Corinth Basket Nezi Field, context 450

Collection:		Corinth
Type:		Basket
Name:		Nezi Field, context 450
Area:		Nezi Field
Context Type:		Fill
Title:		Robbing Trench Fill
Category:		Deposit
Notebook:		1103
Context:		450
Page:		0
Date:		2009/04/03
Stratum:		pottery, tiles, bone, cobbles, pebbles, glass. 60%
Description:		Top slope of the context is level. The soil color is dark greyish brown. The soil compaction is loose. The soil is very poorly sorted. It is sandy silt.
Notes:		Context 450 comprises the intersection of walls 366 and 332. Excavation of context 449 revealed a brown soil mixed with plaster. In pursuing the limits of this deposit and the black soil we have been seeking to reveal in this area, we scraped this area to determine its soil composition. The scraping revealed that this deposit cuts the soil revealed by context 449 to the N of 450. Since this deposit lies at the intersection of two walls, we therefore assume that this is the fill from a robbing trench looking for good cornerstones from walls 366 and 332. Since this is a robbing trench we are dry sieving the soil, though some of the top soil was not sieved because we could not guarantee it was not contaminated with soil from the bottom of trench B54 (into which it was brushed). There are lots of cobbles and roof tiles in the deposit. The soil is very dark greyish brown. We stopped excavation in this context at the end of the day. 6/4/09: While we were digging the robbing trench fill on Friday we noticed that the context extended further toward the S. Running parallel and adjacent to wall 332 (whose northern end forms the southwestern boundary of the context) runs another line of stones - probably a wall. Its preserved northern end seems to be S from the preserved N end of wall 332. From the way that the robbing trench extends and the homogeneity of the fill, we suspect that both walls were robbed at the same time. We continued digging the robbing trench fill and we observed the following. What has been described above as a possible wall running parallel and adjacent to wall 332 is actually a structure (452), probably a platform and probably contemporary with wall 332. The removal of the robbing trench fill from between the N end of wall 332 and structure 452 revealed a reddish surface, probably a floor. Also the removal of the robbing trench fill from the same area revealed the N end of structure 452 (cut stones) which is actually what lead us to the indentification of it as a structure and not a wall. We suspect that the cut for the robbing trench did not extend as far S as structure 452 but its fill (whenever that happened) extends all the way there. The reddish surface (possibly a floor) was cut for the opening of the robbing trench. Since the identification of structure 452 seems clearer now we tried to understand its relationship with the pit S of structure 452 and east of wall 332 that was uncovered last year. It looks like the pit cuts into the floor (reddish surface) that was in the room bounded by walls 332 and 313. A coin was found in the fill of the trench at N: 1006.21/E: 263.83/H:86.95 In discussion we have come to agree that the red soil uncovered N of 452 and cut by 450 was a floor that extended E and S to the floor revealed by 394. We were confused as to why the excavation of B54, which unearthed a robbing trench to the E, did not also reveal this trench. Panos has begun to uncover a different, lighter soil on the E side of the context, between 450 and B54, so we are probably dealing with different robbing activity (though how different they are temporally is not clear). We speculate that the portion of wall that was robbed here may have originally extended to wall 335 to the E. This hypothetical wall would have closed off a rectangular room running N/S between walls 332 and 313 with a red floor. Structure 452 would have been part of this room. Panos has uncovered a lighter, more compact soil under the dark soil of 450. The new soil cuts into the walls of the trench, so it must be an earlier fill in the robbing trench (cut 451). Excavation of 450 was ended and the excavation of the new soil in the robbing trench continues as 453.
Context Pottery:		Fineware. late sgraffito, slipped style VII (1250-1300), bowl. 7 bodysherds. ; Fineware. metallic ware, unslipped (1275-1335), pitcher. 1 handle. 1 bodysherd. ; Coarseware. matte painted, stamnos. 1 rim. 2 handles. 3 bodysherds. ; Fineware. slipped plain glazed (1100-1300), bowl. 5 bodysherds. ; Fineware. premedieval6 bodysherds. ; Coarseware. pitcher. 1 rim. ; Fineware. pre-roman9 bodysherds. ; Cooking ware. vertical rim stewpot (1270-1320)1 rim. ; Fineware. pre-frankish34 bodysherds. ; Fineware. protomaiolica, slipped (1260-1325), bowl. 1 bodysherd. ; Fineware. archaic maiolica, slipped (1270-1325), pitcher. 1 bodysherd. ; Fineware. coarse incised, slipped style V (1200-1220), bowl. 1 rim.
Pottery Summary:		67 frag(s) 0.63 kg. (0% saved) fineware.
		450 frag(s) 4.58 kg. (0% saved) coarseware.
		118 frag(s) 1.4 kg. (0% saved) cooking ware.
Context Artifacts:		premedieval pithos base 1; 1 wall plaster white; tessara 1; roof tile 8; iron, nail, shank 2, complete 2; glass, clear, bs 3; clear, greenish, bs 2; clear, rim 1; clear, brownish bs with ridge 1; glass, bracelet, blue with white zig zag as MF 821 (Corinth XII, #2156), diam 4 cm; marble revetment, white, 2, grey 1; Bone- cranial of Capra aegagrus hircus (Sheep/Goat) - 6 example(s).; Bone- femur of Mammalia, lg (Mammal - Large) - 1 example(s).; Bone- humerus of Capra aegagrus hircus (Sheep/Goat) - 1 example(s).; Bone- humerus of Mammalia, lg (Mammal - Large) - 1 example(s).; Bone- humerus of Sus scrofa (Wild Boar or Domestic Pig) - 2 example(s).; Bone- indeterminate of Mammalia, md (Mammal - Medium) - 52 example(s).; Bone- innominate of Capra aegagrus hircus (Sheep/Goat) - 1 example(s).; Bone- limb bone, undiff. of Mammalia, md (Mammal - Medium) - 14 example(s).; Bone- mandible of Capra aegagrus hircus (Sheep/Goat) - 1 example(s).; Bone- mandible of Capra aegagrus hircus (Sheep/Goat) - 6 example(s).; Bone- metapodial of Capra aegagrus hircus (Sheep/Goat) - 6 example(s).; Bone- metapodial of Sus scrofa (Wild Boar or Domestic Pig) - 1 example(s).; Bone- Not in Table - 1 example(s).; Bone- phalanx of Capra aegagrus hircus (Sheep/Goat) - 2 example(s).; Bone- radius of Sus scrofa (Wild Boar or Domestic Pig) - 1 example(s).; Bone- rib of Mammalia, lg (Mammal - Large) - 1 example(s).; Bone- rib of Mammalia, md (Mammal - Medium) - 13 example(s).; Bone- scapula of Mammalia, md (Mammal - Medium) - 3 example(s).; Bone- tarsal of Capra aegagrus hircus (Sheep/Goat) - 2 example(s).; Bone- tibia of Capra aegagrus hircus (Sheep/Goat) - 3 example(s).; Bone- ulna of Sus scrofa (Wild Boar or Domestic Pig) - 1 example(s).; Bone- vertebrae of Mammalia, md (Mammal - Medium) - 12 example(s).
Period:		Frankish (1210-1458 AD)
Chronology:		early 14th c.
Grid:		263.38-262.47E, 1006.08-1006.99N
XMin:		262.47
XMax:		263.38
YMin:		1006.08
YMax:		1006.99
Site:		Corinth
City:		Ancient Corinth
Country:		Greece
Masl:		86.81-87.21m.
References:		Report: Nezi Field 2009 by Stella Diakou and Cavan Concannon (2009-03-30 to 2009-04-16) Coin: 2009 22