"Type","dc-description","Redirect","dc-publisher","Name","dc-date","UserLevel","dc-subject","Chronology","Id","Collection","dc-creator","dc-title","Icon"
"Report","Rachel McCleery/Sarah Miller; Nezi Field Excavations; N: 1015.90 N, S: 1006.90 N, E: 264.20 E, W: 255.50 E; April 3-20, 2012; ; This is a summary of the first session of excavation (April 3-20) in 2012 in the northwest area of Nezi field. Guy Sanders (director) and Heather Graybehl (field director) supervised.  The blue excavation team consisted of Rachel McCleery and Sarah Miller (recorders), Athanasios Sakellariou (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 baulk of Nezi field (255.50 E) to the west.  The lack of preserved architecture led us to interpret our area as exterior space associated with the Byzantine house to the south.  The goal of this season is to further explore the Byzantine habitation layers found during earlier excavations in the area (2008 and 2009), with the hope of reaching Late Roman material by the end of the season.; ; Middle Byzantine (802-1058 AD); ; An area to the northwest (724) was covered with broken and redeposited tile mixed with pottery, possibly as leveling fill for an exterior courtyard. A lens of ashy fill (722) was laid on top. ; ; The leveling fill here may have been associated with the construction or use phase of an E-W wall (747) to the south (between 1010.10 and 1010.20 N).  The relationship of this wall to the context immediately to the E (745) is unclear, as it has been only partially excavated. Given the high concentrations of tile in 745, some of which were lying horizontally near the nicely-faced E end of 747, a tile surface may also have been laid next to wall 747 at the level of the topmost preserved stone, either as paving or as a threshold. This wall, or its continuation (after a doorway, if the eastern face we exposed is the western doorjamb) along the same E-W line, may have intersected with pier 573 at the pier’s southern end, and continued east to wall 540.; Additional leveling activity took place in the southeast, 2 to 5 meters west of wall 540, where a shallow pit was filled with Middle Byzantine material (668, 678).  ; ; Late Byzantine (1059-1210 AD); ; This previously open area was closed off to the S by the construction of another E-W wall (366).  The shallow Middle Byzantine pit discussed above was cut by the foundation trench (C687) for this wall, and the foundation trench was filled with cultural material of the 11th to mid-12th c. (684 = lot 2012-03).; Later in the period, the inhabitants dug a pit (C686) which intruded on this foundation trench and its fill. The pit (C686) was filled with successive layers of dumped debris, not all of which have yet been excavated.  A sandy, pebbly matrix, partially excavated in context 680 by mistake, represents the earliest lens of fill observed, and contained at least three 2nd c. AD coins (2012-23, 2012-26, 2012-28), one 4th c. coin (2012-27), and four illegible coins.  The lowest excavated layer of fill (680) contained large quantities of redeposited late Roman pottery (late 3rd to early 4th) along with material from the second half of the 11th c., which may represent dumped fill from construction activity elsewhere.  An upper layer of fill (642 = lot 2012-02, 657) with a greater concentration of bone and more variety in its pottery, was then laid on 680 in the early 12th c.  This may represent construction debris combined with some habitation debris, given the greater quantities of bone recovered.; ; In the mid-12th c., this pit (C686) was edged on its northeast side with white clay (638), ca. 20-30 cm in width, which may once have formed a containing barrier separating the contents of the pit from a yellow clay surface (unexcavated) to the north.  For later activity in this area of the trench, see 2009 contexts (esp. 447, 449, 454- 456, 465-467, 476-481).; ; Further along wall 366 to the west, an additional extensive deposit (692, 697, 734) leveled the area between walls 366 and 747, covering a sloping red clay emanating from the area of the well (742, unexcavated) to the east and wall 366 to the south.  ; ; Around the same time, an earlier wall running N-S from the area of well 742 (possibly cut by well 742 and continuing south beyond it as seen in stones visible in the north side of the bottom of foundation trench C687) was robbed out and the trench filled with cultural material (728) dating from the late 11th to early 12th c.  The area to the east (730) and west (724) of this robbing trench was covered in additional leveling fill, but the chronological relationship between the N-S robbing trench and the leveling fill is unclear.  All three deposits (724, 728, and 730) were superficially identical.  The N-S robbing trench was distinguished from the other two contexts only by cuts through the deposits which lay beneath 724.  We posit that the early 12th c. material in 724 came from the portion in the area of the robbing trench, since the robbing trench itself (728) was dated to the late 11th/early 12th c., the fill to its east (730) was dated to the 11th c., and 724 was overlaid in the west by contexts 722 (ashy semicircle discussed above) and 727 (a patch of reddish soil), both of which dated to the 11th c.  The relationship of this N-S robbing trench to the E-W wall 747 below is unclear, though their comparative elevations would lead us to believe that the robbed out N-S wall was both later and shorter-lived than wall 747.  ; ; After the N-S robbing trench was filled in, a reddish pebbly deposit (707) was laid over its northern end.  Several layers of similar fill (661, 636, 461, 460) followed in the same location, possibly to provide a well-drained, hard-wearing surface in a high-traffic outdoor area.  At some point these pebbly deposits were cut by drain 426, but successive excavations of the fill of the drain north of wall 366 (462, 469, 588-591, 635) and more of the fill around it (458, 460, 461, 464, 468, 469, 476, 482, 569, 588, 589, 624) failed to provide conclusive information about its date (due in part to robbing of the stones of the drain to the south).; ; To the north and east of pier 573, a soft brown deposit (706) was laid on a harder, orangey surface (unexcavated), possibly forming the substructure for a series of floors in this area.   This was in turn covered by a darker soil (701) which was laid against pier 573 and extended east to wall 540.; ; Frankish (1210-1458 AD); ; 13th c. pottery (744) appeared immediately above the remains of wall 747 in the western half of the trench, possibly representing fill from an episode of robbing.  An orangey Frankish surface (576) extended east from pier 573 to wall 540.  It was bordered in the S by the eastern portion of wall 747, which therefore was still in use in the Frankish period.  A reused block with a cutting for a doorjamb (574) was placed against wall 540 above this orangey floor.  This suggests that the similar buttressing block to the south (653) may have been added at this time, covering the 12th c. white and yellow clays noted above.  We wildly speculate that the reused doorjamb block was taken from an opening for a door in wall 747, west of pier 573, leading north into an outdoor area with a pebbly surface.  This pebbly surface would have been provided with a light roof, as can be imagined from the presence of at least two postholes north of the wall (one discovered in 2009 in context 460, and one visible just W of the middle of pier 573).; ; Early Modern (1831-1945 AD); ; In the early modern period, a second robbing trench was dug and filled (740) along the western half of wall 747, cutting the earlier trench from the Frankish robbing episode. This second robbing trench is truncated by the west baulk of Nezi field at 255.50 E, and ends in the east at ca. 257 E.  The cut for this trench had tapered sides and a blunt bottom.  The north side of the cut sloped up to the north at approximately a thirty degree angle (see 631) while the south side sloped up to the south at approximately a forty degree angle.  The steeply sloping, semicircular cut in the sloping red clay layer southeast of this cut and at a higher elevation (furthest eastern extent: ca. 258.05 E, 1009.50 N) may be the remains of the robbing trench cut at a higher level, sloping down from southeast to northwest.; ; Another early modern robbing trench in the eastern side of the trench removed the eastern continuation of wall 747.  This trench extended from wall 540 (ca. 264.05 E) at least as far as the southwest end of pier 573 (ca. 260.30 E) extending to ca. 1010 N.  This modern robbing trench remains unexcavated at the end of this session, but we have dated it based on the small quantities of Early Modern pottery found in contexts 669 and 672 (lot 2012-04) immediately above. During this period, if not earlier, some of the stones in drain 426 were also robbed out.; ; Finally, a foundation trench was cut for the S wall of the Giambouranis house (719), with Early Modern fill in its upper layer.  The removal of this fill revealed a number of unexcavated contexts, the date of which remains to be determined.  This wall seems to have been earlier than wall 243, whose foundation trench (C272) has cut or truncated many of the contexts in this area.; ; For next session:; ; Excavation in this area so far has been aimed at uncovering G. Sanders’ “pleasing pink” deposits (red clay thought to date to the Late Roman period).  With this goal in mind, we recommend that further excavation should begin with the following:; 1)    Removal of the early modern robbing trench east and south of pier 573 (see context 672).; 2)    Excavation of the post hole discovered at the bottom of 707, west of pier 573.  While it is unlikely that diagnostic material will be found at the bottom of such a small context, one can always hope.; 3)    Removal of the sandy/pebbly deposit left in C686 (see context 680).  We recommend careful 100% sieving, since this is likely the context which produced 8 coins in 2 buckets of soil.; 4)    Removing the block of soil left to the south of C566, where the arc of a column is visible in the scarp along with a number of boulders and cobbles.; 5)    Completion of the context begun as 745 (E of wall 747) in order to clarify architectural features and phasing in this area.; 6)    Excavation around well 742 to clarify the relationship between the well and the surrounding contexts.  The well itself cannot be excavated at present since its fill begins 2.96 m below the deposit covering its mouth.  We do not recommend stepping on or through it, nor do we recommend excavating more than 0.50 m (at most) immediately to its east, since the well is deeply undercut in that direction beginning at ~1.30 m below the present top of the well.; ; Further notes:; We have not fully excavated the fill (684) of the foundation trench (687) for wall 366, since it becomes too deep and narrow north of the wall’s preserved western extent.  The pit fill excavated as 680 may continue as well; a large handle sherd was visible at its bottom near wall 366 on 26 April 2012.  We also have not fully excavated context 745, which was closed at the end of the last day of excavations prior to reaching the bottom of the context.; There are three major questions raised by this session’s excavations which should be resolved by further work in this area: ; 1)    What is the relationship of wall 747 to the N-S robbing trench (728), well 742, and the black deposit (745) immediately to the E of the preserved portion of the wall?; 2)    How is well 472 related to other activity in this area?; 3)    Does the softer soil excavated in 703 (mid-12th c.) continue beneath the harder surface exposed by 701, or is it a different (but similar) soil beneath?  If it is the same, why does the harder surface above it stop ca. 0.60 m from wall 540, and why is context 706 (which is laid on the harder surface) dated to the early 12th c.?","","","Nezi Field 2012 by Rachel McCleery/Sarah Miller (2012-04-03 to 2012-04-20)","","","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Nezi Field","","Corinth:Report:Nezi Field 2012 by Rachel McCleerySarah Miller (2012-04-03 to 2012-04-20)","Corinth","","Excavations in Nezi Field, NW area, Session 1 2012",""
