"Type","UserLevel","Redirect","Name","Collection","Icon","dc-creator","dc-publisher","dc-title","dc-description","Id","dc-date","dc-subject","Chronology"
"Report","","","South Stoa east 2016 by An Jiang and Catharine Judson (2016-04-05 to 2016-04-21)","Corinth","","","","South Stoa Shop I Rear","An Jiang, Catharine Judson; 2016 Corinth Session I; South Stoa Excavation, Shop 1 Rear ; Coordinates: N: 1092.3, S: 1084.7, E: 355.9, W: 349.6     ; Excavation Dates: April 5-21, 2016; ; Introduction; This is the final report of the first session of the Corinth excavation for 2016 in Shop 1 Rear in the South Stoa. Guy Sanders (director), James Herbst (architect) and Danielle Smotherman (field director) supervised. An Jiang and Catharine Judson (area supervisors) recorded. The workmen were Panos Kakouros (pickman) and Marios Vathis (shovelman and sieve), Vassiles Kollias and Giannes Oikonomopoulos (wheelbarrow). Photogrammetry has been carried out for every context of the room since April 11, 2016. ; ; In Shop 1 Rear, the area of excavation was bounded by the four walls of the room: Wall 457 to the east (N 1106.511; S 1086.5; E 356.4; W 348.667), Wall 458 to the south (Greek phase; N 1086.379; S 1084.15; E 355.829; W 351.808), Wall 459 to the west (to be measured in Session II), and Wall 461 (N 1092.747; S 1090.634; E 353.638; W 349.193) to the north. The coordinates of the interior space of the room are: NE corner E: 353.85, N: 1092.3; NW corner, E: 349.6, N: 1090.8; SW corner, E: 351.8, N: 1084.7; SE corner, E: 355.9, N: 1086.5. ; ; The goals of the excavation in this room are to determine the chronology of the activities in the room during the use of the Stoa (where these levels are preserved); to investigate the pre-Stoa activities in this area; and to prepare the area for consolidation, conservation, and presentation to the public. The dates during which we excavated are: April 5-21, 2016.; ; Shop 1 Rear was previously excavated by Oscar Broneer in the 1930s and 1940s. The bulk of excavation was carried out in March of 1934 (Corinth NB 139). Broneer began by removing “fill and rough masonry” across the entire area. On March 3, he records removing rubble foundations (c.70 cm thick) from this specific room. These walls may have been Byzantine in date, based on vague references to the general area in the notebook during this part of March. On March 20, Broneer excavated a trench along the entire length of the west wall between crosswalls Wall 371 to the south and Wall 461 to the north. This trench is identified both by the old excavation photos (Corinth 1.IV, pls.6.2, 7.1 and 27) and by the modern material we found in the fills along the western wall (Contexts 298 and 310). In this area, Broneer reports finding “little except some Early Helladic and Neolithic potsherds and a few Greek sherds” (p.116). On March 21, he reports that the fill close to the west wall goes deep below floor level, and that this produced primarily Early Helladic and Neolithic pottery. This may refer to the very deep sounding that we excavated as Cut 301/Context 298. Broneer also excavated in the SE corner of the room on March 21, and along the east wall on March 22, reporting Neolithic fill, Neolithic and Classical sherds, and several coins (late Classical/Hellenistic [Corinth P/T?], 1 coin of Demetrios Poliorketes, 1 coin of Manuel I). The coin of Manuel I came from the level of the toichobate (NB 139, p.122), and possibly indicates the level of Byzantine occupation in this area that was cleared away by Broneer. The trench dug along the eastern and southern walls was probably an excavation of the foundation trenches. Broneer revisited this area in 1946, but appears to have done little but cleaning in this room, based on his description of work in the notebook (Corinth NB194).; ; Prehistoric; Late Neolithic and Early Helladic pottery is present in contexts across the center and southern part of the room, typically mixed with later (generally Hellenistic) pottery. There is an especially high concentration of prehistoric pottery found in layered fills in the central area of the room (especially contexts 424, 438, and 436). The presence of this pottery and associated finds (e.g. obsidian and chert blades, EH spindle whorl [MF-2016-17]) indicates the presence of prehistoric activity in this area of the site. This is also confirmed by the presence of prehistoric levels in the space of Shop 2 Rear immediately to the east. None of the contents of these deposits are in their primary (prehistoric) context, however: all deposits with prehistoric pottery also contain later material and are indicative of later activities in the area rather than prehistoric ones. The mostly likely scenario is that, during the construction of the Stoa, foundation trenches were dug into prehistoric levels and the resulting soil was immediately redeposited as a fill level in the room’s interior with little time for Hellenistic ceramic contamination (especially Contexts 424, 436, and 438). Other contexts (e.g. Context 411) also contain prehistoric material but in lower concentrations, and are more likely the result of later filling and leveling operations within the space after the initial construction of the Stoa walls and the fill event represented by the almost pure prehistoric contexts.; ; Based on the appearance of the section in the scarp of Cut 301 compared to contexts in Shop 2 Rear, and the depth that Broneer dug to against Wall 459, it is likely that Broneer (like the builders of the Stoa) cut into prehistoric activity levels. The Neolithic and Early Helladic pottery that he mentions in both the western part of the room and in the southeast corner probably represent the spread of prehistoric activity levels across the space as well as the redeposition caused by Hellenistic construction. A matte-painted terracotta figurine in the museum comes from his excavations along the east wall (MF 13360). ; ; The pottery demonstrates that prehistoric occupation of the area ran from at least Late Neolithic through Early Helladic II. LN matte-painted and grey burnished ware, and EH red and black slipped wares are the most representative pottery types for the deposits in question. Characteristic shapes include LN fruitstands (cf. C-2016-8, C-2016-10), a LN ritual vessel (C-2016-11), a LN shoulder bowl (C-2016-9), EH bowls with incurved rims, and EH sauceboats. ; ; Classical; There are some traces of Classical activities in the room. Two deposits of fill (Contexts 456 and 478), located in the southern area of the room, date to the 4th and 5th centuries BC respectively, based on pottery. It is currently unclear what sort of activity these deposits represent, as there are no preserved surfaces dating to this period in this part of the room. One whole vessel containing traces of blue pigment was excavated in Context 456 (C-2016-5), but was resting on stones within a fill level rather than on a surface.; ; The exact type of activity in the Classical period in this room is difficult to establish, because we currently have too few excavated contexts that can be securely associated with this period. Context 478 and the associated Cut 497 may indicate the location of any stratified Classical activity in the area of the room, but the pottery from 478 is heavily prehistoric and likely represents redeposited prehistoric fill. Broneer probably also excavated part of this same deposit next to the Wall 457, as he mentions a mixture of Neolithic and Classical pottery from this specific area. His trench cuts through the deposit and exposes it in cross-section. ; ; Based on the quantities of Classical pottery present in other excavated contexts across the room, this period does not appear to form a major phase of occupation in this area. ;  ; Hellenistic; Pre-Stoa phases of activity in the late 4th and early 3rd centuries are most likely represented by a possible floor (or at least well-consolidated surface), removed as Context 449. This context dates to the 4th century BC. Its connection with the 4th century fill Context 456 in the southern part of the room is unknown, as the two deposits are spatially separated and different in appearance and formation. Two pits were dug into Context 449, and probably were meant to hold pithoi (Cuts 389 and 382). These pits were dug into the top of the surface, and therefore are likely contemporary with this 4th century surface.  ; ; The construction of the Stoa, currently dated to c.280 BC by Sarah James' 2015 excavations, is marked in the interior of the room by the redeposition of fills (Contexts 424, 436, and 438) in the center of the room (discussed above in the Prehistoric section). Their redeposition in the large cut through the consolidated surface (Context 449) suggests that this surface was highly disturbed during/by this construction project. The remainder of this surface and the pits cut into it in the northern part of the newly formed room were not covered over as part of the Stoa construction, however, and may have remained in use for some time. The pithoi in pits 389 and 382 may have been removed in conjunction with the Stoa construction. Pit 407 was also dug into the surface (Context 449) during the first half of the 3rd century BC and may mark the point at which it went out of use as a surface. Additional leveling fills were added across the southern part of the room sometime in the 3rd century BC (Contexts 411 and 398). Context 398 sealed the contents of Pit 407 (Context 403) and therefore indicates that there were multiple phases of leveling and remodeling within the room, most likely associated with the construction of the Stoa. ; ; Shortly after the construction of the Stoa, Wall 371 (L 2.5 m, W 0.50 m; N 1087.0, S 1085.8, E 353.7, W 351.3) was constructed in order to subdivide the interior space of the room. This wall was constructed in two successive, but closely dated, phases, sometime in the later 3rd century BC (post-275 BC, Context 374). This represents a restructuring of the use of the space. Probably linked with this is the gradual infilling of the two pits next to the northern wall, which had been left open after the construction of the Stoa and the probable removal of their pithoi. Context 383 (the western pit) was filled in by the late 3rd century BC, and Context 376 was filled in by the early 2nd century BC, based on the pottery (Context 376 is dated primarily on the basis of C-2016-7, a bowl with outturned rim). The coins from both pits corroborate but do not narrow this dating, as they provide a terminus post quem of the mid- to late-3rd century BC for both contexts (Context 383: 2016-78 [Ptolemy II, 285-246 BC], Coin 2016-85 [Argos, 352-228 BC], Coin 2016-86 [Argos, 352-228 BC]; Context 376: Coin 2016-63 [Argos 350-228 BC], 2016-64 [Demetrios Poliorketes, 306-283 BC], 2016-67 [Corinth P/T Group VIII, 287-252 BC]). In addition to large numbers of coins, the pits contain high concentrations of pottery and other small finds, including metal fragments (MF-2016-19: bronze handle), lamp fragments, roof tiles, ostrich egg shell (cf. MF 3957, ostrich egg shell from Broneer’s excavations against east wall), bronze rings, and pebble cement fragments. These two pits were covered and closed with a layer of fill covering the NE corner (Contexts 367, 390). The pottery from this fill event provides a terminus post quem date of the late 3rd century BC, but the fill layer was likely laid down sometime in the early 2nd century BC, based on the contents of Context 376. This fill also contains a high concentration of coins, including a Classical coin from Cleonai (2016-50, 471-421 BC), a late Classical/Hellenistic coin from Argos (2016-56, 400-200 BC), and several Corinthian P/T Type VII coins (2016-88, 2016-89, 2016-90, 2016-92: 303-287 BC). ; ; Roman; There is limited evidence for the Early Roman modification of the Stoa in this space. Pit 361 and its associated fill 364 date to the 1st century BC and are sealed by Context 360, dating to the Late Hellenistic or Early Roman period. This pit likely represents a change in function of the space, and is the first dateable act of deposition after the early 2nd century BC that we can reconstruct in the room. A thin deposit of fill (Context 346) also dates to the Early Roman period, and lies across the entire area of the room. This represents a further modification of the space after the closing of Pit 361. The date of this context is based on the pottery, but this deposit also contains 16 coins mainly dated to the earlier Hellenistic period (2016-44 [Thasos, 300-200 BC], 2016-33 [Demetrios Poliorketes, 306-283], 2016-38 [Antigonos Gonatas, 277-239 BC], 2016-36 [Lokris, 338-300 BC], several Corinthian P/T). There is one much later coin in this context, however (Coin 2016-39, Late Roman minimus), which may either pull down the date of the context dramatically or be later contamination. This level is the latest stratified deposit across the majority of the room.; ; Middle Roman activity in the room is only represented by Cut 334 and associated fills (especially Contexts 332 and 337) in the NE corner. This may be a rubbish pit associated with some construction event in the area, as many of the small finds in these contexts are broken building materials (tiles, marble revetment, cement, plastered blocks, wall plaster fragments, pebble cement flooring). The squared shape of the cutting may indicate that this originally had some other function than for trash dumping, however. ; ; We speculate that the later Roman use levels of the room were removed in the post-Roman period (Broneer mentions Byzantine walls in this area) or during early excavations without any comment in the notebook, and all that remained were traces of various filling operations from Roman construction.; ; Modern; The latest activity in the interior of the room is modern backfilling and trampled fills. Cuts 301 and 316, and Contexts 287, 297, 298, and 310 represent Broneer’s activities, including both excavation and backfilling. The bottom of this modern excavation and backfilling has not been clearly identified in the area of Context 298, since we stopped digging along the west wall after the first week of the session. One of Broneer’s goals in this area was presumably to expose the entire eastern profile of Wall 459 in the area of Context 298. This deposit exposed four courses of the wall, with at least one more likely still buried, as known from the excavations in Shop 2 Rear. In addition, the construction of the stone patch (Context 326) in the NE corner of the room also probably belongs to this period because of the modern material found in it. All excavation in the area took place in the 1930s and 1940s. The terminus post quem for the backfilling of the western soundings in the room is provided by coin 2016-6, a 1954 drachma. In all areas of modern excavation, a number of modern glass, metal and plastic objects were found, including a complete modern medicinal bottle (MF-2016-16).; ; Conclusion; The excavation activities of this session have raised more questions about ancient activities in the room than they have answered. The primary problem that is raised by the types of contexts in Shop 1 Rear so far excavated is that there are no clearly identified floor levels, and therefore no clear idea of activities within the room during different use phases. Most of the deposits represent fill events rather than occupation phases. Various construction phases also severely disrupted earlier levels and therefore caused a high degree of fragmentation of deposits within the space of the room. Nonetheless, we are able to link at least some of the contexts with the construction of the Stoa and therefore can mark chronological points of change to the space (pre-Stoa, Stoa construction, mid- to-late 3rd century restructuring, Early Roman, Middle Roman), even if their function is not always clear. ; ; Future goals; 1. To determine the spatial boundaries and nature of prehistoric occupation in this space, and how it relates to similar deposits in Shop 2 Rear.; 2. To investigate the type of activities in the room in the Classical period (occupation, redeposited fill, etc.).; 3. To determine the date of the construction of the Stoa walls and how this construction relates stratigraphically to other phases of occupation (e.g. relationship with prehistoric levels, Classical levels, Roman levels).; ; ; Appendix; List of Inventoried Objects:; C-2016-2 Corinthian A Stamped Amphora Handle (context 346); C-2016-5 [pottery with blue pigment] (official name TBD) (context 456); C-2016-7 Bowl with Outturned Rim (context 376); C-2016-8 Late Neolithic Fruitstand (context 411); C-2016-9 Late Neolithic Shoulder Bowl (context 478); C-2016-10 Late Neolithic Fruitstand (context 411); C-2016-11 Late Neolithic Vessel: Leg (context 411); MF-2016-9 Bronze and Iron Boss (context 390); MF-2016-12 Bronze Stylus (context 360); MF-2016-14 Conical Loomweight Type X (context 411); MF-2016-15 Conical Loomweight Type IX-X (context 367); MF-2016-16 Modern Glass Medicinal Bottle (context 287); MF-2016-17 Early Helladic Spindle Whorl (context 424); MF-2016-19 Bronze Vessel: Handle (context 383); ; List of Coins (64 in total):; 2016-2 (context 284) Byzantine (Manuel I?); 2016-6 (context 287) Modern 1954; 2016-21 (context 298) Possibly Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-23 (context 320) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-24 (context 320) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-25 (context 330) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-26 (context 330) Antigonos Gonatas (277-239 B.C.); 2016-27 (context 337) (not a coin); 2016-28 (context 337) Greek, illegible; 2016-29 (context 337) Argos (c.350-228 B.C.); 2016-30 (context 337) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-31 (context 346) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-32 (context 346) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-33 (context 346) Demetrius Poliorketes (306-283 B.C.); 2016-34 (context 346) Epidauros; 2016-35 (context 346) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-36 (context 346) Lokris (c.338-300 B.C.); 2016-37 (context 346) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-38 (context 346) Antigonos Gonatas (277-239 B.C.); 2016-39 (context 346) Roman minimus (5th – 6th A.D.); 2016-40 (context 346) Greek, illegible; 2016-41 (context 346) Greek (Macedonian king?); 2016-42 (context 346) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-44 (context 346) Thasos (c.300-200 B.C.); 2016-45 (context 346) Greek, illegible; 2016-46 (context 346) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-47 (context 346) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-48 (context 364) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-49 (context 364) Greek, illegible; 2016-50 (context 367) Cleonai (c.371-321 B.C.); 2016-51 (context 367) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-52 (context 367) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-53 (context 367) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-54 (context 367) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-56 (context 367) Argos (c.400-200 B.C.); 2016-57 (context 367) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-63 (context 376) Argos (c.350-228 B.C.); 2016-64 (context 376) Demetrius Poliorketes (306-283 B.C.); 2016-65 (context 376) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-66 (context 376) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-67 (context 376) Corinth Pegasus/Trident Group VIII (c.287-252 