of Trench and continue to the bottom of Road Level 12. The pottery in these last two road layers was primarily Late Roman but a few Byzantine shards (contamination) appeared. The sudden shift from Late Roman to twelfth century Byzantine in the road layers is similar to the shift seen in 16B. On the Eastern side of 16C, opposite Wall 27, the pottery primarily dates to the twelfth century.

Conclusions:

Since the bottoms of both Wall 27 and 28 have yet to be reached, their relationship to one another, as well as to the road layers, remain unclear, and is one of the primary objectives of continued excavation. At the very least, Wall 27 appears to have cut, and thus post-date, the multiple layers of Byzantine (and possibly earlier) road layers, but its builders must have knowledge of and access to earlier structures on account of the spoliated material. The frequent disturbance of the road levels on their eastern sides might have been the result of the construction of Wall 27. As of writing, there does not appear to be evidence to suggest that Wall 28 continued to the west of Wall 27 where the roads were excavated. Dating the pottery from the various road levels suggests road levels one to ten are Byzantine (twelfth century and after) and levels eleven and twelve are at least Late Roman.