"Report","Jonida Martini, Larkin Kennedy, and Rachel McCleery; Team Pink Report for May, 2012 season; Session 2, 2012 American School Corinth Excavations (April 30-May 19, 2012 for final report); Nezi Field, NE Region; E 264 to 275, N 1006 to 1014; ;     Excavations were conducted in the NE area of the Nezi Field region, to the east of N-S wall 540 (E 264.5) and to the north of pit 191 (north of N1006) in the southwest and north of pit 193 (north of N1008.5) in the southeast. The northern edge of this area is bounded by the scarp edge left by previous excavations in the North of Nezi region (south of ca. N1014). ; ;     The excavation of this area was under the direction of Dr. G.D.R. Sanders, Director of Excavations, Corinth, and the assistant field director was Ms. Heather Graybehl. Our pickmen were the brothers Panos and Tasos Kakouros; our shovelman and sieve operator was Vasillis Kollias. Jonida Martini and Larkin Kennedy were recorders for the first half of the May session. Jonida Martini and Rachel McCleery were recorders for the second half of the May session. This area was last excavated in April of 2012 by Simon Oswald and Andrew Connor.; ; Late Antique;     ; In the previous session, a cemented N-S wall (746) was unearthed near the eastern extent of this area at easting 274.5. This wall was considered to have been in use earlier than the 8th to 9th c. AD, as its construction used large, roughly worked bedrock and limestone blocks and cement. It was out of use by the 8th – 9th centuries AC, as fill dating to that time period covers over the wall. In the western half of our area, traces of an E-W wall at 1011 northing (807) appear to be in the same cement block masonry style of wall 746 and therefore have been preliminarily dated to Late Antiquity as well. This designation is preliminary, however, as only the very top course of each wall has been exposed for a little more than a meter. It is possible that wall 807 meets up with wall 746, forming an enclosed area in the late antique period south of the North of Nezi area, and helping to section off a small room in the far northeast of the Nezi field (north of 1013N and east of 274E).;     ; Throughout the excavation area, a wide stretch of reddish material has been exposed which contains large amounts of tile and amphorae sherds which preliminarily date it to the Roman period.  A small triangular section of this material lies pedestaled above much of the rest of the trench, and its upper layer (836) has been dated to the Late Roman period (late 5th – early 6th).  The rest remains unexcavated.  As it overlays these late antique walls (807), it is probably late Roman in origin, though a definite date will need to be assigned after excavation. Fill 812 appears to be a portion of this reddish material that was preemptively excavated near the northwest corner of the trench between wall 807 and the late antique walls in North of Nezi.)  Wall 807 was presumably out of use by the 10th to 11th c., since it was immediately overlaid by context 805 (10th-11th c. npd). ; ; Byzantine; ;     In the Early Byzantine period (8th-9th c. AC), a large fill (837, 846) was deposited west of and partially over the remains of the Late Antique wall (746).  ; This fill contained interesting cookware in a micaceous fabric, as well as handmade beakers.; ; Later in the Byzantine period (10th century AC), mixed fill was laid down E-W across the extent of this area in a long, rough depression. This fill (previously excavated as context 741, and also comprising contexts 749, 782, and 835) is contained in a long trench that cut directly off of the wall that may have been used for drainage. This depression could also have functioned as a road which was robbed out prior to the 10th century, as a few flattened boulders which could have been used originally to pave the road were found in an apsidal structure immediately to the south of the trench. Shallow deposits of leveling fill south of this trench dating to the 11th century (778, 779) could have been related to the use of this road. Probably also during this time period, contexts 788 and 799 filled a pit next to wall 540.;     ; Walls 313, 334, and 335 may have been built to the south of the 741/748/782/835 trench at this point or earlier, but since they have not been fully excavated, their construction date is unclear.  Wall 616 (also not fully excavated) was later added to the north end of wall 334.  The plan of this originally rectangular room was further altered by the addition of an apse-shaped structure (538, 539) added to its northern end in the 11th century AC connecting walls 313 and 616/334 (removed as context 773). This apsidal structure had no stone courses, though rounded, smaller cobbles were generally found on the west and larger, roughly hewn boulders mixed with the rounded cobbles on the east. This division in the size of the boulders piled in the apse shape appears to have led previous investigators to assign two context numbers (538 and 539) to the structure, though there does not appear to have been any other difference in the fill. Against the northern end of wall 313, more rounded boulders were loosely piled in order to round the western edge of this apsidal structure (removed as context 801). These cobbles and boulders could have been placed around cut 848 as it was being dug sometime either during the Late Byzantine or Frankish period as they resemble a rock pile or a series of rock piles more than a formal wall. An outer apse or buffer (676) surrounding this structure could have provided a finished façade for the internal rubble. This apse-shape may served as a curb surrounding and containing the series of dumped fills found in and around it (785, 786, 787, 789, 790), which would fit with G. Sanders’ observation about the casual, dumped appearance of the stones in the apse.;     ; To the north of the apse, a large pit (C784) was filled with a series of dumped deposits.  The chronology here is somewhat confused and will require further investigation; at the moment, however, pit C784 appears to be a Late Byzantine (or possibly very early Frankish) construction.  The pottery from much of its fill (752, 753, 754, 756, and 758) was contaminated by the contents of a later Frankish pit (C847) which was dug together with them accidentally; but contexts 764, 765, 810, and 812 should represent the uncontaminated fills of pit C784.  C784 contained secondary fills (752, 753, 754, 756, 758, 764, 765, and 810, and 812) with a number of broken pots, bones, tile, glass shards, a ceramic waster, marble fragments, and iron slag. 752 contained coin 58 (1030-1042 AC) and 764 contained coin 64 (post-335 AC). 754 contained a cylindrical glass bead (MF 2012-16), while a lion muzzle from a marble sima (A 2012-1) was recovered from context 765.  C784 cut the northern portion of 770 and ashy fill 783, a shallow ashy lens under 770.  C784 may still be Late Byzantine despite the Frankish pottery date of 770, because context 770 was a cleaning which extended across the entirety of the trench from north to south, east of wall 540.  The removal of the fill within pit C784 had left a baulk (to the north of what would later be identified as wall 807) very similar to the baulk to the south that had been created by the partial removal of context 218.  The apparent similarity of the two areas led to the northern portion of 770 being excavated together with the Frankish material to the south.; ; Frankish;     ; In the northernmost portion of our excavation area, a number of contexts were excavated that had been affected by their proximity to the scarp.  They had slumped slightly down the hill so that portions of later contexts near the scarp had collapsed to the same elevation as the early contexts further south of the scarp. Contexts 750 and 751 accordingly contain pottery the majority of which dates to the Frankish period, but which is highly disturbed. Each also contains many glass fragments and other rubble as well as significant amounts of Late Roman pottery. 750 also contained an imitation African lamp handle and 751 contained coin 2012-57 (1287-1308 AC).  ;     ; Around the end of the 13th/beginning of the 14th c., pit C848 inside the apsidal structure was filled (contexts 792, 793, 796, 820, and 821). Coin 2012-70 (1060? AC) was discovered in 793, as well as a wealth of fine pottery and cook pots which securely date these contexts. This pit extends further below the lowest depth excavated, and should be investigated further to determine the date of the lowest fill and thus a more definite construction date for the pit.;     During the Frankish period, pit C847 was dug to the north of the apsidal structure through the remnants of Byzantine pit C784 as well as through the stub of a Byzantine wall (694).  Contexts 761 and 763, which filled pit C847, contained coin 2012-62 (4th c. AC) as well as iron debris, an iron knife missing its handle and some glass along with pottery.  (The upper levels of fill in this Frankish pit C847 were mistakenly excavated with the fill of the larger Byzantine pit C784, thus contaminating the pottery dates for 752, 753, 754, 756, and 758.  The Frankish pit can be clearly distinguished from C784 in photos 2012-213, 2012-215, and 2012-216.); ; An area of fill was laid down in the southwest part of the trench just east of wall 540.  This context (the southern portion of 770) was equivalent to context 218 which had been incompletely excavated at the end of the 2007 season, leaving a baulk of the same soil east of wall 540.  This had been assigned context number 644 by the 2012 session 1 excavators, but was not excavated until session 2, when it was lumped in with additional material to the north.;     Yet another Frankish pit (430) was dug just to the southwest of C847. This pit was not completely excavated in the 2008 season, and in the shallow remnants of this pit (803 and 804) we found very little pottery but one gold gilded tessera (MF 2012-20) that is comparable to a similar one found in the Nezi area in a previous year. This pit was also lined with lime. In the bottom of the pit were visible two more of the large blocks from wall 807.","","","Nezi Field 2012 by Larkin Kennedy, Jonida Martini, and Rachel McCleery (2012-04-30 to 2012-05-19)","","","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Nezi Field","","Corinth:Report:Nezi Field 2012 by Larkin Kennedy, Jonida Martini, and Rachel McCleery (2012-04-30 to 2012-05-19)","Corinth","","Final Report 2012 Session 2: Team Pink",""
"Report","Jody Cundy and Dina Boero; Corinth Excavations ; Nezi 2009; Final Summary; 12 June 2009    ; ; Over the course of three sessions in the 2009 season, excavations continued in the west half of Nezi field, which extends from the following coordinates: NW corner: 1015N, 255.5E, NE corner: 1014N, 264E, SE corner: 999N, 266E, SW corner: 999N, 2555.5E. The area was excavated by Stella Diakou and Cavan Concannon, from March 30 to April 16th, 2009, Stella Diakou and Jody Cundy, from April 27 to May 15th, 2009, and Jody Cundy and Dina Boero, from May 25 to June 12th, 2009.  All trench supervisors worked under the supervision of Guy Sanders, Alicia Carter, James Herbst and Ioulia Tzonou-Herbst. Panos Stamatis was the pickman in the first session, Stavros* was the barrow man, and Sotiris Raftopoulos was the shovel man.  In the second and third sessions, Kostas Arberores was the pickman, Stavros * was barrowman and Vaggelis Kollias was shovelman.; ; The aim of excavation this season in Nezi Field was to remove all contexts later than the period of occupation of the buildings composed of walls 306, 336, 332, 365, 305, 376, and 313, which appear to be medieval domestic structures.  The overall goal of the Nezi field excavations is to show the relationship of this area to the excavated area to the North (North of Nezi).; ; Early Modern (1831-1945); ; During the first session, S. Diakou and C. Concannon excavated a number of agricultural deposits containing eighteenth and nineteenth-century pottery, mixed with thirteenth- and fourteenth-century material (contexts 434, 435, 439, 442, 443, 441, lot 2009-76, lot 2009-79).  The mixed nature of these deposits, coupled with the fact that they cover most of the area of excavations, suggests that this area was plowed and used for agricultural purposes during the early modern period.  Added evidence for this conclusion is the removal of an early modern wall (243) in the 2008 excavations, which served to mark the boundary between agricultural fields in the area.  In addition, a lens of dumped material (476) associated with the robbed out portion of the earlier NS stone built drain 426 indicates disturbance of this feature in the early modern period.  