B.C.); 2016-68 (context 376) (not a coin); 2016-70 (context 376) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-71 (context 376) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-72 (context 376) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-74 (context 376) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-78 (context 383) Ptolemy II Euergetes (285-246 B.C.) golden coin; 2016-79 (context 383) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-80 (context 383) (not a coin); 2016-81 (context 383) Megara (c.307-293 B.C.); 2016-82 (context 383) Greek, illegible; 2016-83 (context 383) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-84 (context 383) Greek, unclear; 2016-85 (context 383) Argos (c.352-228 B.C.); 2016-86 (context 383) Argos (c.352-228 B.C.); 2016-87 (context 383) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-88 (context 390) Corinth Pegasus/Trident Group VII (c.303-287 B.C.); 2016-89 (context 390) Corinth Pegasus/Trident Group VII (c.303-287 B.C.); 2016-90 (context 390) Corinth Pegasus/Trident Group VII (c.303-287 B.C.); 2016-91 (context 390) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-92 (context 390) Corinth Pegasus/Trident Group VII (c.303-287 B.C.); 2016-93 (context 390) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-98 (context 398) Corinth Pegasus/Trident Group VII (c.303-287 B.C.); 2016-118 (context 449) illegible; ; List of Contexts (51 in total):; 284 Cleaning of dark soil near west wall; 287 Removal of pebbly matrix in western half of room; 297 Dark soil SE corner of cut exposed by 284; 298 Dark soil next to west wall of room; 301 Cut of 298 into 310; 310 Red Soil in NW + SW corners of room; 316 Cut filled by 310; 320 Clay across northern center of room; 326 Patch of stones in NE corner of room; 330 Dark stony soil in NE corner; 332 Red stony soil in NE corner; 333 Cut filled by 330; 334 Cut filled by 332; 337 Cobbles filling cut 334 under deposits 330 + 332; 342 Fill cut into clay surface in room center; 344 Cut filled by 342; 346 Clayey layer in center of room; 360 Clay patch next to southern crosswall; 361 Cut filled by 360 + 364; 364 Fill of cut 361 below deposit 360; 367 Clay patch next to N wall; 371 Late crosswall in S of room—top course; 374 Foundation course of structure 371; 376 Fill of pit abutting N wall; 382 Cut filled by 376; 383 Pit abutting N wall; 389 Cut filled by 383; 390 Clayey patch between Broneer and square cutting in east of room; 394 Soil under western block of wall 371; 396 Small pebbly patch next to N wall; 398 Pebbly matrix in S of room center; 403 Small bothros; 407 Cut filled by 403; 411 Pebbly layer S center of room; 421 Cut filled by 396; 424 Pebbly matrix in center of room; 427 Patch of wash on E Broneer scarp; 436 Small clay patch; 438 Cobbly layer in center of room; 449 Clay deposit in N center of room; 456 Clayey deposit in S of room; 457 N-S wall/ E wall of Shop 1 (Greek); 458 E-W wall/ S wall of Shop 1 (Greek); 460 E-W wall/ N wall of Shop 1 front; 461 E-W wall/ N wall of Shop 1 Rear; 468 N-S wall / E wall of Shop 1 (Roman); 469 E-W wall/ S wall of Shop 1 Rear (Roman); 478 Layer of black soil below 456; 493 Cut filled to S by 411, 424, 438; 494 Cut filled to N by 424, 438; 497 Cut filled by 478","Corinth:Report:South Stoa east 2016 by An Jiang and Catharine Judson (2016-04-05 to 2016-04-21)","","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Forum | South Stoa east",""
"Report","","","Temple E, Southeast 2015 by Emilio Rodriguez-Alvarez (2015-06-02 to 2015-06-26)","Corinth","","","","Corinth Report: Temple E Southeast excavations. Unit 2, Rooms 8 and 7.","Room 8 [N: 1088.00 N, S: 1077.00 N, E: 129.00 E, W: 121.00 E]; Room 7 [N: 1086.30 N, S: 1078.20 N, E: 123.90 E, W: 119.40 E]; Rodríguez-Álvarez, Emilio; Session III; ; Introduction:; This is the final report for the third session of excavations in the 2015 season for Rooms 8 and 7, Unit II,  in the area of Temple E SE. Room 8 was first excavated in 1995 (NB 877: 73–198; NB 845: 33–75) and then between 23rd and 25th of April 2014 by Rous and Worsham. Work was briefly resumed between the 19th and the 21st of May 2015 by Tanaka and Rodríguez-Álvarez and carried out by Rodríguez-Álvarez in June 2015. Room 7 was first excavated in 1992 by Schmalz (NB854) and briefly explored in 1994 (NB 864). Excavation was resumed between the 5th of May and the 29th of June in 2014 by Burr and Rogers and continued by Rodríguez-Álvarez between the 16th and the 19th of June 2015.  Dr. Guy Sanders (Director) and Larkin Kennedy (Field Director) supervised. Emilio Rodríguez-Álvarez recorded. Kostas Arberoris excavated and Thanassis Notis and Vassilis Kollias sieved. ; ; Goals of excavation:; The excavation of this area had two main aims: first, to explore the use of the area through time, before and after the space was defined as Room 8 by the erection of Wall 154 (1085.91–1086.65N, 124.04–126.17E) and the abutting Wall 166 (1086.27–1087.30N, 126.20–130.82E) at the north, Wall 720 (1081.10-1079.20N, 128.55-127.50E) and 830 (1084.10-1081.10N, 128.30-126.70E) at the east, Wall 156 (1077.50–1078.97N, 123.58–128.40E) at the south and Wall 157 (1078.37–1085.05N, 122.55–124.63E) at the west. Secondly, to assess the correlation between Room 8 and some of the finds made by Smotherman and Brannelly in Room 9 during the previous session, specially the pit (Context 733/717/726/747, N. 1083.88; S. 1079.99; E. 130.80; W. 127.50) sectioned by Wall 830, which seemed to extend into Room 8. When the excavations in room 8 revealed a second pit shared by Rooms 8 and 7, the correlation of finds with the material recovered by Burr and Rogers in 2014 and the relationship between the pit (Cut 842 1081.65-1078.40N, 127.80-123.90E) and Wall 157 (1078.37-1085.05N, 124.63-122.55E) became the third aim of the session. Finally, it is intended to backfill the area and to prepare it for visitors once the area has been fully studied.; Frankish Period (AD 1210-1450); Mid 13th century:; The first signs of activity in Room 8 are associated to the erection and ultimate dismantlement of Wall 850, a limestone structure made with roughly squared blocks and bounded with a mixture of mud and lime (1085.80-1081.40N, 125.55-123.30E). This structure was found in the NW quadrant of Room 8, not aligned, joined or abutted with any of the other walls of the room. A white clay surface was excavated in association to this wall (870 1086.10-1084.20N, 126.60-124.10E) and dated by the pottery finds to the 3rd quarter of the 13th century. Its characteristics are reminiscent of those of the so-called Frankish floor located and excavated in several locations of the Frankish area. ; Context 845, the deposit that covered the wall, was dated to the 4th quarter of the 13th century, but we know the wall was carefully dismantled before 1270±10 CE, since the digging of Cut 842 truncated the south section of the structure and this event was dated to this date. No traces of blocks belonging to the wall or any other sign of collapse have been found on the contexts laid up against both sides of the wall. These contexts make up a large number of small deposits, with almost no compaction of the soil, scarce artifacts and clustered dates. Most of them have been dated to the mid 13th century. Contexts 862 and 864, located in the lowest part of the stratigraphic sequence, have been dated to the 3rd quarter of the 13th century. Based on this evidence, I concluded that around the central years of the 13th century this wall is erected. Then, around 1270 CE the area is backfilled and leveled with small throws of soil which are accumulated on both sides and, finally, top of the wall (Context 845).; C. 1270 CE:; The next traces of anthropic action in the area are defined by two large pits that were excavated and filled in the last quarter of the 13th century. These pits were later truncated by the walls that defined Rooms 7, 8 and 9. Cut 823 (1083.80- 1080.80N, 127.50- 126.45E, depth: 0.62) is the west side in room 8 of a large pit also excavated in Room 9 (as Cut 733). The filling of the pit removed in Room 8 (Contexts 806, 813, 815, 819 and 821) was dated by pottery to the 4th quarter of the 13th century, and lotted with the material recovered in Room 9 (Contexts 717, 726 and 747) as Lot 2015-04. Context 806 included a cubic bone die with numbers drilled and painted in black (MF- 2015-57).; A second pit, Cut 842 (1081.65- 1078.40N, 127.80- 123.90E, depth: 0.47), was located on the South section of Room 8 and extending to the west into Room 7. This pit was also truncated by a structure (Wall 157), the part located in Room 7 already excavated by Burr and Rogers in 2014. The filling of this pit (Contexts 825 and 839) was dated by pottery to 1270±10 CE; Context 274 (1078.20-1081.30 N, 121.85-123.25 E, cf. Burr and Rogers, 2014) was dated to the late 3rd quarter of the 13th century. However, the  earliest fill in the west portion of this pit, Context 887, was excavated this year and dated by pottery to the 4th quarter of the 13th century, providing further evidence for the equivalence of the pit cut to the east and west of Wall 157 (Cut 889=842; 1081.70- 1078.50N, 123.80- 121.40E).  ; 4th quarter of the 13th century:; In the last decades of the 13th century the space north of the church gets delimited by a series of walls defining what is now labelled as Room 7, Room 8 and Room 9. Room 8 is separated from Room 7 by Wall 157 (124.63-122.55E/1078.37-1085.05N; Wall 13 NB 877), from the corridor north of the church by Wall 156 (128.40-123.58E/1077.50-1078.97N; Wall 16 NB 877 and 845) and from Room 9 by two structures, Wall 720 (1081.30-1079.20N, 128.55-127.50E) and Wall 830 (1084.10-1081.30N, 128.30-126.80E). ; The data obtained from the excavation and subsequent study of the two pits described in the previous section, as well as the chronologies established for these structures by Rous and Worsham on one hand, and Burr and Rogers on the other, have been used to establish a sequence of construction for these structures. The first wall erected in the area in this period was Wall 156, since Walls 157 and 720 abut rather than join with it. This structure was dated by Rous and Worsham, (Context 184), to the 3rd quarter of the 13th century. Bennett, in 2015, dated the wall to the last years of the 3rd quarter of the 13th century, but based solely on a lens of soil left unexcavated in 2014 on the corridor between the church and Room 8 by Swalec and Wilson (see also NB 864). The pit shared by Room 7 and Room 8 was truncated completely on its southern edge by the erection of Wall 156, with the exception of a small portion of the edge preserved in the southeast corner of the room as Context 855, and dated by pottery to the 3rd quarter of the 13th century. If we also consider the date provided for the fill of the pit is 1270±10 CE (Context 825 and 839), we obtain a TPQ for the erection of the wall of very late 3rd or early 4th quarter of the 13th century.; The structure that divides Room 7 and Room 8, Wall 157, was built against 156. This wall 157 also divides Cut 842=889, the pit located between Room 8 and Room 9, in two different sections. The fill of the cut excavated in Room 7 was dated by Burr and Rogers to the late 3rd quarter of the 13th century (Context 274) and this session to the 4th quarter of the 13th century (Context 887); the fill of the pit in Room 8, as indicated above, to 1270±10 CE. A possible bench (cf. Context 175, Rous and Worsham 2014) laid along Wall 157 was likewise dated to the late 13th century. ; Room 8 is separated from Room 9 on the east by two structures, Wall 720 and Wall 830. These two structures were first recorded together as Wall 155 in 2014 by Rous and Worsham, based on the records for Wall 18 (NB 877, 845). In May 2015 the record of Wall 155 was duplicated by Smotherman and Brannelly as Wall 720, still comprising in its extension the structures I define here as Wall 720 and 830. In June 2015 it was discovered that this single structure was in fact two different walls abutting. The study of previous documentation of the structure pointed out the duplicity of this record. Since a new nomenclature was needed, it was decided to keep the duplicated record of 720 for the south section of the wall and assign 830 to the north. Thus, Wall 155 is in fact Wall 830 plus Wall 720 (as recorded by Rodríguez-Álvarez), and the original record for Wall 720 (as recorded by Smotherman and Brannelly) equates Wall 155 but it is now obsolete. ; Coming back to the analysis of the area, former Wall 155 was dated by Rous and Worsham based on the stratigraphic relationship with two possible foundation trenches (Context 176 and 177) to the late 13th or early 14th century. The excavations of this season showed that its south section (now Wall 720), also truncated Cut 842 on the east edge, preserving only part of it in Context 855 (as explained above in relation to the dating of Wall 156). Further work in June revealed that a second wall, 830, was constructed on the north end of Wall 720. Traces of what appears to be plaster were spotted on the surface where 830 abuts 720. Wall 720 truncated Cut 842=889 on its east edge, and can be dated to a time after 1270±10 and the construction of Wall 156 on which is abutted. Finally, Wall 830 divides the pit between Room 8 and Room 9 (Cut 823=733), and can be dated to at least the 4th quarter of the 13th century and after the erection of Wall 720.  ; The erection of these walls defined the space of Room 8. Former excavation in the area revealed a series of deposits that have been interpreted as the use surface of this room. The so-called ""Frankish floor"" (NB 877 and 845, see NB 845 p. 53), also excavated as Context 140 and the earlier surface excavated in Context 168 seem all to have been laid against the wall. These deposits were dated to the 14th century. These surfaces rest on two deposits, Context 786 and 796, which have been interpreted as garbage piles that were levelled in the area as sub-floor of for these use surfaces. The date provided by the pottery is the 4th quarter of the 13th century. Two bone cubic dice with numbers drilled and painted in black (MF-2015-24 and MF-2015-25) were recovered from this garbage context. A lead seal (MF-2015-56) was recovered from Context 844 (now equated to 786).; ; Conclusion: ; The succession of structures, spaces and use in the area took place in a relatively short period of time. The presence of the garbage pits in the space later occupied by Room 7, 8 and 9 led different excavators in the past to interpret the space as an open air garbage dump. The discovery, however, of Wall 850 opens the possibility that this open area was a transitional phase between two different construction phases in the area: the first carefully dismantled before 1270±10 CE and the second one carried out in the last quarter of the 13th century. ; With regard to the first phase of construction, Wall 850 and the possible clay floor associated to it (Context 870) are the only evidence, and more work is needed to assess the extension both in time and space of this structure. The presence of pits truncated by walls was already noted by previous excavators in the area (e.g. Rous and Worsham, Burr and Rogers, Smotherman and Brannelly) and led them to conclude that the area was an open space where garbage was deposited. The analysis of the materials recovered from the pit deposits (Lot 2015-04: 806, 819, 821; Lot 2015-38: 825; Lot 2015-37: 839) and the leveled garbage deposits (Lot 2015-22: 786, 796) clearly indicate that the disposal of refuse is taking place in the area. One pattern observed in this behavior is that alongside the pottery and animal bones, those deposits interpreted as garbage layers are characterized by a high presence of coins (17 in Context 786, 3 in 796, 5 in Context 806, 7 in Context 825). These coins, however, are never contemporary to the date provided by the pottery finds for the deposit, with all legible coins belonging to the Byzantine period, often to different issues of Manuel I (1143-1180). Coins contemporary to the Frankish dates of these contexts tend to appear in isolation and associated with leveling fills (e.g. Coin 2015-584, a CORINTVM issue of William Villehardouin found in Context 858, a leveling fill associated with Wall 850). Coinage of the Byzantine period seems to have lost any monetary value during the Frankish period, and it is in consequence discarded as a worthless object with the rest of the refuse produced in the area. These garbage deposits were also characterized by an abundant presence of iron remains, mostly square and round shaft nails, and small fragments of glass. Shards of prunted beakers, similar to MF-1992-38 and MF-2009-29, are especially abundant in these deposits. In conclusion, the study of Cut 823/733 and Cut 842/889 reinforces the interpretation of former excavators of the area being used as an open air garbage dump. But if the chronology of the area exposed in this summary is correct, that would mean that the church was already functioning while the space was working as a dump area. The discovery of Wall 850 not only indicates the presence of a former constructive phase but also clarifies the interpretation of the role of the pits and the leveling of the garbage in the area. The  dismantlement of Wall 850 and the rapid succession of deposits in Room 7 and Room 8 might belong to a sequence of events in which the former structure is torn down to leave space for the rooms defined by Wall 156, 157 and 720. In the brief interim of construction garbage was disposed in this area north of the church, but just for a brief period of time, as the homogeneity of the fills of the pits (Contexts 825-839 and Contexts 806-819-821), seem to indicate. ; ;  Recommendations for Future Excavation:; - Continue with the excavation of Room 7 and Room 8, in order to reach the deposits corresponding to the 2nd quarter of the 13th century, in order to explore into more detail the early phase of construction in the area related to Wall 850.; - Analyse the sequence of construction of the walls shared by Rooms 7, 8 and 9, in order to assess whether the lack of joins among these walls is the product of an extended lapse in their construction or the result of the building techniques of the period. The relative chronology offered in this report is based on dates provided by artefacts and the visible relationships among the structures. Further excavation in the area and, especially, a detailed study of masonry styles and techniques in the Frankish period could corroborate or invalidate the present interpretation.","Corinth:Report:Temple E, Southeast 2015 by Emilio Rodriguez-Alvarez (2015-06-02 to 2015-06-26)","","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Temple E, Temenos | Temple E, Southeast",""
