Corinth Basket Nezi Field, context 1236

Collection:		Corinth
Type:		Basket
Name:		Nezi Field, context 1236
Area:		Nezi Field
Title:		Hard-packed earth floor at the bottom of pit 1205
Category:		Structure
Notebook:		1107
Context:		1236
Page:		0
Date:		2013/06/13
Stratum:		Inclusions of pebbles, cobbles, tile, lime plaster, ceramic sherds
Description:		Top slope of the context is level. The soil color is light reddish brown. It is silty sand. Structure materials: packed earth. Material size: N/A. Material finish: N/A. Material construction: N/A. Material bonding: N/A. Features: N/A.
Notes:		This context is a hard packed earth floor with limey inclusions. It appears that the dump fill west of wall 1222 extends underneath this surface and was deposited in the area before the floor was constructed. It is very level and has a harder compaction than the fill deposits in this area, which led us to interpret it as a floor. It appears to extend all the way to the west face of wall 1222. There is another hard-packed surface sloping down to the north of this deposit. Panos does not think that this is a continuation of the floor, and it may be a subfloor laid in preparation for the floor proper. However, if this is the case, it seems odd that there is not a clear break between the two different layers and that the putative subfloor does not continue under the floor, which instead seems to come down just on more fill. A nearly intact lamp was discovered in situ directly below this floor (see top plan for coordinates and elevation). If datable, it may provide a terminus post quem for the construction of this surface. (11/7/13: Lamp is Broneer Type XVI, in an early fabric. Mid-Augustan? Saved as GT. ID by Kathleen Slane; recorded by Kate Larson.) After fully excavating the floor, it appears that it does not extend all the way to the west face of wall 1222, but rather is bounded to the east by a strip of the same dump fill (context 1233) that extends below and to the north and west of the floor. The possible subfloor has also turned out to be more of the same dump fill. It is difficult to ascertain the floor's chronological relationship to the tile rich dump debris (context 1231) against wall 1222, but based on elevations context 1231 appears to be below floor level and is possibly earlier or contemporaneous (both 1231 and 1236 were overlaid by deposit 1226). 1236 doesn't appear to have been cut for a foundation trench and probably postdates wall 1222, but we will need to expose more of the wall's west face before we can tell for sure.
Context Pottery:		Cooking ware. Round-mouthed pitcher2 rims. ; Coarseware. CCF, table amphora. 1 handle. ; Coarseware. Matte red-painted pitcher1 handle.
Pottery Summary:		50 frag(s) 0.18 kg. (0% saved) fineware.
		67 frag(s) 0.95 kg. (0% saved) coarseware.
		51 frag(s) 0.41 kg. (0% saved) cooking ware.
Context Artifacts:		Slag, unknown material, 1; Glass, clear blue: bs 2, production waste (?) 1; Marble revetment, white and purple, 1; Iron: nail 1, rounded shafts 2, oval piece 1; Painted plaster: red 3, white 9, yellow 1, black 1; Obsidian, 1; Tesserae 2; Lead mending strip, 1; Glass, unknown color: bs 2, rim 1; lamp, Broneer Type XVI, early fabric, possibly mid-Augustan (saved to lot); Glass, clear colorless: bs 2
Period:		Late Roman (5th -6th c AD)
Chronology:		Early 5th century
Grid:		257.61-256.85E, 1005.89-1007.44N
XMin:		256.85
XMax:		257.61
YMin:		1005.89
YMax:		1007.44
Site:		Corinth
City:		Ancient Corinth
Country:		Greece
Masl:		85.67-85.86m.