A circular pit which contained early modern material (485, 486) also interrupted the course of the drain, though this feature predates the construction of the boundary wall (243) since the foundation trench for this wall (272) truncates the pit.  Both the plow zone and the pit are likely associated with the occupation phase of the Giambouranis’ house (Nb. 252, 262).  ; ; Also during the early modern period, two phases of robbing activity occurred.  The corner formed by the NS wall 306 and the EW wall 366 was robbed out (496, 497).  The homogenous nature of the fill of the L-shaped cut indicates that both walls were robbed out in the same event. Prior to the robbing of the intersection of these two walls, another robbing event occurred (cut 596).  This robbed wall may be the further westward extension of 366 or it may have been a different wall on a similar orientation that either abutted or bonded with the W corner of walls 306 and 366.  The robbing trench 596 itself is roughly in alignment with EW wall 366, but no stones from the robbed wall remain in situ in the bottom of the cut.  Consequentially, it is not possible to compare the alignment of this wall with the preserved portions of wall 366.  The pottery associated with this earlier robbing activity produced an early modern date (595).  ; ; After this season’s excavation in Nezi Field, it is expected that we removed all the deposits associated with early modern activity in the west portion of the area, though early modern material may still be present in the area east of walls 540 and 313 which was not excavated this season but in 2007 and 2008.; Turkish (1680 – 1831); ; A series of deposits excavated along the course of the NS drain 426 attest to the disturbance of this feature during the Ottoman period.  We excavated a series of deposits within the course of the drain from which we recovered Ottoman material (591, 590, 589, 463).  These fills represent backfilling of the drain rather than use fill.  This backfilling occurred after the removal of the cover slabs in the northern stretch of the drain; these cover stones are preserved in situ in the portion of the drain that extends southward from wall 366.  It is not possible to determine whether human agents purposely recovered the cover slabs for re-use or if these elements were disturbed by the agricultural activity in the area.; ; We partially excavated a deep, plaster-rich lens which continues westward into the scarp at the edge of the excavations (255.5 E).  The plaster inclusions suggest that this is re- deposited debris from the demolition of a wall possibly connected with the Ottoman phase of the Giambouranis’ house (459, 631).; ; Frankish (1210-1458 CE); ; Excavations this season attest to an abundance of Frankish activity throughout Nezi Field.  First, in the northwest corner of our excavation area we exposed a collapsed circular built well (structure 495). The fill of the well below the lowest preserved course of roughly hewn limestone blocks has not been excavated. The upper most fill (492) of the cut for the construction of the well (cut 493) produced fourteenth-century material whereas the second lens (494) contained tumbled blocks from the built walls along with  thirteenth-century material; the large block in this fill indicates a collapse of the upper courses of the well and a possible date for its destruction in the thirteenth century, though whether this collapse reflects an intentional event related to the backfilling of the well remains unclear and requires further excavation. ; ; Second, in the southwest corner of the excavation area, west of wall 306 and north of wall 376, a destruction lens of collapsed roof tiles was revealed. This destruction layer was disturbed with the opening of a pit (cut 501). It is possible that this pit represents an effort to sink a well that was abandoned when the pit-diggers hit bedrock. The excavation of the pit fill (499, 500) produced late-thirteenth-century material (lot 2009-26). This gives us a putative terminus ante quem for the destruction of the room west of wall 306 and north of wall 376. From the pit fill (500) we uncovered a bronze earring with copper wire decoration (MF 2009-09). ; ; There is further evidence of Frankish activity in Nezi Field which post-dates the occupation of the structures formed by walls 305, 306, 313, 365, 366, and 376.  As mentioned above, west of the NS wall 306 and north of the EW wall 376, we revealed a destruction layer composed of nearly complete roof tiles which had fallen when the roof collapsed.  When excavated, this destruction layer (602) produced late thirteenth-century material and revealed a clay floor which abuts wall both 376 and wall 306.  It is clear that occupants of this space swept the floor clean prior to the abandonment of this structure, as no objects were revealed on the interfaced below the collapsed roof.  Further north in the same room the floor was cut for the construction of a random-coursed, hydraulic cement-lined well (610).  The partially-excavated backfill of the well included late thirteenth-century material (611).  Because no roof tiles remained in the northern portion of the room or overlaid the well, it is impossible to determine at this point whether the construction of the well pre- or post-dates the abandonment of the space.  Further excavation of the backfill and use fill of the well will be necessary in order to clarify this issue.  ; ; We posit that a rather short period elapsed between the last phase of occupation of this space and the collapse of the roof, because excavation of the floor covered by tiles and the leveling fill beneath it produced late thirteenth- through early fourteenth-century material (614, 615, lot 2009-75).  A second, earlier floor (618, lot 2009-74) extended northward from wall 576 but did not reach the robbing trench 596 which marks the northern boundary of the space.  The excavation of this floor produced mid thirteenth-century material and revealed a third, earlier floor; the sequence of floors provides evidence for continuous occupation of the space.  The floors and destruction layer in this room have been sectioned during excavations because the scarp to west at 255.5 E marks the edge of the excavation area; thus their full extent is not known.  No points of communication between this space and the adjacent rooms east of wall 306 have been identified.  The south wall of the space abuts and therefore postdates the NS wall 306.  Wall 376 also extends EW off alignment with wall 305 which runs on the east side of wall 306.  Based on these observations, it is possible that this space belongs to a different complex than the adjacent rooms to the east.            ; ; Third, a wealth of Frankish activity also took place in the eastern portion of the site.  After the last occupants abandoned the suite of rooms bounded by the three NS walls 306, 332 and 313, and the EW walls 366 and 305, blocks were robbed from the intersection of the NS wall 332 and the EW wall 365. The excavation of the fill of the robbing trench produced material which showed that walls 366 and 332 were robbed no earlier than the thirteenth-fourteenth century (450, 451, lot 2009-1).  These walls were not fully robbed down to their foundations; instead they continue underneath the fill of the robbing trench. ; ; In the room south of the robbed portions of walls 365 and 332, a sequence of six intersecting pits disturbed the red clay floor associated with wall 313 to the east and wall 332 to the west (lot 2009-60). The fill (508) of the latest circular pit (cut 510) produced late thirteenth-century material. The function of pit cut 510 is unclear; the diameter is consistent with a well cut, though the depth (0.52m) and stopping point would contradict this interpretation because the bottom of the pit consisted of a loose matrix with no impediments to further digging if their intention was to sink a well. Pit cut 510 was cut into the fills (511, 512) of a larger oval pit (cut 513) which also produced late thirteenth-century material. The finds from this pit include an intact horse cranium and articulated sheep/goat vertebrae with both the sacrum and innominate and indicate that this pit was probably used as a refuse pit. Pit cut 513 cuts the fills of two earlier pits: pit cut 517 and pit cut 526. The later of the two, pit cut 517 was a shallow circular pit that yielded a lot of building material together with late thirteenth-century pottery (fills 515, 516). The earlier pit cut 526 was another circular and relatively deep pit that produced also thirteenth-century material (fills 518, 521, 522, 523, 524, 525, 544). Pit cut 526 is cut through the fill of an earlier pit (cut 528) with which it shared a northern boundary. The fill (530, 531, 532, 533, 534, 535) of pit cut 528 gave late thirteenth-century material. It seems that the pit was not filled to the top immediately but rather left open for a period of time as pieces of the red clay floor, into which the pit was cut, were recovered from the fill of the pit c. 0.25-0.40m below the elevation of the floor. The function of the pit is not clear; the pit has a depth of at least 1.7m and cuts bedrock at the lowest revealed part of the cut which might indicate that it is a well. However, its diameter of 2m seems too large of such a feature. The lowest excavated fill produced a lot of building material. Pit cut 528 has not been excavated to its full extent. Pit cut 528 is cut into the fill of an earlier oval pit to the north (pit cut 527). Pit cut 527 is the earliest pit in the sequence. The fill (514, 509, 519, 541, 542, 520, 543) of the pit gave pottery dating to the 3rd quarter of the thirteenth century.; ; Extensive disturbance in the area has caused the slumping of layers in and around the pits. The overlapping pits in this area seem to indicate a preference for digging pits in already disturbed areas where the soil is less compact. All the pits are imagined to have been cut from the shallow lenses of dumped fill above the red clay floor such that they postdate the use phase of the floor and its associated walls 313 and 332. It seems that by the end of the thirteenth century at least this part of the complex of rooms was not in use. ; ; The Frankish phase of occupation of the room bounded by wall 332 to the west, 313 to the east, wall 305 to the south and wall 365 to the north is attested by the heavy red clay floor (620, 549, 550) which extends between and abuts all four of the walls.  Although phasing of the construction of these walls requires further excavation and the isolation of foundation trenches associated with the walls, the relationship between the red clay floor and the walls shows at least one phase of contemporary use in the first half of the thirteenth century.  The floor also lay against two superimposed courses of tile fragment built into wall 332; we interpret these tile courses as the bedding for a robbed out threshold block.  The presence of the threshold (structure 536) indicates communication between the room east of wall 332 and the room west of wall 332.  Communication between the room east of wall 332 and the adjacent room to the east of wall 313 is similarly attested by the limestone threshold block and the doorjamb and pivot cuttings (structure 537) built into wall 313.  The room east of wall 313 is bounded to the east by the NS wall 334 and was previously excavated in the 2008 season.  We posit a mid-thirteenth century date for the phase of occupation associated with the floor based on the pottery recovered during excavation of the floor, which is consistent with both the fragments of a plate and an incised bone bead found sitting on the interface of the floor (562, lot 2009-24, MF 2009-23). ; ; The red clay floor (620, 549, 550) also abuts a large, stone-built structure which appears to be a platform, bench, or perhaps the base of a staircase (452).  Excavation of the fills below the floor north of this structure further revealed fair-faced courses of stone rather than rubble foundations, indicating that the use phase associated with the floor (620, 549, 550) is not the first phase of use.  The structure itself clearly abuts the E face of wall 332 and therefore postdates the construction of the wall.  Based on these observations, it is expected that further excavation in this room will reveal earlier use phases.   ; ; Fourth, the space north of the complex of rooms bounded by walls 306, 332, 313, 366, 365, and 305 appears to be exterior space in the Frankish period, though some structures in this area exist.  NS stub wall (478) likely abutted EW wall 366 prior to the robbing out of this wall.  