"Report","","","Temple E, Southeast 2014 by Maggie Beeler and Morgan T. Condell (2014-04-07 to 2014-04-28)","Corinth","","","","Final Summary, Session I (Unit 2, Church Nave)","Maggie Beeler, Morgan Condell; Session 1; Temple E, Southeast Excavations; N-S 1074.64-1071.50; E-W 126.00-122.70; April 2014; ; This is the final summary of the first session of excavation in 2014 in the Temple E, Southeast excavations at Corinth. Guy Sanders (Director) and Jody Cundy (Field Director) supervised. The area supervisors consisted of Maggie Beeler and Morgan Condell (recorders), and the workmen were ThanasisNotis (foreman and pickman), Tasos Tsongas (pickman), Angela Stamati (shovelwoman and barrowwoman), MariosVathis (barrowman), and PanosRonzokos (shovelman). ; ; The excavation area was the NW quadrant of the church nave in the complex known as Unit 2.  This was previously excavated during the 1990 field season (NB 831, NB 835). The excavation area was bounded to the north by the north wall of the church (Structure 20, N-S 1075.11-1074.52, E-W 129.51-122.06) and its robbing trench, and to the west by the narthex cross wall (Structure 21, N-S 1074.44-1067.99, E-W 123.52-121.98) and the later threshold (Structure 22, N-S 1072.09-1070.55, E-W 123.31-122.25) built into it. The northwest pier base (Structure 23, N-S 1073.63-1072.29, E-W 125.25-124.03) also fell within the excavation area. Because the excavation area was sectioned in order to facilitate future micromorphological analysis within the church, the eastern (E 126.0) and southern (N 1070.50) boundaries were established to align with the grid. ; ; The goal of this session was to locate the earlier floor of the church, since the raised threshold in the narthex cross wall was a later addition associated with a later floor, in order to gain a better understanding of the use phases of the church and when it went out of use.; ; Frankish Period (1210-1458 A.D.); ; The earliest phase of activity is represented by two graves cut into a fill that has yet to be excavated.  Grave 2014-06 (Cut 137, N-S 1073.85-1072.58, E-W 125.95-125.22, filled by Context 129), which abuts the eastern face of the NW pier base (Structure 23), was an oval pit grave (L 1.27, W 0.73, Depth 0.61m), which contained the skeleton of a single primary adult inhumation.  Skeleton 136 (Bone Lot 2014-06) was in extended supine position with both arms crossed over the abdomen, with its head to the N end of the grave facing S, head and shoulders propped up with a stone and earthen fill.  Material from the fill of the grave included a fragment of a Protomaiolica Slipped Painted plate and a fragment of a Metallic Ware Unslipped pitcher, both of Frankish date.  Four coinswere found, three of which are quite early.  2014-49 and 2014-53 are Greek, and 2014-54 is Roman Imperial.  The fourth coin (2014-57) is illegible.  Other material from the fill included a number of fragments of clear glass, including one with applied threads.  These finds suggest a terminus post quem for the fill of the grave in the Frankish period.; ; Grave 2014-03 (Cut 126, N-S 1072.68-1070.59, E-W 125.75-125.00, filled by Context 112) was a oval pit grave (L 2.09, W 0.75, Depth 0.74 )located in the southeastern portion of the excavation are.  It contained the skeleton of a single primary adult inhumation. Skeleton 127 (Bone Lot 2014-03) was in extended supine position with both arms crossed over the abdomen, with its head to the N end of the grave facing S, head and shoulders propped up with a deposit of earth and tile.  Pottery from the fill of the grave included a fragment of a Glaze Painted I Slipped pitcher and several White Ware sherds, all of Byzantine date.  Two coins were found, one of which was illegible (2014-45) and the other is a Byzantine coin of Leo VI (date:886-912 A.D.) (2014-37).  Though the pottery and coin dates suggest a terminus post quem in the Byzantine period, we suspect that this grave belongs to a later period, as it cut into the same fill and at the same elevation as Grave 2014-06, which has a terminus post quem in the Frankish period.  This may be further supported by fragments of a clear glass goblet with ring foot and two clear colored glass fragments, one with applied thread and one with applied prunt from a prunted beaker, which were found in the fill and suggest a Frankish date.; ; These two graves were overlaid by a shallow fill extending over the eastern portion of the excavation area, including the eastern half of the NW pier base (Context 105, N-S 1074.68-1070.59, E-W 125.98-124.46).  The pottery from this fill included a sherd of a plain White Ware plate, a fragment of a Slipped Plain Glazed bowl, both of Frankish date.  A coin was also found (2014-33), however it is a Roman Imperial coin from the House of Constantine Dynasty, and therefore is not diagnostic for the context.  Fragments of glass were also recovered from the fill, including 2 fragments of clear colorless glass with applied threads.  The material from the fill suggests a terminus post quem in the Frankish period.; ; Another grave was found in the southwest portion of the excavation area along the narthex crosswall, just east of the later threshold (Structure 22).  Grave 2014-04 is cut into an as yet unexcavated fill.  It is unclear whether Grave 2014-04 is cut into the same fill cut into by Graves 2014-03 and 2014-06, since an as yet unexcavated baulk lies between them, which was created when we further sectioned the excavation area.  Grave 2014-04 (Cut 188, N-S 1072.21-1070.45, W 123.20, filled by Context 99) is a subrectangular pit grave (dimensions to be determined), which contained the skeleton of a primary adult inhumation (Skeleton 121, Bone Lot 2014-04), with a secondary deposit of disarticulated human remains (Bone Lot 2014-12) including many long bones and four skulls (three were excavated and assigned Bone Lots 2014-07,08,09) overlaying its lower legs.  Skeleton 121was in extended supine position with both arms crossed over the abdomen, with its head to the N end of the grave facing S-SW, head and shoulders propped up with tiles and earth, with a tile positioned vertically along the eastern side of the skull.  Skeleton 121 appears to be complete, except for the feet, which were disturbed when this grave was truncated by Grave 1990-41A-C to the south.  The grave was not fully excavated due to heavy rain at the end of Session I, such that the bottom and eastern extent have yet to be determined.  The top of the skull of a small child was exposed in the NW of the grave, and may represent another burial or further disarticulated remains.  Material from the fill of the grave included one fragment of a Sgrafitto IV bowl, as well as the base of a Green Glazed Painted bowl (with joining fragments in Context 52, C 2014 6).  Part of a gold and pearl earring (MF 2014 3) was found near the left leg of Skeleton 121.  Two coins were found in the fill, one of Byzantine date (2014-58).  The other (2014-68) is a coin of Charles I or II Anjou (1278-1289 A.D) minted at Clarenza,.  Several fragments of glass were also found in this fill, including one with applied threads.  The material from the fill of the grave suggests a terminus post quem in the Frankish period.  The grave was overlaid by a shallow fill (Context 83, N-S 1072.34-1070.64, E-W 124.08-123.23) that ran east of the narthex crosswall, extending south from the rubble feature abutting Wall 21, which remains to be explored in future excavation.  An overturned undecorated marble column capital was embedded in this fill, and may have served as a marker for the grave.  This fill also contained one fragment of a Metallic Ware Unslipped pitcher, and two sherds of Glaze Painted IV slipped ware, as well as several fragments of clear glass, one with embedded thread, one with applied thread, and several fragments that may have belonged to a lamp (cf. MF 1992-36).  This material suggests a terminus post quem in the Frankish period for this fill.; ; Turkish I Period (1458-1680 A.D.); ; The entire excavation area was overlaid by a deposit of differentiated lenses of fill (Contexts 25, 52, 61, 67, 69, 70, 74, 77, 81), which we believe to be part of the same activity.  This fill is dated to the Turkish I period by a sherd of Posgrafitto ware(early 16th c.) found in Context 52.  Other material that was common to all of these differentiated lenses included fragments of clear glass, and a large concentration of Frankish pottery.; ; This fill underlies the remains of a cement bedding for a later floor (Context 47, N-S 1072.81-1071.78, E-W 126.01-125.10), portions of which we found in situ in the eastern portion of the excavation area.   This cement bedding would have been laid on a tile leveling fill, represented by Contexts 14 & 49 (N-S 1072.82-1070.99, E-W 125.74-124.74).  This preserved cement floor bedding was exposed during the 1990 field season, and extended discontinuously across the church, particularly to the E and S.; ; Evidence for a decorative floor is represented by numerous fragments of Cosmati style floor and marble architectural elements (Lot 2014-001).  These include cemented fragments of gray and white marble along with black and red cut stones found within multiple contexts, including the fill of all three graves as well as the fills above them (Contexts 83, 99, 112, 129, 52, 105).  We hope that further excavation will clarify the relationship between these Cosmati floor fragments and the preserved cement floor bedding (Context 47).; ; The Turkish I fill was also cut by two pits along the N boundary of our excavation area, abutting the exposed scarp of the robbing trench of Wall 20.  The cut for the pit in the NW corner (Cut 44, N-S 1075.42-1073.96, E-W 124.09-123.25, filled by Context 32) was difficult to determine because it was highly disturbed.  This is due in part to erosion from long exposure, but also due to previous excavation in this area (NB 835, Basket 53, pp.97-98), which identified but did not fully excavate a grave pit of which this may be a part.Material from the fill of the pit included disarticulated human bone and evidence for heavy bioturbation, as well as fragments of glass, painted plaster, and a small amount of pottery including a fragment of a Late Sgrafitto Slipped Style VII bowl and a Slipped Plain Glazed bowl, as well as Roman and Pre-Roman material.; ; The second pit, located further E along the scarp of the robbing trench (Cut 45, N-S 1074.65-1074.26, E-W 125.48-124.35, filled by Context 28), may also have been associated with burial activity, given the high frequency of disarticulated human remains.  It appears to have been truncated and disturbed by the robbing of Wall 20.  Material from the fill of the pit included a coin (2014-43) which was illegible.  The pottery included a fragment of a Slipped Plain Glazed bowland a Neolithic burnished bowlsherd.  Other material included several fragments of clear glass, and one shoulder fragment of an early 4th c A.D. lamp with a black painted vine scroll design.; ; Due to the poor preservation of the cement floor bedding, it is unclear whether these pits predate it, or cut into the later floor surface.; ; Recommendations for Future Work in this Area:; ; 1.    Determine extent of Cut 188, and complete the excavation of Grave 2014-04.; 2.    Remove the baulk created by sectioning of the excavation areato clarify the relationship of the fill cut by Grave 2014-04 and the fill cut by Graves 2014-03 and 2014-06.; 3.    Two grave cuts run underneath this baulk and were partially revealed by removal of Context 105.  These should be excavated.; 4.    Investigate the NW corner, underneath the upturned column capital to determine whether a burial is located there.; 5.    Determine the nature of the rubble structure running along the Narthex crosswall (Structure 21).; 6.    Continue excavating fill inside of church, with the hopes of clarifying the phases of its use and architectural history.","Corinth:Report:Temple E, Southeast 2014 by Maggie Beeler and Morgan T. Condell (2014-04-07 to 2014-04-28)","","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Temple E, Temenos | Temple E, Southeast",""
"Report","","","Temple E, Southeast 2014 by Margaret Burr and Dylan Rogers (2014-05-05 to 2014-06-29)","Corinth","","","","Room 7 and Corridor Between the Church and Unit 2","This is the summary of the second session of excavation in 2014 in Unit 2, Room 7, and the adjacent passage north of the church nave, in the area of Temple E Southeast (TESE). Room 7 was previously excavated in 1992 and 1994, recorded in NB 850, 854 and 864. It is bounded by Wall 59 (1082.35 – 1084.5 N, 119.00 – 120.13 E, NB 864 Wall 11) and its associated robbing trench (1077.2 – 1082.6 N, 119.65 – 121.6 E, NB 864 B 9 and B 11) to the west, and by Wall 157 (1078.3 – 1085.3 N, 122.4 – 124.6 E, NB 864 Wall 12) to the east. A martyr along the Turkish wall to the north of Room 7 marked the northern boundary of our area of excavation (1085.5 – 1086.7 N, 119.00 – 122.00 E) and an arbitrary line was set between the points 120.23 E, 1077.42 N and 123.99 E, 1078.04 N as a boundary to the south. Despite the earlier decision to section the deposits of room 7 from their continuation into the corridor further south, excavations continued into this area later in the session.  The southern boundary of the corridor space is formed by the north wall of the church (Wall 20) and its associated robbing trench (NB 835, pp. 35-44, 65-66, 1074.3 – 1076.1 N, 122.00 – 130.30 E).  Its northern boundary is formed by the south wall of room 8 and room 9 (Wall 156 1077.5 – 1079.3 N, 123.5 – 129.7 E, NB 864, pp. 43-44). The corridor itself was previously excavated in 1993 (NB 863). In Room 7, excavation was conducted from May 5 to May 15, and excavation was conducted in the corridor on May 15 and 16. Guy Sanders (director) and Jody Cundy (field director) supervised, and Dylan Rogers and Maggie Burr (area supervisors) recorded. Athanasios Notis was pickman, Angeliki Stamati was shovel(wo)man, and Panagiotis Rontzokos was the barrowman. ; ; Excavation in Room 7 was undertaken in an effort to understand better the function of the room  and its relationship to the church and to clarify the chronology of the construction, use and end-of-use phases of the church and Unit 2. Plans to present the entire area to the public in the coming years have made it necessary to consolidate this area as well, and preparing the spaces for consolidation and conservation were also goals of the project. Excavations conducted in the early 1990s, particularly in 1992 and 1994, revealed that both the church and parts of Unit 2 were covered with what is interpreted as a destruction layer. Excavation of the south half of Room 7 in 1992 and the north half in 1994 (recorded in NB 854 for 1992, and NB 864 for 1994) revealed a layer of smashed glass (NB 854 B6, B7, B16, NB 850 B96, B97), lying beneath a layer of collapsed roof tiles. This was interpreted as a destruction layer that was dated to the early 14th century (AD 1312). The tile fall excavated in the southern portion of the room in 1992 (NB 850 B97; NB 854, B6, B7, and B16) covered an area of around 3.2m x 1.57m. A tile fall excavated in the northern portion of the room in 1994 seemed to span the width of the room (NB 864, B16, B17, B18 and B31), and covered the entire trench from north to south (roughly 3.5 meters). A clay floor was also revealed underneath the tile fall (elev. 85.08, NB 854 B16), and a coin of Philip of Savoy, minted in Clarenza, gives the tile-fall a terminus post-quem of AD 1301-1307 (NB 854 B16, (Coin 1992-264). ; ; Williams and Zervos (Frankish Corinth: Hesperia 1993, 3) posited that the destruction came at the hands of the Catalans, who invaded the Peloponnese in 1312. Damage done to the city during the invasion was mentioned in a letter from Bartholomew, Archbishop of Corinth, to Pope Clement V, (Williams and Zervos, 1993, 3). At the time of the 1993 publication of these destruction layers, Williams noted that “all pottery from the destruction level associated with Units 1 and 2 (could) be dated comfortably to the ten years on either side of A.D. 1300” (Williams and Zervos 1993, 3). ; ; Frankish (1210-1458 CE) ; Room 7; ; In the late 3rd quarter of the 13th century, it appears that the space now identified as “Room 7” was probably both unwalled and unroofed and was in use as an outdoor space of unknown relationship to the church. The earliest level reached was a trampled surface extending throughout the space (its original extent is unknown, as the surface is presently truncated by Walls 59 and 157). It remains unexcavated. A large irregularly shaped refuse pit was cut through the southernmost part of this surface (Context 296 1078.20-1081.30 N, 121.85-123.25 E). Based on its contents, the fill of the pit (Context 274, 1078.20-1081.30 N, 121.85-123.25 E) suggests a deposition related in some way to dining or food preparation. In addition to a large quantity of animal bone and charred organic material, the pit contained a very large number of cooking and fine wares, found in much larger quantities than in other pit fills excavated in Room 7 this season (including 21 kilos of coarse ware, alone). Among the cooking wares, a large, vertical-rimmed stewpot, inventoried as C-2014-8, is suggestive of preparation of food for a large number of people. The fineware consisted of glazed-painted, sgraffito and Protomaiolica bowls, plates and pitchers, dated to late 3rd quarter of the 13th century. A number of fragments of glass drinking vessels were found. The majority of these vessels were Frankish prunted or plain beakers, one of which was inventoried as MF 2014-31. Also present in the glass assemblage was a blue-green goblet stem. Activities other than dining are also represented in the pit fill. Two bronze spindle hooks (as Corinth 12, cat. 1227) attest to wool-working somewhere in the vicinity. ; ; It is hypothesized that in the phase immediately post-dating the deposition of pit fill 274, the room remained unwalled and continued being used as a location for dumping. The southernmost part of the room was roughly leveled with the deposition of a fill (Context 266, 1078.1-1080.80 N, 121.90-123.90 E) which contained cooking and tableware, dated to the 3rd quarter of the 13th century, and fragments of at least two Frankish beakers. It appears that the activities (construction, cooking and dining) represented by the waste were occurring away from Room 7. The above fill was then trampled, apparently acting as a rough working surface, and two pits (Context 275, 1080.16 – 1081.30 N, 121.85 – 122.74 E and Context 305, 1080.32 – 1080.95 N, 120.90 – 121.68 E) were cut into it. While the fill of pit 275 (Context 263, 1080.16 – 1081.30 N, 121.85 – 122.74 E) included a great deal of ash and charred organic debris that might suggest that some cooking activity was going on in the pit itself, the nature of the tableware and other finds in this and other deposits (discussed below) seems to suggest that the majority of the cooking and dining activities associated with the finds were happening elsewhere. The ceramic assemblage of cooking, coarse and fineware was very similar in style to those dumped in fills 266 and 274, primarily Protomaiolica or sgraffito plates and bowls, as well as fragments of a very fine Frankish bottle (as MF 1774) and fragments of at least two finely decorated prunted beakers, one (as MF 92-38) with blue threading. The relatively high quality of the tableware and the breakability of the glass hint at a level of dining and of storage of dining vessels requiring more space and perhaps more formality than could be offered in this outdoor, unroofed and unfloored space. Furthermore, the quantity of ceramics deposited in the fills discussed above (nearly 7 kilos of fineware between 274, 266 and 263) suggests that the dining activities represented food consumption for a large number of people (or many, smaller dining events), and it seems unlikely these events were happening in the small space offered by Room 7 or its associated corridor (each not more than 3 meters wide). The multiple levels of fill in pit 305 (Contexts 304, 301 and 297; contexts 301 and 304: 1080.32 – 1080.95 N, 120.90 – 121.68 E; Context 297 1080.53 – 1080.95 N, 121.31 – 121.73 E) echo this idea. ; ; By the 4th quarter of the 13th century, the space underwent a change in shape and perhaps in function. A layer of fill roughly leveled the southern half of the room at this time (Contexts 251, 254 and 260, which are equivalent, 1078.10 – 1082.10 N, 121.00 – 124.00 E). The foundation trench for Wall 59 (Context 244 and 253, 1078.00 – 1084.70 N, 119.600 – 121.80 E) was cut into this surface in the southern portion of the room, and into an unexcavated, exposed surface in the northern portion. This trench was cut by a 0.75 meter wide robbing trench (1077.20 – 1082.5 N, 119.65 – 121.1 E). Thus the terminus post quem for the construction of the wall is the 4/4 of the 13th c. Two body sherds from a unslipped metallic ware pitcher, dating between 1275 and 1335, strengthen this date. Excavations of the robbing trench in 1992 and 1994 suggested that Wall 59 was robbed out in the 15th or 16th centuries (NB 854, B12, pp. 18-19, 47; NB 854, pp. 18-23). The precise date of construction of Wall 157, bounding the space on the east, is more tenuous, as foundation trenches have not been located, but given the nature of some later fills which seem to lie against the wall (Context 233 and 237), it is likely the wall was constructed at very nearly the same time as Wall 59 and that the wall completely filled the foundation trench.  