This NS stub wall (478) is associated with an EW stub wall (477) by a clay floor (481). The EW stub wall (477) likely abutted the NS wall 540, before the robbing of courses of this wall.  Given the dimensions of the interior space created by walls 477 and 478, these walls potentially form either a storage space, pen, or supports for a work surface.  The excavation of the walls 478 and 477 demonstrated that neither wall had foundations and that the associated floors (480, 481) were laid against the structures as they did not continue underneath wall 477.  ; ; Further north in this area, the NS wall 540 is associated with a pier (573) further to the east by a floor that abuts both structures.  A circular pit filled with re-deposited eleventh- century material and a few Frankish sherds cuts the floor midway between the pier 573 and the wall 540.  Because of the nature of the fill, it does not appear to be a refuse pit and its function is unclear.  It is undetermined whether this pit post-dates the use phase of the space associated with the floor or served some function within the space.  Also associated with the floor is a shallow fire pit filled with ash and lined with white clay (564, 568, 570) which cut the floor against the west face of NS wall 540.  The choice of a shallow pit rather than a built hearth suggests a single building event rather than repeated use.  Although the east and west boundaries of the floor (576, 577) are clear, the north boundary is unknown since there is no preserved north wall or pier for the space preserved, although it is possible that this feature was removed in the 1960s’ excavations.  The south boundary of the floor is more mysterious as the floor stops abruptly in a straight line, but no feature is present and no disturbance of the layers is apparent.  It is possible that a curtain wall without foundations similar to walls 477 and 478 originally formed the south boundary of the space, but no evidence other than the edge of the floor is preserved for such a structure.  We can speculate that the space between the pier 573 and the wall 540 was roofed or the clay floor 577, 576 would be impracticable in inclement weather.  The excavation of the floor produced mid-thirteenth-century material and revealed an earlier, poorly preserved floor.  This earlier floor which remains unexcavated abuts the wall 540 to the east but is cut by the foundation trench for the pier 573 to the west.  It is unknown what type of structure the substantial NS wall 540 is associated with in the use phase of this floor.  ; ; Late Byzantine (1059-1210); ; The 2009 excavations produced a number of Byzantine features in Nezi Field.  Within the complex of rooms bounded by the three NS walls 306, 332 and 313, and the EW walls 366 and 305, we have not been able to isolate any floors in the southern room bounded by walls 306, 365, 332, and 305.  It is expected that we are currently below floor levels in this space as the foundations for the EW wall 365 are currently exposed.  It appears that the surface associated with the use phase of these walls is not preserved.  It is clear that there are two phases of use of the EW wall 365: one with a doorway providing communication between this space and the adjacent room to the north, and a second phase in which the doorway is filled in, closing off access.  A similar process of closing off access might have occurred to the east in wall 332, though further investigation is necessary to clarify the issue.  Because of the evidence for multiple phases in the structures associated with this space, it is expected that the deposits within the room have been heavily disturbed, as no floors have been identified.  The excavation of the fills in this space has produced mid-twelfth-century material, perhaps indicating a Byzantine date for the walls which make up this complex.  It is clear that the EW wall 365 is later than the NS walls 306 and 332 because it abuts both of these features rather than bonding with them.  Based on this observation, it seems likely that at an earlier phase, the complex consisted of three long rooms arranged on the NS orientation and that the westernmost room was subdivided.  The NS walls 306, 332, and 313 run parallel to one another and meet the EW walls 365 and 305 at right angles.  There is evidence for bonding for these walls which indicates contemporary construction.  Also, the size of building materials, width of the walls, and construction technique are consistent across all these walls.  In addition, the excavation of the deposit below the Frankish floor 620 (621) which also abuts wall 332, 313, 305, and structure 452 produced mid-twelfth-century material.  ; ; North of wall 365 appears to be exterior space in the late Byzantine period, and several fills have produced twelfth-century material (483, 626, 630, 627, 625, 622, lot 2009-73, lot 2009-77).  A NS stub wall that abutted the EW wall 366 before portions of this wall were robbed out is laid on these twelfth-century fills.  The function of this wall is unclear as there are no other associated structures.  These fills post-date a sequence of pebble floors, the latest of which was excavated out of sequence and produced eleventh-century material (460, 461).  The NS drain 426 cuts these pebble floors and continues southward.  The capstones of the drain remained in situ in the portion of the drain that continues south from wall 365.  It is clear that the course of the drain, although interrupted by the later construction of well 346 and pit 431, continues underneath the undisturbed foundations of the EW wall 365.  Based on this observation, it is clear that the drain predates the construction of this partition wall.  It is unclear, however, what the chronological relationship between the drain 426 and the EW wall 366 is; the robbing event of blocks from wall 366 (496, 497) has obliterated the interface between the wall and the drain.  Further excavation will be necessary to determine the chronological relationship.  Although we removed the capstones of the drain 426 and have yet to identify the cut for the construction of the drain, the vertical walls of the drain are imbedded in the surrounding matrix.  Because we have yet to identify the foundation trench for wall 366 and it is expected at a lower elevation, it is likely that the drain post-dates the first phase of use of the complex of rooms.   ; ; Further excavation in Nezi Field should concentrate on determining the full extent of the suites of rooms in this Byzantine complex, in particular the space east of wall 313 and west of wall 334 as well as the space south of wall 305.  Expanding the excavation area to the east would likely expose more of the room with the destruction horizon and further clarify the relationship between this space and the suite of rooms to the east.  Also, the relationship between the NS drain 426 and the complex could be profitably investigated in the room south of wall 366 and north of wall 365.","","","Nezi Field 2009 by Jody Cundy and Dina Boero (2009-06-19 to 2009-06-20)","","","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Nezi Field","","Corinth:Report:Nezi Field 2009 by Jody Cundy and Dina Boero (2009-06-19 to 2009-06-20)","Corinth","","Pink Final Summary",""
"Report","W. Flint Dibble; Mark F. Piskorowski; Corinth Excavations; North of Nezi; 01.06.2010 to 21.06.2010; Blue Session 3; ; We, Flint Dibble and Mark Piskorowski, excavated North of Nezi between June 1  and June 21, focusing on the area directly North of Nezi Field: the eastern portion of Room E (N: 1016.40-1020.60; E: 279.20-282.10) and the eastern half of Room F, “the pithos room” (N: 1015.70-1020.50; E: 273.10-276.90). Previous excavation had taken place in these areas in 2008 (Nathan T. Arrington and Andrew W. Sweet), 2007 (Ioannis Sapountzis), and in 1961. The director was Guy Sanders, supervisor Scott Gallimore, pickmen Panos Kakouros and Athanasios Notis, shovelman Sotiris Raftopoulos, and sieve operator Giannis Oikonomou.; ; Our goals were to explore the Roman and Hellenistic phases in order to understand the earlier history of the N. of Nezi area.; ; Room E:; ; Hellenistic Period (7290, 7291, 7293, 7294, 7295, 7299, 7300, 7303, 7304) ; The earliest identified activity in the area of Room E is a cut (7294) through an unexcavated and unnumbered context for the construction of cellar 7301.  The elevation at the top of this cut (85.11) suggests that the area had been terraced previously since Hellenistic layers in rooms to the North occurred at much lower elevations. Deposit 7299, filling cellar 7301, provides a solid terminus ante quem for this activity of 300-290 BCE.  Cellar 7301 represents two bonded walls, one running N-S (truncated later by a well marked by cut 7260) and one running E-W continuing under wall 7304.  Cellar 7301 is faced on the south and east edges and unfaced on the north and west edges, suggesting it was intended as a retaining wall, probably functioning as a cellar.  A foundation trench (7291) cut through the same unnumbered context as 7294 for the construction of the E-W running wall 7300, the northern border of Room E.  The fill of this trench (7290) also dated to the early 3rd century BCE suggesting contemporary construction activity for cellar 7301 and wall 7300. Wall 7300 continued further to the West past structure 5035.; ; At some unspecified point in time the top 0.25 m of cellar 7301 were truncated in order to construct the N-S running wall 7304, lying at the eastern border of Room E.  Wall 7304 appears to overlie yet an earlier phase of this wall, which was left unexcavated and unnumbered but seems to be evident in the excavation of deposit 7259 in the Early Roman well.  No foundation trench was discovered for wall 7304 but it is abutted by deposit 7299, which provides a terminus ante quem for this construction.  ; ; The area between structure 7301 and wall 7304 was filled by a large deposit (7299) of vessels, which are complete or nearly complete when mended, dating mainly to the 4th and early 3rd centuries BCE.  Above fill 7299 were two dumped fills (7293 and 7295).  Fill 7295, dated to the late 4th and early 3rd centuries BCE, was mainly a rubble and tile deposit that included stones and tiles similar to those found in N-S running wall 7303, which directly overlay wall 7304.  This suggests that wall 7303, for which no foundation trench was found, was also constructed in the Hellenistic period.; ; Early Roman Period (5343, 7236, 7237, 7259, 7260, 7275, 7276, 7279); Some construction activity seems to have taken place in this area in the Early Roman period. The dates are not precise from the few excavated diagnostic sherds (ranging from 1st BCE-2nd CE).  Some fill layers (in the North: 7279 cut by 7276 filled by 7275; in the South: 7283) were deposited over the Hellenistic phase of the room. ; ; Two construction activities took place sometime after the above fills were deposited.  Context 7260 was cut through the above deposits (7275 and 7283) and the unnumbered, presumably Hellenistic contexts. This pit was oval-shaped and large (long diameter: 1.90; short diameter: 1.60) and truncated cellar 7301.  Its fill (7259) was dated to the Early Roman period (1st CE/early 2nd CE).  Excavation of this pit was halted due to time after 0.94 meters.  Mostly likely, 7260 was cut for a large well that continued deeper.  A foundation trench (7237) for wall 5343 also cut through fill 7283.  The fill of this trench (7236) had an Early Roman not precise date.  Wall 5343 ran E-W and formed the southern boundary of Room E (unexcavated below, so it is unknown if there’s an earlier phase). ; ; Middle Roman Period (7226, 7228, 7238); In the Middle Roman period some fills were deposited in Room E (7226, 7228, 7238).  In particular, fills 7228 and 7238 were very rich in pottery and were perhaps contemporaneous, representing differential dumping.  Both of these fills contained similar sherds, and were in very similar sandy sediment. The depth of these deposits (7228: 0.24 m; 7238: 0.24 m) suggests the fills were deposited for leveling the area. ; ; Eastern Half of Room F (“The Pithos Room”); ; Early Roman Period (7106, 7112, 7113, 7114, 7117, 7126, 7127, 7132, 7145, 7155, 7162, 7163, 7164, 7179, 7181, 7182, 7184, 7185, 7197, 7207, 7249, 7250); Context 7207 is the only deposit dating to the Hellenistic period in this area.  The sediment was not sieved and was quite similar in consistency to deposit 7197, both representing redeposited mudbrick (the decision was made to start a new arbitrary context after a day of excavating 7197).  