Both walls were constructed of randomly placed courses of fieldstones, occasionally supported by tiles or smaller cobbles. Wall 59 measured 0.65 meters wide and appears to have been roughly 8.6 meters long, including the area now robbed out. Wall 157 measured 0.65 meters wide, and was 8.1 meters long. Wall 157 appears to abut Wall 156, which forms the boundary between Room 8 and the corridor, and is truncated by an Ottoman-Period well (NB 877, pit 95-2). Wall 59 is abutted by a pit on its southern end (NB 850 B94, NB 854 B2). ; ; Even after it was delineated with Walls 59 and 157, Room 7 seems to have remained unroofed until as late as the early 14th century. No flat, floor like surface appears to have been laid in the space until the surfaces uncovered under the tile fall by excavators in 1992 and 1994, and these layers are dated to at least the early 14th century (NB 864, B16, B19 and B31). Prior to this, nothing resembling an actual floor was uncovered. The surface cut for the construction of Wall 157 (Contexts 251, 254 and 260) was rough and uneven, as was a surface laid immediately above it (Context 233). In addition to the rough quality of the surfaces in this area, there is further evidence to suggest that, even after Walls 59 and 157 were built, Room 7 remained unroofed. While no fire pits appear to have been cut into the surface of Room 7 after the construction of the walls, two refuse pits containing charred organic material and tableware were cut in the southern half of the room (Contexts 243 and 248) after the walls went in. At the same time, the northern third of the space appears to have been used primarily as a refuse dump. A 20 cm thick fill in this area, comprised primarily of building materials (fieldstones and roof tile) was excavated as Context 222 (1082.4 – 1085.5 N, 119.4 – 122.6 E). In addition to the fieldstones and tiles, a piece of incised opus sectile was found, indicating (perhaps) that some of the dumping activity may have been related to activities in the church, which at one point had Cosmatesque paving.  It is unclear if the unexcavated surface beneath 222 is a more compact continuation of the same dumping activity. ; ; A series of fills were laid down (Context 233, 1078.00 – 1081.10 N, 120.70 – 123.90 E; 230, 1080.49 – 1084.90 N, 120.3 – 123.5 E; Context 225, 1080.60 – 1084.30 N, 120.49 – 122.70 E). It is unclear whether these deposits were placed deliberately to level the area, or whether they correspond to use and/or dumping phases. All three deposits appear to have been trampled after deposition. A small, circular, refuse pit (Context 227, 1080.70 – 1081.30 N, 122.20 – 122.50 E), dug into Context 225 in the southern third of the room and containing a small amount of fine ware (slipped plain glazed), hints that even the southern portion of the space was still being intermittently used as a refuse dump into the late 13th century.  ; ; Soon after this dumping event, Room 7 was apparently deliberately leveled. Dumped fills (201, 220, 218 214) raised the central third of the room by ca 0.10 m and the southern third by 0.04 m, until the southern two-thirds of the surface were roughly level. A lozenge-shaped structure and bench-like structure (Structure 208 1082.60 – 1084.25 N, 122.20 – 123.0 E) was constructed on top of this new level surface and abutting wall 157. Only one course high, the structure measured 0.75 meters long and 0.6 meters wide. The function of this structure remains in question. It appears that Room 7 continued to be used as a dumping location after the construction of the bench. Three dumping events, including two surface dumps (Contexts 197 and 199) and a pit, filled with organic material, fine and coarseware (Context 205) were placed on top of, or cut into, a lens of fill deposited after the construction of the bench (fill 202, 1077.80 – 1080.90 N, 120.80 – 123.90 E, saved as Lot 2014-25). Two sherds of Archaic Maiolica from Context 202 suggest a date as late as the early- to-mid 14th century for all four deposits.;    ; The Corridor N of Church; ; It appears that in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, the corridor space north of the church underwent several changes in function, perhaps related to the construction or ‘finishing’ of spaces, like Room 7, within or around the church complex. ; ; Like Room 7, it appears that in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, the space between the north wall of the church and Room 7 (referred to here as the ‘Corridor’) was an outdoor, unroofed multi-purpose space used for cooking and the dumping of dining-related waste. ; ; The earliest level reached this session is the unexcavated trampled surfaces at both the eastern and western ends of the space. These surfaces are hard-packed and studded with pebbles on the east, and with large pieces of flat-lying roof tile, on the west, their compaction suggests that during the late 13th century, the corridor space might have functioned as a walkway or alleyway of some sort. ; ; At the end of the period represented by these unexcavated surfaces, the space underwent a shift in function. A looser packed surface (Context 389) was laid down in the west, and a trench (Cut 403, 1075.40 – 1077.80 N, 124.10 – 125.10 E) was dug, bifurcating the space on a roughly NW-SE line. This trench is in rough alignment with the eastern wall of Room 7 (Wall 157). While it has been suggested the cut could represent a demolition or robbing event associated with Wall 157 (or an earlier iteration thereof), its function remains unclear. Understanding the function of this cut will be instrumental in identifying the use of the unexcavated surfaces, as the presence of a wall bifurcating the corridor would preclude use of the space as a walkway. ; ; After the cut was filled (Context 398), in the 3rd quarter of the 13th century, four post holes were cut into the southern third of the corridor, running along a roughly west-east line (Contexts 333, 341, 365 and 360), all about 0.7m from the north wall of the nave (Wall 20). They appear to be grouped in pairs of two, with contexts 333 and 341 placed 0.7m apart, followed, to the east, by a 2m gap, and then contexts 359 and 364, set about a meter apart. Their function is not clear, but their width (between 25 and 35 cm) could indicate an expectation that they would bear weight. It has been suggested that they may have served as supports for scaffolding, or perhaps for a pitched roof placed over the southern side of the corridor for a short period of time. ; ; From this point on, the northern and southern halves of the space appear to have served different functions. Deposition of layers of fill occurred throughout the space for the entirety of the period covered by this session’s excavation. While small dumping or leveling events spread across the space, the northern half of the corridor appears to have been a focus for larger-scale dumps of both construction and cooking refuse. A large pit, roughly 7x2 meter (Context 408), running roughly west to east and cutting through the northern portion of trench fill (398), was filled with multiple layers of what appears to be general dumping or construction debris (Contexts 379, 366, 377 and 354). Also note that the pit is bounded by the EW wall that forms the S wall of unit 2 room 8 and 9. Fine ware from all four lenses of fill date these dumping events to the late 3rd – early 4th quarter of the 13th century. The filled surface appears to have still functioned as a walkway or work surface at this time, as each layer of fill excavated appeared trampled. At around this time, the space was further delineated by the construction of a wall (Wall 380), abutting wall 157, separating the northern portion of the corridor from the southern boundary of Room 7, only one course of which was extant. The wall appears to have been constructed of randomly placed fieldstones. Some leveling tiles were found in the wall. It measured 1 meter long and 0.7 meters wide. Into this newly-delineated space, a series of fills were deposited (Contexts 374, 386, 383, 376, 372, 361, 353, 351, 349, 346, 343, 327, 325, 285, 321, 313 and 300). The amount of time that passed between dumping events is unclear. The lenses of fill, as mentioned above, appeared packed and trampled, and so it is likely that the space was being used as a walkway or work surface while the layers of fill were being deposited. Ceramic assemblages from these contexts date them to the end of the 13th century. The deposition of the final three lenses of fill (Contexts 321, 313 and 300), created a level surface (elev. 85.05 for all three) in the space for the first time since the north-south trench was cut, and it is possible that much of the dumping activity took place over a very short period of time as an effort to create a level surface in the space. This notion is, perhaps, supported by evidence from previous excavation in the outdoor area east and northeast of the church. A patio, paved with rough, square limestone blocks, covered the open area to the east of the church (NB 829 B29, pp. 53-56). One paving stone, located immediately to the east of the northeastern boundary of the trench, suggests the possibility that this paving continued into the corridor space. If the corridor space was paved, the level surface created by the deposition of contexts 313, 300 and 321 would have been immediately beneath it and these surfaces would, therefore, have functioned as a level subfloor for the pavement. ; ; The idea that the activities represented by the repeated depositions of fill in the courtyard may have taken place over a short span of time is strengthened by the nature and location of five pits cut at various points into the uneven trampled fills in the northern half of the room. Three (Contexts 336, 326 and 371) were cut into a trampled layer of fill (372), on the western side of the space, while two (Contexts 329 and 344) were cut into another trampled layer of fill (343), in the mid- to-eastern side. The surfaces into which the pits were cut are not level. Four (Contexts 336, 326, 329 and 344) appear to have been fire pits and contained a high proportion of ashy, carbonized organic material. Because all five pits are located north of the line of post holes discussed above, it is likely that the post holes, and whatever they supported (perhaps scaffolding or a pitched roof?), were still in place at the time the pits were dug and filled (with fill contexts 334, 325, 328 and 342). Like pit 205 and refuse dumps 197 and 199 in Room 7, all of this activity appears to have occurred in the early 14th century, and the fills of the pits in the corridor space contained material similar to that in Room 7 (fragments of prunted beakers, as MF 3071 and 1992-38 from context 329, for instance, and fragments of glazed fineware, from context 334, 325 and 370). ; ; Both the post holes and the pits were covered over in the early 14th century, when the leveling fills (contexts 313, 321 and 300) were laid down. These fills seem to be part of the same event as leveling fill 194 in Room 7, which covered pit 205 there: perhaps these four fills (194, 313, 321 and 300) were laid down as a final stage in the preparation of Room 7 and the corridor to be floored and/or paved. A corroded iron knife blade (Context 319, inventoried as MF 2014-20), was found lying on the surface (Context 389) adjacent to post-hole fill 331. The presence of the knife blade lying on a trampled surface could suggest that the deposition and subsequent covering of the knife may have happened relatively quickly.; ; Conclusions:; ; Excavation in Room 7 and the corridor space during this session revealed that neither Room 7, nor the space north of the nave, were ‘finished’ spaces until at least the start of the 14th century, when it appears that a floor was laid down in Room 7 and paving was laid down in the Corridor. It is unclear whether or not some of the cooking and dumping activity evident in the spaces related to the Church or the structures associated with Unit 2 to the north prior to their monumentalization were associated with the construction or preparation of the areas for building or not. Certainly, construction debris from the church area (or other nearby monumentalized space) was dumped, particularly in Room 7, in which fragments of opus sectile, marble wall facing, marble and glass tesserae and other building materials were found (in contexts 230, 254 and 274, all dated to the second half of the 13th century). The quality of the tableware, both fine and glassware, from the pits, particularly in Room 7 – indicates that these were secondary deposits coming from somewhere close, but not directly connected, to the area. ; ; The nature of the glassware found in pit fill 274, in Room 7 (as well as some glass fragments from fills 266 and 263) might shed some new light on glass deposits found at higher elevations in 1992 and 1994. Williams and Zervos have suggested that Units 1 and 2 were, in the late 13th century, part of a nascent monastic community being built up around the church (Williams and Zervos 1993, 11-13). A deposit of glass representing at least 42 Frankish cups and 3 glass lamps, was uncovered in Unit 7 in 1992 (NB 854 B6, B7, B16, NB 850 B96, B97, now Lot 1992: 77, Williams and Zervos 1992), apparently from within a collapsed cupboard. It was interpreted as being property of this community and as having been intended for use by a specific group of people (Williams and Zervos 1996, 26). The similarity of the forms found in Lot 1992: 77 to ones removed from pits filled in the area before it was roofed or walled (for instance, a number of prunted beakers corresponding to Lot 1977-77-1 and 3) could suggest that a nascent monastic community may have been dining near Room 7 (and depositing dining waste within it) prior to the construction of the built monastic building identified by Williams, constructed when the floors in Room 7 were finally laid. Conversely, it could be suggested that prunted beakers of these forms were in common circulation in late 13th century Corinth. Further study of the glassware recovered around Temple E, SE might help to clarify these issues. ; ; Further excavation in the corridor is needed to clarify the chronology of the construction phases of the church. More work in the corridor might also clarify the nature of the north-south cut (Context 403) and the hard-packed surfaces it cuts into. Excavating within the spaces to the west of the corridor might further help to clarify the relationship between Rooms 6 and 7 and Rooms 5 and 4, excavated this season by Kirsten Lee. A flat, packed surface, similar to that uncovered in the corridor space, was found in the southern portion of Room E (at elev. 84.84), and could potentially be related to the outdoor spaces discussed above. ;  ; Recommendations for Further Excavation:; Room 7; 1.    Finish excavating in the northern third of the room (underneath Context 222), in order to understand better the earlier dumping in the mid-3rd quarter of the 13th century.; 2.    Clarify the southern portion of the Room (especially those contexts related to Wall 380). The deposits directly below Wall 380 might indicate better what exactly is happening in this space during this short time span of activity in the 3rd quarter of the 13th century, before Room 7 is actually Room 7.; ; Corridor; 1.    Continue excavations in the Corridor to find the foundation trench of Wall 20, the north wall of the church, which will help to date the construction of the church. ; 2.    Continue to articulate the relationship of the Corridor with the spaces to the north and west. Is there any similarity of the corridor with the rooms directly to the west (where Team Blue replace with names of excavators is excavating this season)?","Corinth:Report:Temple E, Southeast 2014 by Margaret Burr and Dylan Rogers (2014-05-05 to 2014-06-29)","","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Temple E, Temenos | Temple E, Southeast",""