Therefore deposit 7207 probably dates to the Early Roman Period.  Since deposit 7207 abuts and provides a rough terminus ante quem for wall 7250, it is also likely that this wall phase has an Early Roman date.  This is supported by the fact that wall 7250 and the phase overlying it (7249) were constructed with identical stones and technique.; ; Wall 7250, an E-W running wall marking the Southern border of Room F, represents the earliest construction in the Eastern Half of Room F and it directly lay under wall 7249.  Two small segments running N-S were bonded directly to 7250 at both the Eastern boundary (0.75 m long) underlying wall 7145 and the Western boundary (0.35 m long) underlying wall 5345.  This suggests that the space of this room was defined from this early phase.; ; Several thick fill layers of redeposited mudbrick and construction material were then deposited in the area (7207, 0.40 m thick; 7197, 0.36 m thick; and 7182, 0.22 m thick). Perhaps this activity should be interpreted as the terracing of this area. The foundation trench (7185 filled by 7184) for the N-S running wall 7145, overlying wall 7250, marking the Western border of this room was cut into deposit 7182. Two postholes (7179 and 7181) were also cut into 7182, suggesting the top of 7182 was a beaten earth floor. Above 7182 lay clay floors 7155 then 7132. ; ; An L-shaped foundation trench was cut (7127=7164, filled by 7126=7163) into clay floor 7132 for the E-W wall 7249 bonded with the North-South wall 5345 (marking the Eastern edge of the area), both of which overlay wall 7250. While wall 7249 primarily re-used material from wall 7250, both wall 7249 and especially wall 5345 included several large orthostates marking fairly monumental construction for the area. The construction of wall 7249 truncated wall 7145 to the South. It is evident that the robbing trench B5113 in Room F, West of wall 7145 robbed out a portion of wall 7249 and/or wall 7250, suggesting that this wall extended further West. ; ; After this construction, fill 7117 leveled the area and deposit 7114 marked a new clay floor with posthole 7113 (filled by 7112) in a similar location in the room to the earlier posthole cut 7179. Above this the hard beaten earth surface 7106 lay.; ; Late Roman (5450, 7042, 7046, 7047, 7050, 7051, 7055, 7058, 7062, 7066, 7068, 7069, 7076, 7078, 7079, 7080, 7095, 7149, 7103, 7107, 7140, 7144); There are three major construction activities that took place in this period.  At some point in the fourth century, four large rectangular pits (7069, 7078, 7107, and 7144) were cut around three sides of an earlier floor layer (7106).  Due to their arrangement and size, it is likely that these pits were used for storage vessels.  ; ; Later, all three of the above pits were filled in with a series of fills.  Deposit 7068 was the fill for pit 7069; deposits 7076 and 7149 for pit 7078; deposits 7066, 7096, 7099, 7103, and 7140 for pit 7144 and 7107.  In the latter two cases, the different fills were likely deposited at approximately the same time because they share similar sediments and inclusions.  Above the three filled pits a surface of compacted earth (7062) was set down over most of the room.  A pit (7050), which likely held a storage vessel, cut context 7062 suggesting that it was used as a floor surface.; ; Above this floor surface, two leveling fills were added in the West (7055) and in the North-East (7046).  These deposits helped to give the room a slight slope to the north, upon which a concrete floor was constructed.  This concrete floor was one of the latest feature in Room F, other than walls, that was left from the 2007 excavations.  The other feature remaining from previous excavations was a pithos (Pithos 6) in the North-West corner of Room F E-half.  This pithos, and the deposit around it B5118, which we left martyred, are probably later than the concrete floor.  Even so, it is likely that the concrete floor was used in some agricultural process (eg. Olive or grape pressing).  The products of this pressing, then, would have flowed into and/or been stored in the pithos or a similar container in the same place space.; ; The foundation trench 7080 for wall 5450, originally excavated in 2007 (B5140), was continued in this session.  The dates provided this session suggested a 2nd century CE date; however, B5140 dated to the Late Roman period.  Wall 5450 runs E-W and marks the Northern boundary of this room, perhaps closing the space to the North for the first time (although the martyrs left for the pithos and step into the room during the excavation of 7182, 7197, and 7207 prevents 100% confidence).; ; Byzantine Period (5335, 7136, 7137); Coin 2010-126 dating to 1152 – ca. 1260 CE was found during the excavation of context 7106.  It is clearly intrusive, since 7106 and everything above was clearly Roman in date.  Its location along the southern E-W wall at the interface between phases 7249 and 5335 suggests this coin provides an excellent terminus post quem for the construction of wall 5335. ; ; NB 238 Bothros 4, originally excavated in the 1961 season, was also continued (cut 7136 and fill 7137). Although fill 7137 dated to the Roman period, the date of this bothros, determined at he time of its original excavation, is the late 13th century AD.; ; Suggestions for Future Excavation; ; Room F, east half was backfilled and does not allow any opportunity for further excavation. Most likely what is left in this room was terracing fill. However, Room E, East of structure 5035 will probably provide more Hellenistic contexts. Cellar 7301 suggests the presence of more early architecture. Although, it should be noted that cut 7294 was rather ephemeral, created out of necessity for the construction of cellar 7301, so there might be an early Roman context left. ; ; In Room E, to the West of structure 5035, excavation would answer some important questions.  Notably wall 5345 is on a different alignment than 7250/7249/5335/5334. Excavation within here would answer some important questions concerning the relationship between Room F and Room E in the Hellenistic through Roman periods.  Interestingly, it appears as if the two areas were terraced in different periods (Room E, East of 5035 in the Hellenistic period and Room F, Eastern half in the Early Roman period).  Therefore, excavation between structures 5035 and 5345 would answer questions left unanswered by the current excavations.","","","Nezi Field 2010 by W. Flint Dibble; Mark F. Piskorowski (2010-06-01 to 2010-06-21)","","","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Nezi Field","","Corinth:Report:Nezi Field 2010 by W. Flint Dibble Mark F. Piskorowski (2010-06-01 to 2010-06-21)","Corinth","","Blue Session III; area North of courtyard house",""
"Report","North of Nezi 2010: Green First Session Report (Scott Gallimore); ; The following summarizes the results of excavations in two areas north of Nezi field during the first session of the 2010 excavation season at Corinth. These areas were the room directly west of the courtyard of the Byzantine house and the room directly north of the courtyard. Excavations took place from 7 April, 2010 until 23 April, 2010. Supervising these excavations were Guy Sanders (director) and Martin Wells (field director). The excavation team included Scott Gallimore (recorder), Athanasios Sakellariou (pickman), Panos Stamatis (shovelman), and Pavlos… (barrowman).; ; The main focus of excavations during this session was the room directly west of the courtyard of the Byzantine house (E. 261.10 – 264.70; N. 1030.80 – 1034.90). We dug in this room each day of the session (7 April – 23 April) with an aim to identifying the earliest phases of Byzantine occupation along with tracing possibly Middle Roman and Late Roman usage, abandonment, and post-abandonment of the space. This room had been previously excavated in the 1960s (NB 235), in the second and third sessions of 2008 by Sarah Lima, and in all three sessions of 2009 by Will Bruce, Scott Gallimore, Karl Goetz, and Dan Leon. We excavated a single context in the room directly north of the courtyard of the Byzantine house (E. 265.30 – 270.50; N. 1035.60 – 1039.20) on 9 April during a period when the stratigraphy in the room west of the courtyard was causing some confusion and we needed some time to consider the best method of approach. This room had been previously excavated in 1961 by Steven Lattimore (NB 230), in the second session of 2008 by Nathanael Andrade and Jody Cundy, and during all three sessions of 2009 by Will Bruce, Scott Gallimore, Karl Goetz, and Dan Leon.; ; ; ROOM WEST OF THE COURTYARD; ; Frankish:; ; At two different points during the Frankish period, two deep pits were dug into the room west of courtyard. The earliest of these pits (fills 5754, 5766, 5943, 6481; cut 6326=5767), dating to the first half of the thirteenth century, is located in the southern part of the room and was subsequently truncated to the southwest by the corner of the Ottoman house. Where this pit is not truncated, it is circular in profile and is relatively deep (top elevation of 85.01; bottom elevation of 82.88). It is possible that this pit represents an attempt to dig a well that was abandoned before reaching the water table. Near the bottom of this pit, the diggers came upon the foundations for the northern curb (structure 6738) of the Roman decumanus. While they continued to dig until reaching the bottom of these foundations, they stopped when they hit they hit sterile bedrock perhaps indicating they did not feel this location was suitable for a well. The latest of the two pits was dug against the southern face of wall 5725 and was semi-circular in shape (fill 6583, cut 6655). This pit, which dates sometime between the late thirteenth and late fourteenth century, contained several different lens of fill, the latest of which was excavated during the 1960s (NB 235, Bothros 9).  Unfortunately, it is difficult to assign any specific function to this feature. It is deep enough to perhaps be considered another failed attempt to dig a well (top elevation of at least 84.99; bottom elevation of 83.35), but it is unlikely that a well would be dug against the face of a wall. ; ; Middle and Late Byzantine: ; ; No evidence of Late Byzantine activity was encountered in this room during this excavation session. This indicates that these levels must have been removed during previous excavation sessions. Asides from the necessity to continue investigating the Frankish pits mentioned above, the latest activity discernable in this space was Middle Byzantine in date, specifically the eleventh century A.C.; ; During the eleventh century, a floor of packed earth was laid down in this room which likely would have covered the entire space (6668=6670=6672). In several areas this floor was disturbed due to later activity in the room and was only preserved in a few isolated patches. This floor was laid down on a series of leveling fills which would have altered the floor level of the room by a noticeable amount (fills 6679, 6482, 6489, 6490, 6528). The earliest of these fills (6528) has a bottom elevation of 83.96 while the latest (6679) has a top elevation of 84.36 indicating a change in floor level of approximately 0.40m. 6528, the earliest of these fills, was laid down on part of another floor surface consisting primarily of rounded to subrounded, spherical, medium-sized pebbles (6656). Floor 6656 has an associated cut, 6708, although its original shape has been disturbed by the two Frankish pits in the room (defined by cuts 6326=5767 and 6655). This floor surface may have originally been rectangular in shape and covered most of the central part of the room. It does not appear that 6656 was intended to be a floor covering the entirety of the room, however, and instead occupied a central position with surfaces of compact earth surrounding it.; ; Floor 6656 was cut into a series of fills of unknown character spreading across the room (6710, 6713, 6714, 6717). These fills tended to have high percentages of poorly sorted inclusions and could represent some type of dumping action. This could perhaps coincide with the fact that the earliest of these fills, 6717, was laid over a robbing trench (fills 6722, 6734; cut 6720). The robbing trench appears to be associated with the foundation for the northern curb of the Roman decumanus which had first been identified in the northern scarp of the Frankish pit defined by cut 6326=5767. Stones laying atop this foundation were likely the target of the robbing trench and there may have been an attempt following the robbing out of these stones to level off this space with a series of fills. ; ; The act of dumping material into this space appears to have also preceded the digging of the robbing trench since this feature truncated another large fill (6752) containing a large percentage of poorly sorted inclusions which would have covered most, if not all of this space. This fill appears to date to the ninth or tenth century C.E. and may be part of a period of post-abandonment in the space. Overlying fill 6752 at its eastern end was a shallow lens of soil with few inclusions possibly representing an accumulated fill which built up against the eastern face of wall 5724.; ; There was also other activity which occurred in this room at some point during the ninth or tenth century A.C. The robbing trench defined by cut 6720 was not the first to be dug in association with structure 6738. Fill 6752 overlay an earlier, smaller robbing trench which only affected the easternmost revealed section of structure 6738 (fill 6754, cut 6756). In this part of structure 6738 a different construction technique was employed. Most of the revealed blocks associated with this feature are substantial in size with a height of approximately 0.55m. At the eastern end, however, it appears that two blocks were stacked on top of each other to achieve this same height. The robbing trench defined by cut 6756 was dug to remove the upper block of these two. This robbing trench also truncated a deposit of what appears to be dumped fill in the northeast corner of this room (6758). Fill 6758 contained a high percentage of poorly sorted inclusions and sloped steeply to the south giving it the appearance of a ramp. However, parts of this context continued beneath wall 5725 to the north and wall 6375 to the east making it difficult to interpret since we cannot reconstruct its original shape.; ; Fill 6758 was dumped in over part of another robbing trench (fills 6761, 6808; cut 6762), this one apparently for a north-south wall that ran along the eastern edge of this space. This robbing trench was fairly deep (approximately 1.2m) and came down on sterile bedrock at its lowest elevation. Part of the wall robbed out by this trench (structure 6817) is visible beneath the easternmost revealed block of structure 6738. There is also another block which abuts the southwestern edge of the robbing trench.  This wall appears to be quite early, at least predating the construction of structure 6738. It appears that the robbing trench defined by cut 6762 was the first action to occur in this space following a period of abandonment which lasted for several centuries. This trench was dug at some point in the ninth or tenth century, but there is no preceding activity in this space until the sixth or seventh century. ; ; Early Byzantine:; ; No evidence for any activity has been revealed which can be associated with this period. It appears, thus, that this space was abandoned sometime during the Late Roman period with usage of the space not occurring again until the ninth or tenth century. This abandonment may coincide with the construction of the Late Roman Wall at Corinth possibly in the mid-sixth century. The construction of this wall east of the Forum placed Nezi field outside of the city proper and the lack of evidence for activity in the room west of the courtyard would suggest this area was abandoned shortly afterwards.; ; Late Roman:; The latest discernable Late Roman activity in this space occurred in the form of a tall, rectangular patch of slumped mud-brick (6768) located in the eastern part of the room. This mud-brick could date to the sixth or seventh century A.C. In the Middle Byzantine period this mud-brick was truncated by the robbing trench defined by cut 6762 and covered by fill 6758. The slumped nature of this mud-brick indicates it collapsed from the north-south wall which was later robbed out by the trench defined by cut 6762 in the Middle Byzantine period. This collapse may have occurred after the abandonment of this space leading into several centuries of post-abandonment. 6768 covered a small part of a larger surface that may also represent slumped mud-brick (6773). This mud-brick may have again slumped off from the north-south wall at the eastern end of the room, but the lack of any noticeable slope towards this wall could also suggest it is some type of dumped fill that included mud-brick within its soil component; ; If fill 6773 were dumped into this space, this occurred over another fill that was likely dumped in (6776). This earlier fill is characterized by comprising of mixed soil, numerous pieces of charcoal, and evidence of burning. The evidence of burning is not so substantial to suggest any kind of destruction occurring in this space, but does indicate that the fill was originally obtained from a location that may have suffered from some type of fire. Both fill 6776 and 6773 were dumped into this space over a large fill of slumped mud-brick (6784) that does appear to be associated with the north-south wall robbed out in the Middle Byzantine period. The soil was mixed and contained large amounts of white marl and red mud-brick and had a noticeable slope away from the area of the wall. At the eastern edge of 6784 where this context was truncated by the Middle Byzantine robbing trench for this north-south wall there were several cobbles and boulders which likely represent some type of collapse off of the wall when this mud-brick slumped down. Based on pottery evidence this collapse may have occurred at some point in the late third or early fourth century A.C., although it is not infeasible that it may have occurred even later than this.; ; Middle Roman:; ; The third century A.C. is when we first see evidence of active usage of this space. It is during this century when the large foundations for the northern curb of the Roman decumanus (structure 6738) were laid down. Specifically, the foundation trench for this structure was dug at some point during this century (fill 6795, cut 6796). This foundation trench was unique in that it was dug deeper than the lowest elevation of the blocks of structure 6738 (bottom elevation of 6795 is 82.75; bottom elevation of 6738 is 82.93). This appears to have been a purposeful decision and it became clear that each individual block which is part of this structure lies on a different type of soil. What this suggests is that the foundation trench was dug and then small patches of soil were laid down in an effort to level each block independently. At the eastern-most revealed end of structure 6738 this foundation lies on a large block from an earlier wall which may have been an important marker for leveling the other blocks. This foundation trench was covered by a small number of fills (6785, 6792). The soil of these fills tends to be mixed in character and contains numerous inclusions including large amounts of charcoal. Directly above the foundation trench defined by cut 6796 was a shallow surface of compact earth (6793) which appears to have been purposefully laid down, perhaps coinciding with the establishment of structure 6738. Surface 6793 was of homogenous thickness throughout and contained very few inclusions of any type. The soil was also fairly homogenous distinguishing it from the mixed fills described above. Along with overlying the foundation trench for 6738, surface 6793 also overlay a small, circular pit of unknown function at the western end of the room (fill 6798, cut 6799).; ; Both the foundation trench (cut 6796) and the small circular pit (cut 6799) truncated a shallow surface of compact earth (6800) similar in character to surface 6793. This may be another surface purposefully laid down in this space and may be associated with some earlier version of the decumanus since it is unlikely that foundations associated with this road were laid down for the first time only in the third century A.C. In fact, surface 6800 was one of several of these surfaces of compact earth (6802, 6804) superimposed on one another across the space of this room. Each is relatively shallow, of homogenous soil type, and contains relatively few inclusions. The earliest of these surfaces, 6804, overlies a deep dumped fill of mixed soil and mud-brick (6806) which appears to date to the late second or early third century. The nature of this fill could suggest it was some type of leveling fill for the surfaces above. Fill 6806 overlay an uneven surface of white marl mud-brick (6823) that covered only a few patches of the northern part of the room. The uneven nature of this mud-brick argues against it slumping off a wall and it is likely that it was dumped into this space. Below fill 6823 is a deep dumped fill of mixed soil which appears to overlay a floor surface associated with wall 6817. However, we only excavated a small portion of this context and it is difficult at this point to provide any indication of function. ; ; ; ROOM NORTH OF COURTYARD; ; Middle Byzantine:; ; The only context encountered in this room appears to be Middle Byzantine in date. At some point during the ninth or tenth century A.D. a fill was built up into a ramp abutting the southwest junction of walls 6526 and 6016, perhaps to facilitate dumping of material on either side of these walls. This ramp (6491) was then covered by a deep dumped fill of dirt, tile, and stone (6516) which abutted the southern face of wall 6526 and the western face of wall 6016. Fill 6516 was one of a series of contemporary dumped fills in this area (6532, 6550, 6554) which could represent a period of post-abandonment for this space prior to its reorganization as part of the Byzantine house.; ; ; CONCLUSIONS; ; The room west of the courtyard represents one of the components under investigation in the Byzantine house situated north of Nezi field. While the primary goal of these excavations has been the identification of the construction phase for the house, the decision was made during session 1 to explore earlier levels in this space to attempt to trace periods of usage and abandonment prior to the construction of the house. While our excavations did require us to finish digging two Frankish pits, the majority of the contexts we encountered provided us with indications of the earliest Byzantine usage of the space as well as the latest Roman usage. ; ; The earliest evidence for use we have encountered occurs during the late second and third centuries C.E. when a series of surfaces were laid down along with the foundations for the northern curb of the Roman decumanus. Several more surfaces were laid down subsequent to this. By the Late Roman period there are indications that this space may have been neglected or abandoned. There is evidence of slumped mud-brick and collapse from a north-south wall and several fills were dumped in. The latest evidence of activity is a patch of collapsed mud-brick which would have abutted the western face of this north-south wall. When usage of the space resumed in the Middle Byzantine period (during the ninth or tenth century) it came in the form of a series of robbing trenches and fills. The north-south wall (perhaps associated with structure 6817) was robbed out as were components of the curb. Following this a series of leveling fills were dumped in and the earliest floor surface, a pebble floor only covering part of the room was laid down. On top of this were laid more leveling fills and until the first floor surface to cover the entire room (6668=6670=6672) would have been laid down sometime in the eleventh century.","","","Nezi Field 2010 by Scott Gallimore (2010-04-07 to 2010-04-23)","","","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Nezi Field","","Corinth:Report:Nezi Field 2010 by Scott Gallimore (2010-04-07 to 2010-04-23)","Corinth","","2010 Session I Final Report: The Room West of the Courtyard of the Byzantine House",""