"Report","","","Temple E, Southeast 2015 by Wesley Bennett (2015-04-21 to 2015-04-28)","Corinth","","","","2015 Session I Excavations: Corridor North of the Church in Unit 2","Wesley Bennett; Session I; Temple E Southeast Excavations; 1075-1078.5 N, 121.5-129.5 E; 21-28.04.2015; ; This is the end-of-session summary of the first session of excavations in 2015 in the Corridor North of the Church (hereafter, “Corridor”). The Corridor was excavated from the 21st to the 28th of April by Wesley Bennett (Area Supervisor), Thanassis Notis (pick-man), Kostas Arberoris (pick-man/shovel-man), and Marios Vathis (shovel-man/barrow-man), as part of Session I. This same area was excavated previously by two different groups during the 2014 season: Jennifer Swalec and Emily Wilson during Session 3, and Dylan Rodgers and Maggie Burr during Session 2. Before the 2014 season, the Corridor was excavated in 1993 under Charles K. Williams II (NB 863).; ; The southern boundary of the Corridor is formed wholly by the northern wall of the church (Wall 20: 1074.5-1076.1 N, 122.06-130.1 E) and its associated robbing trench (NB 835, pp. 35-44, 65-66; 1074.3-1076.1 N, 122.00-130.30 E), while its northern boundary is formed in part by the southern wall of Unit 2, Room 8 (Wall 156: 1077.5-1079.3 N, 123.5-129.7 E, NB 864, pp. 43-44). The latter wall (Wall 156) encloses only the eastern two-thirds of the Corridor before turning the corner to the north and changing into Wall 157, which forms the eastern side of Unit 2, Room 7. At the junction of this corner, Wall 156 continues slightly westwards to form a stub wall. During the middle of excavations this season, we decided to establish an arbitrary line at 1078 N in order to define better the northern boundary of the trench vis-à-vis Unit 2, Room 7. An artificial line also delineated the eastern boundary of the trench (1076.12-1078.50 N, 129.00-129.60 E), while Wall 59 (1076.00-1077.40 N, 120.90-121.78 E), extended to the south by another artificial line to Wall 20, defined the western boundary.; ; As in years past, excavation in the Corridor was undertaken in an effort to understand better the use of the space, as well as the phasing and dating of the church and surrounding complex.; ; ; Frankish (AD 1210-1458); ; The earliest level reached this session is primarily an unexcavated hard surface that covers the majority of the trench. In its earliest phase, a relatively open space was present along the north wall of the church (Wall 20). This surface (unexcavated as of the close of Session I) consists of pebble- and cobble-sized stones, tile, and brick, all of which are flattened within the soil matrix, suggesting that the surface had been left exposed long enough for it to become well-trod or simply stamped down before more fill was dumped into the area. ; ; The exterior of the church was covered with a cement point during the mid-13th century, as dated by pottery and coins in the fill directly underlying the surface represented by this pointing (Context 640). The floor associated with this pointing either was never recognized during excavation or was completely deconstructed before several fills raised the ground surface level substantially.; ; From the excavations in previous years, we have gathered that there were essentially two main phases of use in the Corridor. In the earlier phase, the space that would eventually become the Corridor had not yet been enclosed by Wall 156, the southern wall of Room 8. Instead, this area seems to have been a well-trod outdoor space used for the dumping of construction and dining refuse and the burial of deceased persons, especially immediately adjacent to the northern wall of the church (Graves 2014-09 and 2014-11; cf. Swalec and Wilson, pp. 1-3). The date at which Wall 156 was built and thus formed the Corridor as we see it now is problematic. Swalec and Wilson discovered a foundation trench that ran along the entirety of the wall (and around the stub wall extension). In their final report, they mention that this foundation trench was not fully excavated; the workman removed only the top lens of the fill of the trench (Swalec and Wilson, pp. 3). No continuation of this trench could be found this year, however, suggesting that they had indeed removed it all. If this is the case, the pottery from the excavated lens, dating to the middle-to-third-quarter of the 13th century, should date the construction of Wall 156. Since this year we excavated primarily several fills at a level underneath the bottom of the wall dating to the mid-13th century, we favor a late date in this range, perhaps in the late third quarter of the 13th century for the construction of Wall 156 and the formation of the Corridor. After its construction, the Corridor served as a passageway linking two specific spaces: Unit 2, Room 7, and the Paved Court to the east of the church nave. Nevertheless, the space continued to be used intermittently as a site for burial (Grave 2014-08) and the dumping of refuse to raise and level out the ground surface.; ; A series of fills dating by pottery primarily to the mid-13th century (Contexts 598, 606, 610, 613, 616, 618, 619, 622, 626, 629, 632, 637) overlies the level of this pointing, indicating that the floor level of the Corridor was risen deliberately and relatively quickly. In the western half of the trench, a large amount of faunal remains (notably cattle, pig, goat, sheep, dog, oysters) was dumped, coinciding with a great deal of charcoal. Either the space was used for food preparation or the fill represents the refuse of dining that was subsequently dumped and possibly burned as trash. The eastern half of the trench produced much less of both, and so seems to have had a different origin. It is altogether possible that these two very different types of fills were being deposited in the Corridor space at the same time, and commingled in the middle. Aside from faunal remains and pottery, these fills often contained a variety of construction material (fragmentary tile, brick, lime mortar, and iron nails), which attests to building activity in the area. Coins (2015-22, -24, -26, -28-42, -44) were found frequently and generally confirm the dates derived from the pottery. Along with a chance find (MF 2014-04), a glass weight depicting a lion with upturned tail facing stage left, the coins are a testament to the economic activity happening in the area.; ; Once deposited, these fills in total raised the level of the trench surface more than 30 cm. in some places. The top surfaces of some of these fills, like the unexcavated surface mentioned above, seem to have been left exposed at least long enough for the inclusions within the fill matrix to become flattened by trampling upon the surface.  Given that the ground surface was raised so high in such a short period of time, however, it is likely that none of these fills was exposed for any substantial period of time. Rodgers and Burr seem to be of the same opinion of the upper fills also (cf. Rodgers and Burr, pp. 5). Instead, it seems to us that a conscious decision to raise the ground surface level was made at some point in the middle of the 13th century, and in order to accomplish this, several fills were dumped into the Corridor space and intermittently trampled to flatten, level, and compact, the soils before more fills were deposited above them. ; ; It is tempting to connect this great filling and levelling event with the development of the complex north of the church during the latter half of the 13th century, including the formation of the Corridor itself, but until the phasing of the complex to the north of the church is better understood, such a connection should remain mere conjecture. It is also possible that the filling event both raised and leveled the surface in preparation for paving the Corridor. Though dating is uncertain, possibly during the 14th century a small court, paved with rough, square limestone blocks, existed to the east of the church nave. A similar paving block lies just to the east of the Corridor trench, perhaps indicating that the paved surface of the court to the east of the church originally ran around the northeastern corner of the nave and into the Corridor as well (cf. NB 829 B.29, pp. 53-6; Rodgers and Burr, pp. 5). In 2014, Rodgers and Burr thought that they discovered the final levelling events (Contexts 313, 300, 321) in preparation for the paving of the Corridor, but perhaps it took a greater amount of effort and soil to raise and level the surface than they initially thought.; ; Grave 2015-01, which was truncated by the later Grave 2014-09, was cut into one such mid-13th c. fill (Cut Context 609). This cist grave (Contexts 604, 605; Cut 609; Bone Lot 2015-1; 1075.65-1076.35 N, 125.00-126.50 E) was missing the skull and pelvis among other bones due to the installation of Grave 2014-09. Though sex could not be determined due to fragmentation, enough skeletal material was preserved to indicate that the body was outstretched, supine, from west-northwest to east-southeast along the north wall of the church, with the (missing) head at the west and the feet at the east. Both arms were crossed over the chest, and the fingers were tucked around the body. No finds were discovered directly associated with the deceased. The pottery in the grave fill dates the cut to the mid-13th century, as was the fill into which the grave was cut, again suggesting that these fill deposits were never left exposed for long. While a fragmentary crochet hook was found in the fill of the grave cut with the deceased, its association as a grave offering is suspect, especially since the sex of the individual could not be determined. Perhaps it belonged instead to the woman who occupied Grave 2014-09. In any case, the crochet hook attests to weaving activity somewhere in the vicinity.; ; ; Conclusion; ; Although we did not get down far enough, and thus failed, to meet the primary objective of the session, i.e. to find the foundation trench of Wall 20, the northern wall of the church nave, in order to date the church itself, we learned a great deal about how the Corridor space developed throughout the mid-13th century. Several different fills raised and leveled the ground significantly in the middle of the 13th century, perhaps in preparation for the development of the complex north of the church. We were able to date a floor of the Corridor fairly securely to the mid-13th century, and we were able to give a more precise date of the construction of Wall 156, and thus the formation of the Corridor (late third quarter of the 13th century). We also gathered significant amounts of faunal remains that should certainly be studied by specialists in the future to gain insight into the dining activities of the people who resided in the area. ; ; ; Recommendations for Future Excavation:; ; 1. Continue excavation in the Corridor to find the foundation trench for wall 20.; ; 2. Excavate in the space between the Corridor and Unit 2, Room 7, to gain better insight into how the two spaces related to one another throughout time.","Corinth:Report:Temple E, Southeast 2015 by Wesley Bennett (2015-04-21 to 2015-04-28)","","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Temple E, Temenos | Temple E, Southeast",""
"Report","","","Temple E, Southeast 2014 by Sarah Rous, Rebecca Worsham (2014-04-06 to 2014-04-25)","Corinth","","","","Unit II, Room 6 and Room 8, Session I","Sarah Rous, Rebecca Worsham; Session I; Temple E Southeast Excavations; N: 1087 N, S: 1075.25 N, E: 129 E, W: 116.5 E; 6–25 April 2014; ; Introduction; ; This is the final summary of the first session of excavation in 2014 in Rooms 6 and 8 N of the church in Unit II in the area of Temple E SE. Room 6 was last excavated in 1996 and recorded in NB 864 (p. 57–119). Room 8 was last excavated in 1995 and recorded in NB 877 (p. 73–198) and 845 (p. 33–75).  In Room 6 excavation was conducted from April 6 to April 23 of 2014, while Room 8 was excavated from April 23 to April 25 of 2014. Guy Sanders (director) and Jody Cundy (field director) supervised, and Sarah Rous and Rebecca Worsham recorded. In Room 6, excavation was carried out exclusively by Sarah Rous and Rebecca Worsham. In Room 8, Athanasios Notis and Panagiotis Stamatis were pickmen, Angeliki Stamati and Hekouran Çoli were shovel(wo)men, and Panagiotis Rontzokos was the barrowman.; ; Excavation in Room 6 was bounded by Wall Context 58 (1076.94–1083.30N, 117.20–118.12E), the W wall of the room, and by Wall Context 59 (1077.48–1084.33N, 119.64–121.55E), the E wall of the room, and its associated robbing trench. The S boundary was effectively a pedestal surrounding the reused Hymettian orthostate at the entrance to the narthex of the church to the S (1076.5N). The N boundary was artificially established at 1082.5 N as the northern extent of Room 6 is as yet unknown. Coordinates for our excavation area are: N at 1082.5 N, S at 1075.25 N, E at 122.5 E, and W at 117.5 E.; ; Excavation in Room 8 was bounded on all sides by walls. At the N was Wall Context 154 (1085.91–1086.65N, 124.04–126.17E) and the abutting Wall 166 (1086.27–1087.30N, 126.20–130.82E). At the E was Wall Context 155 (1079.23–1086.27N, 126.50–128.65E). At the S was Wall Context 156 (1077.50–1078.97N, 123.58–128.40E), and at the W was Wall Context 157 (1078.37–1085.05N, 122.55–124.63E). Coordinates for our excavation area are: N at 1088.00 N, S at 1077.00 N, E at 129.00 E, and W at 121.00 E.; ; We did not excavate in Room 7, between Rooms 6 and 8, at this time. Goals for the excavation season included the clarification of the function and phasing of the rooms N of the church to prepare them for consolidation.; ; Frankish (1210-1458 CE); ; Room 6; ; The earliest level reached in this room is the unexcavated Floor 7 of NB 864, previously exposed beneath NB 864 B62 on the E face of Wall 58. It may also have been revealed in a small area in the southern central portion of Room 6 under our Context 90 (possibly equal to later Floor 6; 1077.93–1078.76N, 119.62–119.93E), which dates to the late 13th to early 14th centuries. Floor 7 must therefore antedate the late 13th–early 14th centuries. Beneath Context 90 the surface was not finely finished, and so it may not be the same as the Floor 7 revealed by earlier excavations. ; ; Grave 2014-02, a child burial, was cut into this surface and filled also in the late 13th to early 14th centuries (Cut Context 125; 1077.96–1078.61N, 118.57–119.79E; Fill Context 71). The grave was a simple pit, 1.23m long, 0.38m wide, and 0.24m deep. The burial was oriented roughly W-E with the W end against Wall Context 58. It contained a fairly well preserved skeleton of a subadult (Skeleton Context 72) in a supine position with the head at the W. In association with the skeleton were a tile supporting the chin and a heavily worn Latin imitative coin (2014-48) made after 1204. This burial was overlying another unexcavated burial of which only the top of the skull and possibly part of another skull were visible at the W end of the grave. No cut was found for this earlier burial, and so it cannot be firmly associated with the chronology of this room. ; ; Apparently a short time after the filling of Grave 2014-02, another overlying burial was made, Grave 1996-5, which certainly truncated the cut of Grave 2014-02 at the W and may also have truncated the face of the skeleton associated with this burial (Context 72). Another infant burial was made to the N along the face of Wall Context 58, Grave 1996-6.  Neither of these graves contained closely datable pottery. All three of these burials were sealed by Floor 6 (NB 864 B62) of the previous excavations of Room 6, which the excavators had dated to the mid-13th c., but which clearly must post-date the fill of Grave 2014-02, which is dated by pottery to the late 13th to early 14th centuries. A probable portion of Floor 6 (Context 90) was dated by pottery to the late 13th–early 14th centuries.; ; Into Floor 6 was cut Grave 1995-2, which truncated the central portion of Grave 2014-02. The tibiae of this later grave seem to have been set almost directly on top of the femur of the earlier grave, indicating the heavily disturbed nature of this area and the extremely high density of burials, and may suggest a botched effort to re-associate disturbed bones with the correct skeleton. No date is given for this burial, but it was covered by a leveling fill (NB 864 B59, 1250s–1260s) for another floor, Floor 5 (NB 864 B56), dated by the excavators to the 1260s to 1270s, though again it must actually date somewhat later.; ; Several burials were then cut into Floor 5, including the previously excavated Graves 1996-1, 1996-2, and 1996-4, as well as Grave 2014-05. Grave 2014-05 was a pit grave (L. 0.65m, W. 0.20m, depth at least 0.14m) containing an infant burial cut into the floor against the E face of Wall Context 58, oriented roughly N-S (Cut Context 165; 1079.50–1080.14N, 118.03–118.37E). Pottery from the fill of this grave (Context 130) was not able to be dated before the end of the first session. The skeleton (Context 54), laid supine with the head at the N, was fairly well preserved and had tiles on each side of its skull, as well as a necklace of red glass beads in situ around its neck (MF 2014-16). ; ; This grave was truncated by the probably roughly contemporary Grave 2014-01, a tile-lined cist (L. 0.48m, W. 0.29m, depth 0.15m)containing the S-N oriented skeleton of a neonate (Context 37). The skeleton was positioned supine, slightly twisted to the right, with the head at the S. The fill of this grave (Context 13) was dated to the mid-13th c. by pottery. A lead disc with a string hole, probably an undecorated lead seal (MF 2014-01), was also found in association with this infant. The burying group was perhaps related to the burying group of Grave 2014-05, as an effort was apparently made not to disturb the bones of the earlier skeleton (Context 54), left in situ below, although the skull is at the same level with this later burial and must have been visible. The infant was then covered over with fragments of the same tile used to line the cut of the grave (Context 128; 1079.54–1079.99N, 118.08–118.44E). These burials were then sealed by Floor 4 (NB 864 B52, B53, and B54), dated by the excavators to the last quarter of the 13th c.; ; No further investigation of this room was conducted during the first session of the 2014 season.; ; Room 8; ; The earliest level reached in Room 8 was an unexcavated surface hardened by foot traffic (under Context 184) with flat-lying sherds, possibly extending across the S portion of the room (unexcavated, under Context 174 and 168). This surface was probably a part of a general fill, onto which a lens of inclusion-rich leveling material (Context 184; 1079.01–1081.51N, 125.99–127.63E) was spread. This construction fill is dated to the third quarter of the 13th c. by pottery. It abuts Wall Context 156 (1077.50–1078.97N, 123.58–128.40E), the S wall of the room, which should then be earlier. Because Wall Context 156 may bond with Wall Context 155, this fill may be related to the construction of both these walls.; ; Following the laying of this fill, the foundation trench of Wall Context 155 (1079.23–1086.27N, 126.50–128.65E), the E wall of the room, was cut into it (Context 182; 1079.24–1081.03N, 127.28–127.86E). Wall 155, the wall dividing Rooms 8 and 9, was then constructed. This wall seems to bond with Wall Context 166 (1086.27–1087.30N, 126.20–130.82E), which forms the N wall of Room 9, at its N end. It may however, also bond with the S wall of the room, Wall Context 156 (which otherwise seems to predate it). The foundation trench of Wall 155 was then filled (Contexts 176 and 177). This fill is dated by pottery to the late 13th–early 14th centuries. In the N preserved section of the foundation trench (Context 176), some disturbance represented by an unexcavated soft fill and a later red, stony deposit excavated in Context 183 (1082.59–1083.72N, 126.61–126.96E) intruded into the foundation trench. The red stony deposit is not closely datable, but contained a coin of 602–604 CE (2014-74) on its interface with the unexcavated level below (possibly the same as Context 181).; ; At the W side of the room, a firm fill including many cobbles was laid along the wall (Wall Context 157; 1078.37–1085.05N, 122.55–124.63E), possibly as a foundation for a bench (Context 175; 1078.93–1081.26N, 124.05–124.80E). A lens of ashy debris—remains of the earlier use of this room?—was laid against this foundation (Context 174; 1079.24–1081.07N, 124.39–125.27E) and contained a bronze weight (MF 2014-4) and a mould for lead seals (MF 2014-15). A more finely finished white clay floor was laid over the entire southern half of the room, excavated in Context 168 (1079.15–1083.27N, 124.90–127.76E).  