"Report","The room bounded by wall 366 and robbing trench 497 to the north (1006.00 N), wall 365 to the south (1002.10 N), and walls 332 to the east (262.07 E) and wall 306 to the west (258.01 E) was excavated between April 5 and April 20, 2012. This room is located approximately 10 meters south of the so-called Turkish House. Its earliest phases predate the 11th c CE when two walls (366 and 306) were built as part of a larger, unknown structure. Activity in the room continued through to the early modern period, when the north portion of wall 306 and the west portion of wall 366 were robbed out (497), and in the 18th century a bothros was placed in the middle of the room. In the intervening 700 years, layers of dumped fill were used to level out the space during the late 11th – early 12th c., and subsequently walls 332 and 365 were constructed to create the current space. This area was excavated under the supervision of Angele Rosenberg-Dimitracopoulou and Larkin Kennedy. We worked with a crew of workmen including Thanasis Notis (pickman, foreman), Vangelis Kollias (wheelbarrow man, screener), Thanos Kioseloglou (shovelman, replacement pickman), and occasionally Tasos Kakouros filled in for Thanasis Notis as pickman as well.; ; Pre-11th c CE; ; Wall 366 at 1007.00N, which extends from 260.40E to 262.20E, and wall 306 at 258E, which extends from 1004.78N to 1002.58N, were constructed prior to the 11th c CE. Wall 366 consists of fairly regular courses of large, squared blocks separated by tile. These courses continue unchanged throughout the visible elevations of the wall, and extend below the elevation reached at the end of session 1. Wall 306 is slightly smaller and is similarly constructed of fairly regular courses of large, squared blocks. ; ; Byzantine period; ; During the Byzantine period, this area was leveled out through the deposition of successive layers of dump fill. Three layers of dump fill (718 Lot 2012-16, 716, 713) were thrown in along the northern wall 366 during the 11th c CE. In the early 12th c CE, another layer of fill (711) was tossed into the room’s northern portion. These deposits included the disposal of glass and ceramic vessels, a glass bracelet, bone needles and pins, iron slag, nails, ceramic tile, faunal material, charcoal, and plaster. In context 718 were also disposed two bronze bracelets (MF 2012-10, 2012-12), one with a hook and eye closure and one composed of wire flattened at one end and wrapped around the wire body to form a ring for closure, as well as a shell bead, possibly made of mother of pearl, and incised with a starburst pattern (MF 2012-2).; ; These earlier deposits form a bowl allowing later fills to spill down in successive lenses away from walls 306 and 366. Later dump fills (711, 708, 690 Lot 2012-14, 685, 683 Lot 2012-15, 681, 677, 670, 660 Lot 2012-13, 650, 646 Pottery Lot 2012-13 Bone Lot 2012-2, 645) were successively laid around the room, probably also during the early 12th c CE. These deposits similarly included the disposal of glass and ceramic vessels, a waster, a bone awl and a pin, a stone tessera, a millstone fragment, an iron implement, iron nails, slag, and bloom, bronze, plaster, ceramic tile, faunal material, architectural revetment, mainly of marble but also of terracotta, and charcoal. A stamped amphora handle was kept from context 685, though not inventoried. Of note were coin 2012-13 (931-944 CE) and coin 2012-18 (969-1030 CE) from context 646, coin 2012-35 (976-1030 CE) and coin 2012-36 (945-950 CE) from context 690, and a bronze bracelet with a hook clasp (MF 2012-3) which was also retrieved from context 690.; ; In the southwestern corner of context 690, spreading to the east from wall 306, a cluster of large faunal bones (mainly bovid) was accompanied by large fragments of stewpots. This and other subtle differences in the dumping activity were explored with soil samples taken from contexts 646 and 690. Although clear changes in soil indicate that these fills are the result of years of dumping activity and not a single deposit, it is not possible to archaeologically distinguish between these events and the finds do not reveal a more precise chronology either. Few ceramic sherds joined, and none between contexts, indicating a large number of individual pots were represented, rather than many fragments representing a few vessels as would be expected in a primary deposit. These successive fills therefore appear to represent individual loads of dirt that should ultimately be considered part of the same protracted depositional event which leveled the area.; ; Later in the 12th c CE a drain (426) extending from 1011.75N/259.26E to 1004.97N/260.30E was cut into the early 12th c CE fill. Slabs of stone lined the walls of the drain and its floor was made of packed soil. The drain may continue south into the adjoining room, although this needs to be further explored. It also extends north into the Blue team’s area, where it appears to cut through wall 366. In previous excavation seasons, fill for the drain has been dated on the basis of the pottery to the 11th century, though it has also been considered to date to at least the Frankish period on the basis of stratigraphy (590, 591). The portion of the drain south of wall 366 still preserved coverstones, while that north of the wall only retained a few coverstones and displayed other signs that the northern portion of the drain had been exposed outside for a period of time prior to being covered by later depositional events. Stones from the drain’s walls were robbed out (between approximately 1007.00 N and 1006.00) as part of the robbing activity (c 497) that also makes determination of the exact relationship between drain 426 and wall 366 problematic, as stones were also removed from the northern portion of wall 306 and the portion of wall 366 close to where wall 366 and drain 426 would have met in antiquity. This robbing has been dated to the early modern period on the basis of its stratigraphic relationship with robbing trench 596.; ; Still later in the 12th c CE, wall 332, which extends from 1006.37N/262.38E to 999.90N/262.07E was built in order to create a smaller, interior space. This wall is constructed of roughly squared blocks with some tile demarcating the irregular courses. It rests on a foundation of spherical boulders that begin at elevation 86.35 at the north end and elevation 86.72 at the south end, and extend down to a depth of 86.23. These non-corbelled courses bell out wider than the finished wall face. At the time the wall was built, a foundation trench 654 was dug into the surrounding deposits of leveling fill. This trench contained the disposal of glass and ceramic vessels, a glass tube, bronze, marble, and iron. As the material contained in this trench dates to roughly the same time period as the deposits it is laid against, however, this foundation trench can be considered to have been filled by the same material as that which was dug up in order to provide a trench for wall 332’s foundation courses, and not by extraneous material. ; ; Even later in the 12th c CE, wall 365, extending from 1002.58N/257.89E to 1002.44N/261.99E, was constructed in order to subdivide this room and create two smaller interior spaces in place of one larger interior space. This wall was possibly constructed on top of drain 426, though the boulders partially exposed at elevation 86.70 require further attention in order to better understand this relationship, and whether these boulders can indeed be considered as part of the southern extend of the drain. In wall 365, large, roughly squared blocks rest on a foundation made up of a single course of rounded boulders extending to a maximum depth of 86.67. Threshold 664, consisting of a break in wall 365, joined this room to the room to the south and contained an iron needle (MF 2012-8) as well as an iron nail and body sherds from a glass vessel. Coin 2012-14 from the Late Byzantine period (1070-1075 CE) was found just below the two large stones preserved in the south-most portion of threshold 664. Threshold 536, made up of a single layer of crushed tile, provided access to the room from the east. This threshold was laid on the edge of existing stone courses of wall 332 and bridged the gap between this wall and wall 365. To the west of threshold 536, there was a concentration of carbon and bone with some sherds from glass vessels which could be associated with this doorway (641). An iron bloom was also saved from context 641, though not inventoried. A flotation sample was taken from both of these contexts as they could represent deposition associated with the use of the doorways, and which could be compared at a later date with the contents of flotation samples taken elsewhere in the room. ; ; Early Modern; ; In the 18th c CE, a bothros (346/671) was dug into the middle of room, cutting through all of the earlier leveling fill. It stretches from 1005.06N to 1003.84 N and 259.79E to 261.38 E. Four large, tabular stones capped the bothros on its northern side (346) to a depth of 86.81. Under the capstones, the interior of the bothros was lined with regular courses of rounded boulders until an elevation of 85.35 m (671). Under the stone courses is a thick white clay foundation layer which was not excavated. When it was dug, the bothros cut through the drain 426. Built into the regular courses of the structure was a large amount of tile that appears to have used glass slag as a temper. A sample was saved for further testing, as it may indicate the presence of glass making in the vicinity. A Byzantine coin (coin 48) from Thessalonika (1143-1180) was also built into the bothros wall (671). After the stone courses end at 85.35, the bothros belled out into a cavity wider at the bottom than at its mouth, and continued to an elevation of 83.90 m. It appeared to Thanasis Notis (the team’s pickman) that the bothros terminated at this point. ; ; When it went out of use, the bothros (346/671) was filled with a deposit taken from elsewhere around the site which contains a cohesive collection of Frankish material dating to the first half of the 13th c CE (726, 733, 739, 743) including glass and ceramic vessels, iron nails, iron slag and an antler. In addition to the relatively high volume of cooking and tableware, a significant concentration of faunal and fish bone and charcoal were included in the deposit. Two Byzantine coins were also included in the deposit, coin 2012-50 (1112- 1137 CE) and coin 2012-52 (1143- 1180 CE), a bronze token (originally assigned coin no. 2012-46), and two illegible coins (coin 2012-44 and 2012-49). This deposit appears, therefore, to be a secondary deposit of Frankish material that was thrown into the bothros, possibly when it was no longer necessary for storage. ; Sometime after the filling of the bothros, a pit (c431) was dug into it, cutting through both the southern end of the structure to a depth of 86.30. It stretches from 1004.35 N to 1002.43 N and 259.71E to 261.70E. It was filled with Frankish material (336 and 338) similar to that filling the bothros 671/346 (726, 733, 739, 743).; ; Further excavation is necessary to address four remaining questions. First, further excavation is necessary within bothros 346/671 in order to ensure that it does terminate. Thanasis Notis suggested that it might continue laterally to the north rather than down. Next, investigation of the room to the south would indicate whether drain 426 does in fact continue. Threshold 536 could also be removed in order to better determine the association of walls 332 and 365. Finally, more soil should be removed from within the room in order to determine a more precise chronology for walls 306 and 366.","","","Nezi Field 2012 by Larkin Kennedy, Angele Rosenberg-Dimitracopoulou (2012-04-03 to 2012-04-20)","","","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Nezi Field","","Corinth:Report:Nezi Field 2012 by Larkin Kennedy, Angele Rosenberg-Dimitracopoulou (2012-04-03 to 2012-04-20)","Corinth","","Excavations of Nezi Field, SW area, Session 1 2012",""
"Report","Corinth Excavations 2010 Session II; North of Nezi Room A; We, Cameron Pearson and Lincoln Nemetz Carlson, continued the excavation in the area north of Nezi opened by Rob Nichols and Martin Wells in the first excavation session of 2010. During the first week of the second session of the 2010 Corinth excavation season, May 4 – May 7 we excavated primarily in the northwest room of the Byzantine house—the ‘well room’ (6288)—bounded by walls 54, 5631, 6426, 10086, 10081, 10087, 55 and 6333 (E. 273.95-283.00; N. 1026.9-1034.78). Generally, current excavation in this area continues the work carried out during the 1960s by Henry Robinson (director) and William Berg III (supervisor).  Our objectives were to continue the work of the previous session and expose the drain structure 6727 in order to see if there was any evidence of a Roman north-south road in the area.; The following is a summary and interpretation of the first part of the second session of excavations. The director was Guy Sanders, the field director was Marty Wells, the pickmen were Thanasis Notis and Panos Stamatis, the shovelman and barrowman Sotiris Raftopoulos, and the dry sieve was operated by Iannis Senis ; Late Roman/Early Byzantine (300-801 CE); These layers are concentrated primarily in the center of the room in and around drain (structure 6827). In the Late Roman period, a sewer drain (structure 6827) was in existence, which has been dated to the late 4rd- 5th c. B.C.E. on pottery (6931, 6939, 6943) found between it and the cut for the drain (6737). It is oriented NW-SE, under the phases of the later Byzantine room and continued under wall 10086 to the east. It is unclear if it continued to the west. It is possible that it connected to the north-south drain associated with the Roman road east of room. The drain consisted of a combination of building materials: worked fieldstones, marble pavers and a collection of weathered and/or badly carved architectural members: two geison blocks, three half-columns cut lengthwise, and two unfluted (so far as is visible) cylindrical blocks, one with an offset empolium.  At some point the drain went out of use, and an extensive fill of re-deposited 8th c. material (6788) was deposited over it, followed by subsequent Middle Byzantine activity 6686 and 6682 in later periods.; Excavation west of the built part of the sewer revealed that there were no more covering slabs despite the walls of the drain curving southwest. The cylindrical rough-hewn block (not a column) with the offset empolium to the south was fully uncovered along with a badly carved half column and some worked fieldstones to the north.  They all lined the drain. It is unclear whether this part of the drain was ever covered or if it was robbed out at some point. One of the half columns was revealed lying near the bottom of the drain (cf.6867).; Based on the contexts (6931, 6939, 6943), between the drain (6827) and the cut (6737) the date of the drain’s construction is 4th-5th c. AD. It is unclear which roads or other drains it was connected to but it is likely linked with the unexcavated sewer next to the Roman road just above it to the east. It then goes out of use in the middle 6th -7th c. The top layer (6856) of the small mound that formed the western end of where the covering slabs had lain over the drain dates to the 7th c. but it could have fallen in from above as the slabs were not sealed by any means (the drain continued to the west but with no covering slabs). The rest of the fill  (6854, 6860, 6861), which was clearly from the wash inside the covered portion of dates to the middle of the 6th c.; One explanation for the different layers and types of soil inside the area where the drain was covered is that it was plugged up some time in the 7th c. The small mound toward the west of the covered area would have been created by the blocking. The half column found during the removal of the bottom fill (6867) for the drain (6827) could have served this purpose. The covering slabs to the west and any evidence of the dark silt (6854, 6861) not found outside of where the drain was covered (6832) would have been removed during this stopping up operation. The problem with this explanation is that there is no clear evidence that the soil (6867) at the bottom of the covered eastern section of the drain is earlier than the fill that hypothetically would have been used to fill up the western part (6832). Furthermore, in order for the stopping up theory to be validated, there would have be a good explanation as to why a century or two after its construction such trouble would be taken to plug it up.; A second idea is that the drain simply went out of use. However, this explanation has to account for why the soil in the covered portion of the drain contained layers of dark silt and wetter soil (6854, 6860, 6861), which were not found outside to the west (6832).  If it clogged up on its own there should be traces of this silt to the west as well. It is possible that the silt was removed while the covering slabs to the west were robbed out, perhaps in connection with the building of wall 6421 or its repair.; A third solution would have the drain simply never containing covering slabs to the west. James Herbst has suggested that there would have been a need for such drains to funnel out water before it flooded the forum to the south but it is doubtful that the drain would have been able to function without covering slabs. ; Of important note is that during a cleanup defining the edge of one of the Frankish piers (6841), a piece of Roman sculpture, most likely from a relief, was found. It consists of the right side of the face (S 2010).  ;  Conclusion; We have dated the drains (6827) construction (4th-5th c.) and the end of its use (7th c.) Notably, we did not find evidence for a Roman north-south road in or around the drain. It remains to be explained why the drain was built at such a late date. It if is associated with the road’s construction to the east it should be early (ca. 1st c.). For a clearer picture of why and for what purpose the drain was built at this time, comparanda from other Roman drains in Corinth will need to be studied. ; ; ; ; Corinth Excavations 2010 Room B; North of Nezi; We, Cameron Pearson and Lincoln Nemetz Carlson, continued the excavation in the area north of Nezi opened by Sarah Lima, Mark Hammond, and Kiersten Spongberg in session II 2009.  ; During the second week of the second session of the 2010 Corinth excavation season, May 10 – May 19 we excavated primarily in what we are calling Room B (the second room we dug this session which was called the East Room by the previous excavators) south of the courtyard in the Byzantine house— Bounded by walls 5403  to the south, 6300, 6027,  (threshold) 6285 to the east, 5483 to the west, and to the north 6267,  (threshold) 5671, and (foundation) 6245. Our objectives were to continue the work of the previous session and to search for any trace of a North-South Roman road. ; The following is a summary and interpretation of the second part of the second session of excavations. The director was Guy Sanders, the field director was Marty Wells, the pickmen were Thanasis Notis and Panos Stamatis, the shovelman and barrowman Sotiris Raftopoulos, and the dry sieve was operated by Iannis Senis.; Hellenistic 3rd Century; A series of ash pits were found in the southwest (6901, 6906, 6917) and one in the north (6924). All of these dated to the Hellenistic period with one late Roman contaminant in 6906 and three in 6926. Despite the contaminants, which probably entered these ash contexts because we mistakenly dug them before later contexts or due to overdigging, it seems most likely that in the Hellenistic period the whole area covered by Room B was an ash dump for some sort of industry. ; Late Roman 3rd C.; A large cut, as of yet undated, appears to run east-west through the center of the room. It could have been for a Roman wall along the south side of the east-west road. There is evidence for this cut in the rooms to the east and west of Room B. A small wall bit, most likely a foundation, (6968) might be what is left of the robbing out of this Roman east-west wall. The pottery on top of this wall bit (6968) dates to the 3rd c. AD (6966). Another possible small foundation for a wall (6937) runs north-south under wall 5403. The relationship between these two hypothetical wall foundations is unclear as they have not been excavated. We are also unsure if the tile dump 6916 is a structure at all (whether a furnace or another wall foundation?).  However, we can postulate that sometime from the 6th-8th c., the Roman wall was robbed out and filled with deposits 6967, and possibly 6982 and 6888 as well. Another problem left for future excavation is the relationship if any of wall 6933 to wall 6120. We had originally thought that wall 6120 was associated with paving stones 6190, which reached the wall. But since the Hellenistic ash is visible just below wall 6120 it is possible that this wall is earlier than the paving stones which are associated with threshold 5285 to the east, which the previous excavators had concluded was earlier than threshold 6261 on the north side of the room but has no precise date.   ; Conclusions; In Room B we hypothesize that a Hellenistic ash layer was probably cut for a wall of an east-west Roman road.  We exposed the cut which should be explored by the next team.  They should begin at the north west of the cut and try to decide what the relationship is between the cut and walls 6968 and 6933. We could not see evidence for the cut continuing on the area just east of wall 6933. There was a clear greenish layer passing form the western to the northern scarp of 6967, implying that the cut does not continue between walls 6933 and 6968. However, the paving stones at the bottom of fill 6967 appear to end at the northern edge of the cut, indicating that it does indeed continue along the lines of wall 6968 to the west. Other questions to answer are what is 6915. Is it a structure of a dump? Also it could be that wall foundations 6937 and 6968 formed a corner where the north south road met. What is their relationship?  ; Room C ; ; In the third week of Session II, we turned out attention to the room directly to the South of Room B, referred to here as “Room C.”  Room C was last investigated by Anne Feltovich, Catherine Persona and Emily Rush during the 2008 season. Room C, referred to as Room E by Feltovich, Person and Rush during the 2008 excavation, is bounded by walls 5403 to the north (formerly W 32), Wall 5435 to the west (formerly W 22), Wall 5435 to the South (formerly W 23) and 5346 to the east.  ; We were interested in looking into the relationship between the Room B and Room C, which appeared to be terraced above Room B, and for looking of signs of the N-S Roman road that may have ran through both rooms.  ; During the 2008 session, the previous excavators established that the wall dividing the room, Wall 5446, was the first wall in the room and the other walls in the room were built in this order.; ; a) Wall 5446 ; b) Wall 5403; c) Wall 5435; d) Wall 5434; e) Wall 5346.; Early on in the excavation, we discovered a wall (Wall 7001) running parallel with 5446 to the west of 5446.  Wall 7001 also seems to have been cut by the foundation trench for wall 5403 and thus is one of the earliest features of the room.  At this time, however, it is hard to say whether wall 7001 predates, postdates or is contemporary with wall 5446.  Two overlying early Roman Contexts (6997 and 7003) deposited between Walls 7001 and 6997 would seem to indicate that both walls predate the 2nd century AD.  Walls 7001 and 5446 also seem to be aligned with Structure 6916 (the furnace or tile dump) and Wall 6937 in Room B, but this might be coincidental.  Further investigation of Structure 6916 is recommended in order to establish its relationship, if any, to Wall 7001.; ; It seems that during the late 1st/early 2nd century AD, the area between Walls 7001 and 5446 and the area to the east of Wall 5446 (between 5446 and wall 5346) were filled with leveling deposits (6997/7031 and 7010/7021) which brought the surface of the room to the current extant height of the two walls (7001 and 5446).  At the present time, however, we do not have enough information to understand the intentions behind this action.; ; In the late 3rd/early 4th century AD, a pit (Cut 7020) was cut into the 1st/early 2nd century deposit (7010/7021) up against and to the east of Wall 5446 and a large amount of charcoal and ash was deposited (Deposit 7019).  The top of this pit of charcoal was cut by the construction of another pit above it during the 6th century AD (Cut 5380).  Fill to the west of wall 5435 (7003)  dates to the same period (3rd/early 4th century AD) as the charcoal and ash deposit, though it is unclear if the two deposits are related.  ; ; Excavations and cleaning also revealed a partial Greek inscription on the southern face of a block in Wall 5446.  Although we were able to make out and transcribe a couple of letters (as documented on Structure 5446 Context Sheet), the fragmentary nature of the inscription inhibits any further conclusions as to the nature of the writing.","","","Nezi Field 2010 by Cameron Pearson and Lincoln Nemetz Carlson (2010-05-27 to 2010-05-28)","","","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Nezi Field","","Corinth:Report:Nezi Field 2010 by Cameron Pearson and Lincoln Nemetz Carlson (2010-05-27 to 2010-05-28)","Corinth","","2010 Session II Blue Final Report: Well Room (A), Room south of Courtyard (B), and Room South of the Byzantine House ( C )",""