With this floor was found a small bronze buckle (MF 2014-9). This floor covered the fill of the foundation trenches, and may continue in fugitive patches to the N, excavated in Context 153 (1081.41–1085.81N, 123.50–126.04E), though this context was marked by a much higher density of inclusions. Both of the contexts representing the possible floor are dated to the late 13th to early 14th c.; ; Into the N part of the room, a large pit was cut into this surface (Context 159; 1082.60–1085.07N, 124.30–125.80E). The fill of the pit (Context 162) was dated by pottery to the 14th c. A coin (2014-66, postdating 1204 CE) and a bronze earring with silver and gold plating (MF 2014-17) were recovered from the fill, along with discarded ceramics, bone, and iron. The upper elevations of this fill may have been composed of eroded floor surface.; ; On the S side of the room, some disturbance was caused perhaps by the installation of furniture along the N face of the S Wall 156. The first of these was a strip along the S wall that may represent a bench or perhaps untrodden soil along this wall (Context 151; 1078.93–1079.02N, 125.42–126.83E), similar in dimensions to the earlier bench excavated in Context 175. This context was dated to the late 13th c. by pottery, and contained a coin dating to after 1204 CE (2014-63). Both of these possible benches were later disturbed by a circular deposit, perhaps also representing furniture, in the SW corner of the room (Context 150; 1078.73–1079.15N, 124.65–125.39).; ; The so-called Frankish floor of the earlier excavations was found across the full length of this room as a well-preserved light clay floor. This was excavated in Context 140 (1078.58–1086.12N, 123.07–127.84E), though after years of exposure it was no longer recognizable as a floor. Within the make-up of this surface were deposited a number of significant finds, including a bone die (MF 2014-6) and a bronze weight (MF 2014-5) similar to that found with the ashy deposit against the bench (Context 174, MF 2014-4). Additionally, two coins (2014-59 and 2014-60) were recovered, both dating to the Byzantine period, the first to after 1204 and the second to 1143–1152 CE. The floor itself was dated by pottery to the 14th c.; ; The N wall, Wall Context 154 (1085.91–1086.65N, 124.04–126.17E), seems to have been laid on this surface, perhaps indicated by a lens of sandy clay directly beneath it that may be the ""Frankish floor."" The wall is therefore built without a foundation, directly on the surface of the room. It abuts Wall Context 166, the N wall of Room 9, and closing off Room 8 on the same line.; ; Following this, the room was abandoned, and tile fall (a small portion excavated in Context 149; 1079.04–1079.84N, 127.29–127.76E) covered the whole room (NB 877 B91, B92, B114, B149, B150, B167, Lots 1995-14 and 1995-16). This fall (nerk) has been dated to the late 13th–early 14th c. by pottery, and to ca. 1300 CE by the previous excavators. If the floor is 14th c., it must be later.; ; ; Conclusion; It is likely that the bottoms of the two sections of the foundation trench (Context 176 and 177) have not yet been reached. Context 181 was only partially excavated out of sequence and its relationship to the surrounding features should be established.; ; Recommendations for Future Excavation:; ; Room 6; 1. Finish removal of the skeleton Context 54 in Grave 2014-05. Finish removing the fill (Context 130) to the bottom of the cut (Context 165). Elevations must be taken beneath the skull and at the bottom of the cut. Read pottery. Take sample up to flotation.; ; Room 8; 1. The soft, dark soil surrounding and possibly interrupting  the foundation trench (Contexts 182 and 176) in the NE part of the room should be removed in order to continue the excavation of the foundation trench and because it seems to be the latest deposit in this area of the room.; ; 2. Clean the intersections of Walls 155 and 156 and 156 and 157 to see how these walls are bonded and abutting. The foundation trench for Wall 157 should be near the current excavated level.; ; 3. In the scarp on the N side under Wall 154, the grey clay floor visible in the sides of the cut Context 159 is clearly visible and apparently running under Wall Context 166. If it is going under this wall, how is it related to the foundation trench of Wall Context 155 at its N preserved section?; ; 4. Explore the interfaces of the red, pebbly soil along the S part of the room. A similar soil is visible in the center of the room under Context 184 (at the NW of this context) and at the N of the unexcavated area under Context 174.","Corinth:Report:Temple E, Southeast 2014 by Sarah Rous, Rebecca Worsham (2014-04-06 to 2014-04-25)","","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Temple E, Temenos | Temple E, Southeast",""
"Report","","","Nezi Field 2012 by George, Charles; Valente, Rossana (2012-06-26 to 2012-06-27)","Corinth","","","","2012 Session 3 Team Blue Final Summary","Charles George, Rossana Valente; Nezi Field Excavations; N: 1015.90 N, S: 1006.90 N, E: 264.20 E, W: 255.50 E; 28 May – 22 June, 2012; ; This is a final summary of the third season of excavation (28th May – 22th June) in 2012 in the northwest area of Nezi field. Guy Sanders (director) and Heather Graybehl (field director) supervised. The blue excavation team consisted of Charles George and Rossana Valente (recorders), Athanasios Sakellariou (pickman), Athanasios Notis (pickman), Christos Sakellariou (shovelman), and Pavlos Sennes (barrowman).; Excavation began in the area bounded by the Giambouranis house (NB 252, NB 262, 1015.90 N) to the north, Wall 540 to the east (264.20 E), Wall 366 to the south (1006.90 N), and the balk of Nezi field (255.50 E) to the west. The lack of preserved architecture, except the partially preserved Wall 747, led us initially to interpret our area as exterior space associated with the Byzantine room to the south, bounded by Wall 366 and Robbing Trench 497 to the north (1006.00 N), Wall 365 to the south (1002.10 N), Wall 332 to the east (262.07 E) and Wall 306 to the west (258.01 E). The goal of this session was to further explore the Byzantine habitation layers found during earlier excavations in the area (2008 and 2009, sessions 1st and 2nd 2012), with the hope of better understanding the use of space in this area during Frankish and Byzantine times and also of reaching Late Roman material by the end of the season.; ; Late Antique (5th-7th AD); ; We have reached Late Antique contexts in the northeast of the area which are overlaid by Wall 540, dated to the late 11th c. For this reason, we cannot see the eastern ends of the contexts, and we suggest close cooperation and contact with the Pink Team’s excavations of the area east of the wall.; We have identified a mid 6th- early 7th c. AD floor (S 936, removed as 957), which seems to continue under wall 540, and we argue that it is equal to a floor in the Pink Area (S941). This context contained two fifth century nummi (coin no.  2012-159, 160), with five fifth century nummi (coin no. 2012- 162-166, 169) also found in what we interpret as the continuation of the floor to the north (959), and two fifth century nummi (coin no. 2012-161, 164 ) found in a suggested floor surface below S 936 (958). The excavation of the floor has revealed another possible floor, which itself was laid over another possible floor surface. This may suggest that we have a stratification of floors indicating several successive habitations during the Late Antique period. The section of the floor called 959 seems to be laid on an E-W wall (S 918), therefore dating the wall earlier. It is unclear when and under what circumstances the wall later was robbed out. However, further excavation in the area and removal of wall 540 should elucidate the relationship. ; ; Above floor S 936 is a tile destruction layer (934), which is likely equal to the tile destruction layer across wall 540 on the Pink Team’s tile destruction layer 929. The elevation of Pink 929 is roughly equivalent to that of Blue 934 and part of Blue 931, a leveling fill directly above the destruction layer. As supporting evidence for this relationship is an AFRS form 99, which has joining fragments both in Blue 931 and Pink 929.; ; Vast quantities of sherds of Late Antique pottery have been found in the fill of a Late Byzantine lime pit (the eastern part of pit is 878 and western part is 917), an ovular Byzantine pit (888), and adjacent cleaning contexts and leveling fills (895, 906, 907, 908). Also, a Late Antique glass bottle (MF 2012-50) and jar (MF 2012-51) have been found in the lime pit (917). While we have interpreted these all as redepositions, the large size of the glass sherds and the size and density of the pottery suggest that the Late Antique material in these fills does not show signs of frequent redeposition.; ; Late Byzantine (1059-1210 AD); ; The most important feature identified as Late Byzantine is the western portion of wall called 747, which dates to the late 11th c. The excavation of the fill to the east of western wall 747 has revealed a finished surface to the wall and an apparent end to the foundation beneath the wall. We think that in this space East of Western wall 747 there was an entrance. As the Western and eastern portions of wall called 747 are on the same axis, despite the gap and differences in construction, we maintain that they are contemporaneous and of the same structure. We still hope to determine whether there was an interior space north or south of the wall. North of 747 may have been exterior as suggested by the massive pit there (C 870, fill 844 and 868, W-E 258.43-261.89, S-N 1011.63-1014.56), which we have identified as a bothros, since it contains a mix of pottery ranging from the Geometric Period to the late 11th c.; ; Western Wall 747 seems to be surrounded by several leveling fills that are also dated to the Late Byzantine period. These leveling fills are both north (854, 855, 857, 858, 859, 863, 868, 869, 875, 876, 925, and 927) and south (897 and 904) of Wall 747. These leveling fills characterized by a yellowish brown soil, are poorly sorted, and there are not many material inclusions. Small quantities of pottery are found across these contexts. These small contexts are overlaid in several areas by various lenses of leveling fill, often consisting of harder-packed and different colored soil, but the pottery dates from all of these contexts suggest that they are all part of a relatively contemporaneous leveling of the area. None of these contexts has a precise date for the Late Byzantine period; we can relate this context to the Late Byzantine leveling activity of this area mainly by stratigraphic relationships. In the middle Byzantine dumped fill of a robbing trench along the W Scarp (950), we have found a likely-Christian clay bread mold (MF 2012-47). These fills seem bounded by Wall 747 in the south but extend as far as the Northern Balk.; ; We have found a lime pit (C 882, W-E 257.54-260.87 S-N 1008.88-1010.10, filled by 878 and 917) directly south of Western Wall 747. All the preserved sides of this pit are covered with lime. It is possible that the walls of this cut were intentionally covered with lime, for building purposes. For example, the lime pit may have been used for the construction of walls 747 and/or 540, which both also seem to date to the late 11th c. In a later action, this cut was filled by a dumped fill (878 and 917). The filling of this cut, dated to the late 11th c, is a secondary deposition of large quantities of Late Antique pottery (5th – 6th C). Excavation of the oven (S 910) and the area between the oven and the pit will elucidate the issue and will provide confirmation as to the western boundary of the pit, which is not yet certain.; ; Last but not least in importance is pit 888 (W-E 262.21-263.10, N-S 1009.06-1007.06). Partially excavated during session 1 (888=680), this pit seems to be a bothros. Its dumped fill, dated to the 11th C, seems to be a secondary deposition of much earlier material including large quantities of Late Antique (5th – 6th C)  pottery, Late Antique coins (2012 22-29, 105-126), and a 2nd-3rd c. incised intaglio (MF 2012-33). ; ; Frankish (1210-1458 AD); ; During the Frankish period E - W Wall 747 was partially robbed out. As noted during session 2, certain fills (833, 744) excavated in the robbing trench for this wall were distinguished both in materials excavated and soil composition, and should be considered the first robbing episode of this structure. ; S of this robbing trench, we excavated a Frankish pit dated by the pottery to 1270 (C 926 filled by 883, 884, 885, 887, 889, W-E 261.88-264.03, S-N 1010.35-1008.90). The pit was particularly rich in finds, including luxurious items such as gilded bone bands (MF 2012-43, 45), incised bone knife handles (MF 2012-48), and gilded bronze flower-shaped clamps (MF 2012-53A, 53B, 54, 55) as well as stone- and metal- working tools such as a lead cupellation bowl (MF 2012-38) and an iron chisel (MF 2012-40). Also found was a pecten shell used by pilgrims travelling on the Way of St. James to Santiago de Compostela (MF 2012-34).; ; Below the pit, we came on the head of a well, a cistern, or a manhole (S 902 W-E 262.23-262.71, S-N 1009.55-1010.05). The structure is lined with plaster, and goes down 2.35 m, without any visible fill except for a small accumulation of debris, much of which is from our excavation of proximate contexts. The hole seems to have been intentionally closed with blocks. That it is a manhole is suggested by the slightly ovular shape of the hole, but it appears to be self-contained in all horizontal directions, which makes it more likely that it was a cistern or a well. That it is a well is suggested by the nearly intact water jug that was found at the bottom of pit 889, just centimeters away from the hole. Further excavation is needed to ; Another Frankish pit (C 871, filled by 860, W-E 255.51-256.95, S-N 1011.92-1013.63) was excavated during the second quarter of the 13th C, as its dumped fill suggests. This pit, located next to the W scarp of the excavation area has been interpreted as a bothros. Interestingly, the N side of the pit scarp is full of tile. A few large, unworked stones (possibly mined bedrock) are visible at the bottom on the E side. ; These pits may have been created for the purpose of storage. Generally Frankish pits were made along walls, as the surface of the wall offered an easy ready-made boundary for the pit. Our Frankish pits C 871 and C 926 correspond to this interpretation as do two Frankish pits excavated by the Pink Team (C 847, C 867).; ; Early Modern (1831-1945); ; Context 880 is the only context that has been dated to the Early Modern period, specifically Turkish II. We have interpreted the Turkish finds as contamination from the robbing trench for wall 747 (759), and therefore we interpret the context as a disturbance of the Frankish pit (C 926).; ; Recommendations; ; We recommend to future excavators the following:; ; 1.    Take down Wall 540. We are now certain that the Late Antique floors in the northeast of our area (S 936, 939, and those stratigraphically below) continue under the wall and into the Pink area (see above). The excavation and dating of the wall would remove an obstacle to excavating in the area and would be helpful for dating in the area. Lastly, there are many walls in the Blue (S 747 and S 918) and Pink areas that misalign by as few as 0.10-0.30 m, and the excavation of the wall would help in seeing more clearly whether they are related and how.; ; 2.    Excavate oven S 910 and the surrounding contexts in order to determine the relationship between the oven and the Byzantine lime pit to the east (C 882). ; ; 3.    Excavate floors S 911 and S 912 to discern their dates as well as the relationship between the two floors and between the floors and the surrounding area; ; 4.    Take down the contexts east of 949 and then proceed to finish its excavation. Digging in this area is important for understanding the boundary between the Late Antique material to the east and the 11th c. lenses of fill 844 to the west.; We hope that in the future, interior and exterior areas will be able to be identified, and that the Late Antique levels, now appearing in the NW, will become apparent throughout the area.","Corinth:Report:Nezi Field 2012 by George, Charles Valente, Rossana (2012-06-26 to 2012-06-27)","","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Nezi Field",""
"Report","","","New Apotheke: D. Kokolopoulos and E. Lambraki Field 2016 by  (2016-05-30 to 2016-08-13)","Corinth","","","","Final Report on the Excavations for the ASCSA’s New Apotheke","This excavation was undertaken from May 30-August 13, 2016 in the area of the planned new apotheke of the ASCSA’s Corinth Excavations. As the excavation permit requires, the primary objective was to reach floor levels within the rooms of three different houses exposed in this area. The stratigraphy investigated in these buildings ranges from the 11th century to the third quarter of the 12th century and suggests that there are two main architectural phases before a period of abandonment in the late 12th century. Traces of the foundations of structures datable to the early Byzantine periods were also investigated. ; ; The site itself slopes from south (60.023 masl) to north (58.586 masl) with the highest wall of the southernmost Byzantine house (Wall 34) at 59.646 masl or roughly 0.5m below ground level (see cross-sections). Most of the walls of the Byzantine houses are preserved only to their lowest foundation courses. The best-preserved wall (Wall 283) consisted of seven courses and stood 1.45m high (with the top at 59.47 masl). Furthermore some of the walls were robbed out after the abandonment of the houses and during excavation their robbing trenches were identified. The Byzantine architecture was built, in the southern part of the site, directly over the foundations of three Early Byzantine structures. The rest of the Byzantine structures were constructed over a mixed fill that contained small amounts of primarily Classical to Byzantine pottery or built directly on top of a deep layer red clay stereo without any material culture. The existence of the consistent layer of red clay stereo across the site was demonstrated by the excavations of six test trenches (labeled 1-6 on Master Plan) within the original bulldozer trenches that all reached this same layer at approximately 57.35 masl on the south side and 56.87 masl towards the north end of the site (see cross-sections). The deepest wall foundations of the Byzantine structures (including Wall 373) were set directly upon the red clay stereo level (see below) and we can therefore conclude that any earlier features (including the Early Byzantine) that may have existed were heavily disturbed by the construction of these houses. Furthermore, the very small amount of pottery datable to before the 5th century AD that was recovered in excavated contexts throughout the site, in comparison to the Forum area or other ASCSA excavated-sites in ancient Corinth, strongly suggests that there was no significant activity here before the Early Byzantine period. The site is therefore primarily a single-period site consisting of three Byzantine structures.; ; The following report will summarize the main phases of the Byzantine structures before discussing the evidence for Early Byzantine and Early Modern activities in the excavated area. Please refer to the attached plan (Master Plan) for wall and room numbers from all periods.; ; The Byzantine Houses; ; 1) The southernmost house consists of rooms 1-6, 8, and 17, as well as the area immediately west of room 17 (see Master Plan). It appears that the earliest phases of this structure date as early the first half of the 11th century on the basis of Pits 234 and 238, which provide a terminus post quem of the second half of the 11th century; as does the material in Contexts 92 and 99.  Three structures of the Early Byzantine period were also truncated by the construction of this house (see below). The latest material in this house dates to the third quarter of the 12th century (see Rooms 5, 6, 8); the same period that courtyard and northern rooms of the central house were remodeled. It is likely that the original floor surfaces associated with this last phase of this southern house were highly disturbed by later agricultural activities. A 19th-century cistern (Structure 12) was also cut through Room 1 (see below). ; Rooms 1, 2 and 3 (see Master Plan); The stratigraphy south of Wall 11 in Room 1 appears to be highly compromised by 19th-century activities and as a result the interior spaces are poorly preserved. Before this period, the latest material in Room 1 belongs to the early 12th century (dated by pottery in Contexts 17 and 32), while all earlier deposits contained 11th-century ceramic material. ; During the course of the 11th century or early 12th  century, Wall 11 was remodeled to insert a drain (Structure 45), which runs N-S along the east side of Wall 18; it also appears to continue south beneath the extant segment of Wall 18.  Based on pottery found in the exposed segment of the drain (Context 44 – pottery dated to the 11th century), this drain likely went out of use when the house was remodeled in the 12th century.; Room 2 is delimited by Wall 6 (running east-west along the south edge of the room), Wall 20 (running north-south along the west edge of the room, its stones robbed out in its southern section), Wall 11 (running east-west along the north edge of the room; cut by the bulldozer trench 8), and Wall 159, a north-south wall running along the east side of the room (also cut by the bulldozer trench 8). Room 2 had been excavated to the tops of the walls throughout most of the room in 2015.; The latest fill in Room 2 dates to the third-quarter of the 12th century (Context 2) and probably relates to either abandonment or remodeling of the house in that period. A possible 11th-century occupational level, represented by an earthen floor (Structure 23, excavated as Context 31) in the eastern half of the room.  A fragment of a pietro ollare vessel (NA #4 from Context 27) was also found associated with the floor. ; Room 3 is a small room immediately to the south of Room 2. It is delimited on the north side by Wall 6 (running east-west), on its west side by Wall 35 (a continuation of Wall 20 to the north, running north-south), on its east side by Wall 36 (running north-south) and on its south side by two walls running east-west: Wall 42, dating to the 11th century, and Wall 34, probably dating to the later 12th century phase. ; Room 3 contained a series of fills dating to the 11th century (Contexts 37 and 39) that were laid up against Walls 34 and 35 and therefore provide a terminus ante quem for these walls of the 11th century and may be part of the leveling operation in the second phase of the building. ; Walls 34, 35, and 42 belong to the first late-11th-century phase of the house. This space was remodeled in the later 12th century with the addition of Walls 6 and 36. At this point, this room seems to have been a fully enclosed space. It is unclear where the entrance to this room was, but it is possible that access was from the NW corner of the space, as there is a break in the northern part of Wall 35. However, due to the damage caused to this wall by a later robbing trench, it is unclear if this wall contained an entrance to Room 3.; ; Room 17; ;     Room 17 is located east of Room 2 (see Master Plan).  It is bounded on the north side by Wall 283, on the south side by Wall 380, on the west side by Wall 159, and on the east by Wall 381. On the basis of their construction and orientation, these walls all belong to the first phase of the house in the later 11th century. This 11th-century room overlies an earlier Byzantine well (334) and wine/olive press (325) (see below). Evidence for the 11th-century construction phase comes from a leveling fill that covered both the earlier Byzantine wellhead and the press (Contexts 323, 321, 333, 336, 337, and 344 – all dated to the 8th-11th centuries on the basis of pottery). Wall 283 had a foundation trench associated with it (Cut 314 and Contexts 316 and 335) that contained Middle Byzantine pottery dateable to the 10th to 11th centuries, which accords with the 11th century construction date of the house. Furthermore, the original construction of Walls 159 and 6 have been dated to the later 11th century based on pottery in contexts found in Room 2 to the west (see above). ; ; Room 8; ; The northeastern and southern sections of Room 8 were excavated down to floor level, whereas the northwestern section was excavated to a leveling fill (367) beneath a floor.  The area is delimited by four walls: Wall 49 (along the north edge of the room; also the north wall of Room 5), Wall 50 (along the east edge of the room), Walls 352 and 353 (along the west edge of the room), and Wall 11(along the south edge of the room) that can be dated to the first phase of the house in the late 11th century (see below and Master Plan). The dates of Walls 49 and 50 are provided by fills (Contexts 92 and 99) in a pit (105) that (see Master Plan) underlies both walls, which date to the 11th century. Walls 102 and 103, which bisect the room and are separated by a threshold that linked the eastern and western sections of Room 8, are contemporary with Walls 252 and 253 due to their identical alignment and construction technique (see below and Plan1). All that survive of these walls are their foundation courses and as a result, the original entrance to Room 8 cannot be determined.; The latest contexts excavated in this area confirm the 3rd quarter of the 12th as the last phase of construction of this part of the house. All occupation levels were fragmentarily preserved, and a series of levelling and debris deposits have been excavated, that exposed an earlier floor level likely dated to the 11th century. This surface (Contexts 364 and 365 – both dated to the early 12th century) is the earliest floor reached in the northwestern section of the room.  In the northeastern section of the room, the excavation has also revealed a series of earlier floor surfaces that lay above pit 105. Contexts 121, 132, and 135 (all also dated by pottery or stratigraphy to the early 12th c. AD) are a series of floors, leveling fills, and pits in the northern section of Room 8. At least one of these floors, the one lowest in elevation (at 58.345m) seems to correspond to the earlier phase of Wall 49, and may be chronologically similar to the floor unearthed in the adjacent Room 5 (at the bottom of Contexts 72 and 73 – both dated by pottery to the 11th to early 12th century). These overlay Context 99 in the pit (see Master Plan) in the northeast corner of Room 8, which provides a construction date for Walls 49 and 50 of the second half of the 11th century. ; A circular stone-built storage bin (Structure 354) was inserted into the west side of Room 8. The material from the fills within this structure does not suggest a clear chronology. An 11th century terminus post quem can be suggested by the levels cut through by the pit excavated for the construction of this feature, therefore it should belong to the second phase of the house in the late 12th century AD.  Contexts 358 (which contained NA #106 – a bronze earring), 366, and 368 provide an additional terminus ante quem of early 12th century for the silo and for the robbing event of wall 103 in the southern half of the room – both of which support the date for the second phase of this house.  The floor surface in the southern half of Room 8 was not excavated, but it has a terminus ante quem of the 11th or 12th century, based on pottery from the fill of a pit (Pit 363 filled by Context 362) that was cut into it.  It appears that Structure 354 was installed after the southern space was expanded when part of wall 103 was removed. An ashy deposit (Context 366) laid against the Structure 345 and a contemporary fill to the south (Context 368), that provided examples of olive pits (NA #112, 113), are leveling fills of the 12th century associated with the remodeling of this room. Context 366 was water sieved and yielded many archaeo-botanical samples. Overall the evidence suggests that Room 8 had two major phases.  The room was constructed in the 11th century and then remodeled and expanded southern end to accommodate the circular stone-built storage bin (Structure 354) in the 3rd quarter of the 12th century AD.; ; Room 5; ; This room is south of the Main Courtyard and is delimited on its north side by Wall 49, on its east side by Wall 52, on its west side by Wall 50 and on its south side by Walls 51 and 54, which are divided by an entryway that connects this room to Room 4 to the south. The foundation trenches of Wall 49 (Context 72 – dated by pottery to the late 11th to early 12th century) and Wall 52 (Context 73 – dated by pottery to the 11th century) provide a date of the late-11th/ early 12th century for their construction and therefore they belong to the first phase of the southern house. A terminus post quem for Wall 50 is also provided by Context 99 (see above). A large marble threshold block was found in the northwest corner of the room and is likely spolia that was displaced from one of the adjacent walls. Part of a surface (Context 70) from this earlier phase was preserved in the southern half of Room 5 is dated to the late-11th century. Several large fragments of a pietra ollare vessel have been found in the SW corner of the room, possibly in relation to this floor.; The second construction phase of the house in the later-12th century consists of a series of leveling fills (Contexts 48, 53, 55, 62, and 63 – dated by pottery to the 12th century, including NA-140 from Context 48) below a possible floor (Context 46, from which NA-141 came), dated to the 3rd quarter of the 12th century. A low stone platform was found near the center of the room that belongs to this phase; its purpose is unknown.; ; Room 4 ; ;     This room is bounded on the north, and connected to Room 5, by Walls 51 and 54. It is bounded on the east by Wall 52, on the south by Wall 11, and on the west by Wall 50. From the original late-11th century phase of the house, this room was connected to Room 5 as demonstrated by the shared Wall 52. It is possible that Walls 51 and 54 were added in the later remodeling phase to separate Rooms 4 and 5 into two distinct spaces. Room 4 was heavily disturbed by bulldozer trench 8, which cut right through the center, and the section revealed by that cutting showed no architectural features within the room. The decision was therefore made to not excavate this space. ; ; Room 6 ; ; In its latest phase, Room 6 was enclosed by Walls 52, 58, 59, 60, and 61. These were uncovered and the uppermost fill layers were removed in 2015, including a probable surface level associated with the 12th-century phase of this room. Bulldozer trench 5 cut through its southern wall and extended all the way through Room 17. On the basis of the surviving portions of Walls 60 and 61, it is possible to reconstruct a central doorway between them (similar to that between Walls 51 and 54 in Room 5).; Wall 58, on the north side, also has a threshold block, which suggests access to a room to its north. There is an architectural space consisting of one or two rooms of this house and/or the house immediately to the north of Room 6 but these were not excavated because of the large baulk in the area. It is reasonable to assume that Walls 59 and 69 originally extended to the north and that Wall 49 extended to the east to create a northeastern room of this southern house. The date of the later 12th century for the latest walls comes from the fact that Wall 69 was covered by a heavy concentration of stone debris (Context 57– dated by pottery to the third-quarter of the 12th century). The northern doorway of this room may have been reinforced with large threshold stones during these renovations as well. The superstructure of many of the walls in Room 6 was probably made of mudbrick as shown by Context 68, which contained a few extant mudbrick pieces and the soil was heavily mixed with concentrations of mudbrick detritus. ; The earlier contexts excavated in Room 6 (in conjunction with somewhat similar material uncovered in neighboring Room 7), may point toward a function of this space in the late 11th to early 12th centuries as kitchens as these layers contained a noticeable amount of ash, animal bones, cooking wares, and some charcoal (i.e. Contexts 65, 67, 68, and 71). ; ; West of Room 1; ; This area included four walls (195, 196, 197, 376) of the Byzantine period and re-used Wall 198 (see early Byzantine section below), each with multiple phases of use (probably with late 11th and later 12th century phases). Wall 376, at the very south edge of the excavated area, runs east-west and is possibly part of the original southern wall of the house. None of these walls form clear architectural spaces at least partly because of later activities in the area including the bulldozer trenches. Before the initial construction phase of Walls 195, 196, and 197 were two large pits located west and north of Wall 198. These pits are represented in the cut contexts of 237 and 238. These deep pits were cut into a sterile reddish clay soil, which was also cut by the foundation of Wall 198. The chronological relationship between these pits cuts remains unclear. Arguably, Pit 237 is the earliest as it most clearly is truncated by Pit 238. The fills of both Pits 237 and 238 are remarkably homogenous in their soil compositions and inclusions. ;     Within Pit 237, it is likely that there were multiple contemporary deposit events with multiple different soils. The majority of the pit fills were of two soil profiles: a reddish grey soil and a soft ashy grey soil. Both soils are characterized by sizable amount of pottery and bones. Extensive sieving was performed in grey ashy contexts yielding finds such as: coins (NA #67, 68, #72-78; all pre-Medieval), two bone stylus (NA #66 and NA #79), bronze buckles (NA #65 and NA #71), and an amethyst bead (NA #122). The contexts that are most likely to have filled Pit 237 include: 201 205, 207, 208, 213, 216, 217, 222, 225, and 234. The pottery within Pit 237 was remarkably consistent in date belonging to the late 10th possibly 11th centuries from top to bottom. Examples include NA-136 and NA-137 from Context 222, NA-133 (which joins with NA-138), NA-134, and NA-135 from Context 225, and NA-138 (which joins with NA-133) and NA-139 from Context 234. There was just one instance of a survivor—a LHIIIB2 deep bowl (NA-145). All the pits fills postdate Walls 199 and 198. This is clear from Context 234 (the lowest stratigraphic context that filled Pit 237) which is laid against Walls 198 and 199. It is therefore likely that the cutting of pit 237 or related pits removed whatever remained of the foundations of the Early Byzantine structure that is the earliest phase of Walls 198 and 199 (see below for a description of this structure).; Pit 238 was located immediately to the west of Pit 237 and was truncated by bulldozer trench 4. The soil in Pit 238 was a relatively consistent dark greyish/brownish brown/grey sandy silt, a profile which was similar to the fills of adjacent Pit 237. Moreover, like Pit 237, the soil of Pit 238 had a substantial amount of pottery and bones. Finds included a bone pin (NA #107), a bronze weight (NA #109), two glass goblets (NA #114 and 115), some fruit pits (NA #116), and a pietra ollare fragment (NA #83). Pit 238 was filled with Contexts 194, 248, 263, 266, 272, 277, 278, and 289. Several of these contexts were water sieved and yielded much charcoal, some carbonized seeds, and bird and fish bones. Like Pit 237, the fills of Pit 238 are consistently late 10th to early 11th century in date on the basis of pottery (such as NA-144 from Context 289) and an Anonymous Follis class 3 coin with Leo VI on it (866-912 AD) (NA #92). One LH III closed vessel from Context 272 at the top layer  (NA-147) was the only survivor found in the pit fills. In addition, Contexts 272, 277, 278, and 289 in Pit 238 appear to directly correlate with the grey soils of Contexts 222, 225, and 234 in Pit 237 (see above). Both Pits 237 and 238 also contained many cooking pots and animal bones and should be interpreted as debris from food consumption and preparation and general household rubbish.; ; The Central House; ; Most of the excavated area is occupied by the central Byzantine house, which is mostly preserved at its foundation levels (see Master Plan). It consists of Rooms 7 and 9-15.Unlike the houses to the north and south, it was left relatively undisturbed after it was abandoned in the 13th century. The exceptions are the eastern walls of the house that were robbed out completely after the house was abandoned. This house was emptied before it was abandoned because there were no finds on the floors of the rooms on the north and west. It is likely that the earliest phase of the structure dates to the late 11th/early 12th century on the basis of pottery found in Contexts 92 and 99 (see Master Plan). The original courtyard surface is therefore that into which Pit 275 (see below) was cut and is represented by Contexts 332 and 340 (that also date to the late 11th/early 12th century). Numerous fills within the rooms on the north and west side allow for an architectural sequence to be reconstructed spanning the 12th century. Leveling fills with tile, rubble and pottery in Rooms 9-12 date a major remodeling phase in the third-quarter of the 12th century. In this second phase, the courtyard was rebuilt and the rooms on the north opened to the outside; as shown by the creation of a number of pits and post-holes in Room 14 (see below). As in the house to the south, it is likely that any occupational layers and surfaces associated with the rooms of this Late Byzantine phase were removed in the 2015 excavations and/or by later agricultural activities. The destruction debris in the northwest corner of the courtyard consisting of mudbrick and rubble, but little tile, indicates that the tiles of this house were probably removed and the walls allowed to decay sometime in the early 13th century. ; ; Central Courtyard; ; The central courtyard is bounded to the south by Wall 49, to the east by Walls 82 and 373 (the latter was removed to its lowest foundations by bulldozer trench 2), to the west by Walls 86 and 143, and to the north by Wall 185. In the late 11th century, there were two entrances to the main courtyard from the east and west. During the remodeling in the third-quarter of the 12th century, the western entrance was blocked by Wall 382 and Structure 157. Approximately 75% of the courtyard was excavated stratigraphically along the west side of bulldozer trench 3 and the north half between bulldozer trenches 2 and 3.; The excavation of the southwest section of the Courtyard provided a preliminary chronology for the use of the Main Courtyard and for the construction of the rooms north of Wall 49 (i.e., Rooms 9, 10, and 11). The latest deposits excavated in this southwest area (Contexts 83, 87, and 182) are dated, as suggested by the pottery and stratigraphy, to the third quarter of the 12th century: this period might be interpreted as the last phase of use of this area. ; The latest floor surface level (Structure 98) exposed in the Main Courtyard has been partially sectioned and excavated as Context 95, and it has been dated to the early 12th century. A series of fills (Contexts 84, 88, 90 and 94) in the southwest part of the courtyard are dated by pottery to the late-11th / early-12th century and confirm the construction and use of the courtyard in the first phase of the central house. ; Evidence for the initial construction of this house comes from Context 92 (see Master Plan and discussion in reference to Wall 49 in Room 8 above), which was overlaid by Wall 86 of Room 9. Furthermore, Context 92 (and 99) appears to be partially overlaid by Wall 49. The pottery from these deposits has been dated to the second half of the 11th century. Therefore, this rubbish pit provides a secure terminus post quem for the construction of Wall 86 and for Wall 49. These contexts therefore establish both the date of the first construction and the contemporaneity of the central and southern houses.  ; Excavations in the northwest section of the courtyard, west of trench 3, confirmed the basic chronology of the courtyard and established a phase of remodeling in the courtyard in the third quarter of the 12th century (on the basis of Pit 275). During this remodeling, the courtyard surface was re-made and a well (Structure 369) that belonged to the earliest phase of the house was put out of use. A circular stone-built storage bin (Structure 157) was inserted into the west entrance to the house and wall 382 was created to close off that side of the house. Contexts 202, 203, 204, 211, 227, 235, 246, 251, 261, and 265 are leveling fills associated with the third-quarter of the 12th century remodeling of the courtyard and are dated by pottery (with only one survivor—a LH IIIB1 deep bowl from Context 265).; These fills covered Pit 275, which was 2.15 m x 1.7 m x 0.71 m, making it the largest pit excavated in the courtyard. It contained a variety of well-preserved pottery, vast quantities of animal bones, fish scales (NA #111), a steatite button (NA #119), and fragments of glass vessels. A sample of the soil was also taken for the water sieve, which yielded evidence of possible kitchen debris. The pit was excavated in six different contexts (arbitrarily divided for vertical control – Contexts 274, 279, 281, 285, 286, 287), but joins between sherds of the same vessel in different contexts (e.g. between NA-127 in Context 281 and a sherd not numbered from Context 286 as well as NA-124 from Context 279 and another unnumbered sherd from 286) indicate that it is all one dumped fill. The glazed pottery (such as NA-124, NA-125, and NA-126 from Context 279 and NA-127 from Context 281) and cooking wares (like NA-128 from Context 281) provide a date of the third-quarter of the 12th century and give a clear terminus post quem for the construction of the courtyard and this remodeling phase. Below this pit are multiple surfaces and lenses (Contexts 309, 306, 303, 298, 297, 296, 295, 291, 288, 284, and 271) that also date to the third-quarter of the 12th century AD. It was in these various, prepared clay surfaces that the formal pits (275, 317 and 327) were cut and they also support the late 12th century date for a major remodeling of the courtyard. ; The earliest fills below these surfaces that were excavated in this area (i.e. Contexts 332 and 340) consisted of a mixed fill with some Middle Byzantine pottery (dated to the 11th century). As seen in section, this thick (1m +) level sits below all major occupational surfaces excavated in the courtyard and with the exception of a well/cistern (Structure 369), exists below any architecture or architectural feature. Structure 369 is cut into this stratum. Consequently, these contexts may represent the leveling or accumulation related to first phase of the courtyard in the later 11th century.;     The northeast area of the courtyard is bounded by bulldozer trenches 2 and 3, and previously on the east by Wall 373. A possible staircase, Structure 220, possibly built or at least remodeled in the third-quarter of the 12th century may have accessed an upper floor above Room 15. Surface 343 and the fills below it (Contexts 349 and 356) all date to the mid- to third-quarter of the 12th century. Surface 343 was composed of pebble and soil and corresponds to that of the floor surface (Structure 271 to the west). This context therefore supports the date of the remodeling of the courtyard in the third-quarter of the 12th century. This layer connects to and was probably built around the same time as the possible staircase Structure 220. No further excavation was undertaken in this northeast area of the courtyard.; ; West Rooms of Central House; ; Rooms 9, 10, and 11 ; ; Rooms 9 and 10 are bounded to the west by Wall 127 and to the east by Wall 86, in which a doorjamb is preserved connecting Room 9 to the courtyard in the first phase (there is no similar opening to connect Room 10 to the courtyard). These two rooms are divided by Wall 133, which has a threshold to allow passage between these two spaces. Finally, Room 10 is separated to the north by Wall 134. Structure 157 is a circular stone-built storage pit that was inserted into the western group of rooms – it is bordered by Wall 382 to the west, wall 144 to the north and wall 133 to the south. The space occupied by Structure 157 in the original 11th-century phase of the house was likely an entrance into the central courtyard. This entrance was blocked by Wall 382 and the construction of Structure 157 in the third-quarter of the 12th century. Room 11 was possibly bounded to the west by Wall 382 in a later phase, but it was robbed out completely at some point in its later history (excavated in 2015 with no dating evidence), Wall 142 to the north, Wall 144 to the south and Wall 143 to the east. ; Rooms 9, 10, and 11 contained tile leveling fills (Contexts 125, 152, and 160 respectively) at elevations ranging from 58.05-58.22 masl that all date by pottery to the 12th century or more specifically the third quarter of the 12th century, confirming that also these rooms were remodeled in this period and the floor levels raised to create easier access to the central courtyard. Moreover, the absence of any complete, mendable, or even large fragments of tiles in these fills identifies them simply as fills rather than as roof collapse (contrary to the excavator’s original interpretations). In their earlier phases, possible storage pits, (Room 9: Cut 116, Room 10: Cut 137) that were virtually empty aside from irregular stones, were cut into the floor. The threshold of Room 11 was raised with the addition of a block during the late 12th century remodeling (see description of Wall 143). ; ; ; North Rooms of Central House; ; Rooms 12, 13, and 14; ; Room 12 is bounded to the west by a wall that was completely robbed out in antiquity. Wall 185, which is the south wall of Rooms 14 and 13, was partially robbed out as well (Cut 206), perhaps as part of the late 12th century remodeling of the house and courtyard in which Room 14 was perhaps made into an exterior space (i.e., a northern extension of the central courtyard). Rooms 12 and 13 are separated by Wall 153, which has a threshold or opening towards the south that connected the two rooms. Rooms 13 and 14 are separated by wall 168, the southern part of which was robbed out at some point. The original eastern wall of Room 14 was also robbed out and/or destroyed at a later point. Tile-rich leveling fills were excavated in all three rooms (Room 12: Context 161, Room 13: Context 167, Room 14: Context 170) with dates ranging from the 10th to the 12th centuries and elevations of ca. 58.20 masl. Below these deposits relatively level surfaces were exposed. In Rooms 12 and 13, the same floor level appears to have been reached. In room 12, a peculiar oval-shaped pit built in regular courses of tiles and clay pit (Structure 166) was identified, but its function remains unclear. It was filled with pottery of the third-quarter of the 12th century (Context 162) and therefore should be associated with an earlier phase of Room 12. ; Similar pits found in the west end of Room 14 (Structures 186 and 188) are plastered with clay and the tile fragments are irregularly laid against the vertical sides of these structures. These odd pits did not contain any datable material. They were cut into Context 200, which contained Coin NA #59 (Anonymous Follis 1070-1075 AD) suggesting a terminus post quem for these fills of the 11th century, but the pottery dates to the third-quarter of the 12th century and so  they are part of the later remodeling of the space.  The earliest floor level was found in the northwest corner of the room in Context 262, which dates to the 11th century on the basis of pottery and a coin of Nicephoros III (NA #80). This confirms the date of the first phase of the house in the later 11th century.; In the center of Room 14 was Surface 219, which had a series of small pits cut into it (filled by Contexts 228 and 233). East of Surface 219 was Context 249 (dated by pottery to the second half of the 12th century) which had another set of oval pits (Contexts 241, 243) with flat bases and vertical sides similar to cut 229. The fills in these oval pits (Contexts 240 and 242) can be dated to the Middle Byzantine period on the basis of pottery.  There was, however, little pottery in the oval pits and so the date of their construction is given by Context 249. These pits are therefore also part of the late 12th century remodeling of the space. Down the center and on the southern edge of Room 14 (along the robbing trench for Wall 185) were small regularly-spaced cuts (Contexts 244, 247, and 232), which, due to their small and semi-circular appearance, may have been used for postholes for the space. It is likely therefore that Room 14 was turned into a partially exterior space during the second remodeling event and that posts supported the ceiling rather than Wall 185. The pits may perhaps be associated with keeping animals in the area or perhaps a household level industry. No further excavation of this room was conducted during the 2016 excavation season. ; ; East Rooms of Central House; ; Room 15 ; ; This room was bounded on the north by Wall 185, to the west by Wall 373 (now robbed out by bulldozer trench 2) and to the south by Wall 375. The space between Wall 375 and Wall 81 to its immediate south was the east entrance to the house and the central courtyard in all periods. ; The east wall of Room 15 is not preserved nor was a robbing trench identified for it. There is no sign that any walls bonded or were perpendicular to Wall 373 and therefore this room may originally have been very long and narrow, like Room 14 to its north. The scarp in bulldozer trench 2 and some test excavations across the trench in Room 15 suggested that there was little material culture remaining in this area. It appears to correspond to the soil in Contexts 332 and 340 and is Middle Byzantine in date. This area was not excavated further.; ; Room 7; ; In its late 12th-century phase, Room 7 was bounded by Wall 81 to the north, Wall 82 to the west, and Wall 80 to the east (these three walls were exposed in 2015). Wall 80 in all phases likely continued into the unexcavated baulk to the south and perhaps abutted Wall 49 and/or 59 to create a long, narrow room like Room 15. Excavations in this area in 2016 revealed Wall 379, below layers containing later 12th century pottery and kitchen debris. It is likely therefore that, in the late 11th-century phase of the house, Wall 379 truncated Room 7 and created another room to the south and below the baulk.  ; ; The North House; ; The most highly disturbed of the Byzantine houses is the northern house (see Master Plan). This is for two reasons: 1) the excavated site slopes down by two meters from south to north and therefore the architecture was closer to the original ground surface and more vulnerable to later activities, and 2) five bulldozer trenches (1, 6, and 9-11) cut through it both north-south and east-west. There are several 19th century features in the north-central section (marked with a dotted line on Master Plan), which also may have destroyed earlier features. The remaining walls suggest that it is a similar type of house as those to its south. The two best preserved and architecturally-bounded areas were excavated and provide a date of the third-quarter of the 12th century for the surviving architecture of this house. Most of the architecture is preserved in only the foundation courses which are less than 0.2m high. ; Room 16; Room 16 is bounded by Wall 180 to the west, Wall 269 to the south, and wall 270 to the east. Wall 270 consists of small blocks of spolia including marble and granite, in addition to what appears to be evidence of a stone with square cut for a doorway leading into the area east of the room. If there was a northern wall, it was removed by bulldozer trench 10. The only surface reached was Context 273, a layer of fill on the western portion of the room that produced a coin (NA #87), which is an issue of Manuel I and therefore gives a 12th century terminus post quem for this context. Cut into Context 273 is Context 268, a pit measuring 1.01 x .97 m. The fill of this pit, Context 267, dates to the 3rd quarter of the 12th century during the Late Byzantine period. No further excavation was conducted in this room during the 2016 season.; ; Area East of Room 16; ; Moving east of Room 16, we find a large rectangular space reached by an alley formed between Walls 269 and 154 from the west and also from a doorway leading from Room 16. The possible northern boundary of this space was Wall 282 and it is also possible that Wall 377 is part of the same structure. The earliest stratum excavated in this area is Context 300, which is the second floor surface in the eastern half of this area. This context is dated to the third-quarter of the 12th century on the basis of pottery and a coin, NA #98 (Anonymous Class 3), which supports a date in the Late Byzantine period. ; Context 300 gives a third-quarter of the 12th century date for a pebble floor covered entire area—Structure 294, which also contained pottery of that date. There is substantial evidence for remodeling and leveling activities in this area.  Contexts 292 and 280 both dated to the 3rd quarter of the 12th century. The pebble flooring and compact surface support the interpretation of this area as an exterior space during the 3rd quarter of the 12th century. No further excavation was undertaken here. ; ; Other Phases; ; Early Modern (19th century); In Room 1, in the area west of Wall 20, there is evidence of a 19th century occupational level (Context 4), which heavily impacted the earlier stratigraphic levels. The identification of a cistern (Structure 12) and the recovery of a Koronaika pithos, found with fragments of a grindstone and mortar (NA #3), and 19th century utilitarian vessels are in fact indicative of the occupation of this area in the Early Modern period. ; ; Early Byzantine ; ; A bottle cistern (Structure 304) was excavated in the area west of Room 1.  It was truncated on its western half by the bulldozer Trench 7 but the eastern half is still extant except the northernmost course of stones, which was removed when wall 353 was constructed.  It was made of random courses of roughly hewn limestone with a plaster coating on its interior and a tile floor at the base. The cistern was filled with pottery of the late 8th-early 9th century (Contexts 305, 311, 351, and 355), examples of which include NA-129, NA-130, and NA-131 from Context 305 as well as NA-132 from Context 351.  The bottle cistern was likely covered before Pits 236, 237, and 238 were created in the 10th – 11th centuries but the exact stratigraphic relationship between these pits, wall 353, and the bottle cistern remains undetermined due to soil disturbance by the bulldozer.  The bottle cistern sits on top of the sterile red soil or stereo into which the pits are cut, therefore the fills are the only source for the date of the cistern’s use.  It is possible that the use of the grape/olive press from Room 17 is roughly contemporary and/or post-dates the closure of this bottle cistern.   Samples of the soil were taken for water sieving and yielded small pieces of charcoal, grape pips, and grain. ; In Room 17, a well (Structure 334) and a grape/olive press (Structure 325) were discovered. The latter was identified by its lack of drain and the presence of grape and olive pits recovered from water floatation samples. Excavation revealed that Well 334 had been cut into a thick, white floor surface (not excavated) and that a post-construction leveling fill had been laid against it on the west side. These contexts (345, 346, and 347) all contained 5th and 6th century AD pottery and had been deposited against the well (perhaps in a single event), giving the construction of the well a terminus ante quem of the 7th century. ;     The lowermost fills around the press (Structure 325) also had an Early Byzantine signature. Contexts 338 and 339 can probably be associated with a post-construction leveling event that is contemporary with Contexts 345, 346, and 347 around Well 334. Context 338 contained the fill below the north section of the western wall of the press which had been robbed out or destroyed. It appeared to have been cut into the soil below it, while the 11th century leveling fills (see above) had been laid against it. The pottery from both of these contexts cannot be dated to anything more specific than the 6th century, but this agrees with the fills around Well 334 and with its 7th century terminus ante quem.; The space enclosed by Walls 199 and south of Wall 198 yielded a date of the 7th c. AD or later based on pottery (filled by Contexts 254- 259, but dated on the basis of one fragment of an African Red Slip Form 105 from Context 259). These contexts therefore provide a terminus ante quem for the last use of those walls and their associated structure of the Early Byzantine period. At the bottom of context 259 was a tile surface that was laid against wall 199, thus post-dating the original construction. No contexts have been excavated that can be directly associated with the construction of Wall 199. The excavation of the lowermost fill of Pit 238, Context 289, revealed a foundation trench for Wall 198 (Cut 301). Though it had been truncated on its western side, probably by the cut for Pit 237 or Pit 238, the trench and fill were still preserved to the east. Context 302 filled the trench, and the pottery tentatively dated the fill to the Early Byzantine period, giving a broad terminus ante quem for Wall 198, which accords with our previous interpretation of Wall 198's date. No contexts have been excavated that can be securely identified as fill for the original structure, however. ; ; Earlier Material; ;     There is no archaeological evidence from anywhere in the excavated area for substantial activities that pre-date the Early Byzantine period. In comparison to other excavated areas in Corinth, such as the Forum area, the Panayia Field, or other ASCSA-excavated sites, pottery from earlier periods that might be interpreted as survivors in later contexts is virtually absent from this excavation. The absence of even moderate quantities of earlier pottery demonstrates that there is no significant pre-Byzantine presence. If there were earlier structures, they would have been cut into or above the red clay stereo level across the site and then destroyed by the Early and later Byzantine activities in the area that reach into the same stereo level. Yet, they also would have left some archaeological trace in the form of pottery that was redeposited or survived in later levels. The absence of such pre-Byzantine pottery is therefore very strong evidence that the earliest major activity dates to the Early Byzantine period. As noted above in relation to their contexts, there was a total of three prehistoric sherds found in the entire area.","Corinth:Report:New Apotheke: D. Kokolopoulos and E. Lambraki Field 2016 by  (2016-05-30 to 2016-08-13)","","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | New Apotheke: D. Kokolopoulos and E. Lambraki Field",""