| Collection: | Corinth | |
| Type: | Basket | |
| Name: | Nezi Field, context 879 | |
| Area: | Nezi Field | |
| Title: | Pinkish Layer Sloping From SW to 746 | |
| Category: | Deposit | |
| Notebook: | 1106 | |
| Context: | 879 | |
| Page: | 0 | |
| Date: | 2012/06/05 | |
| Lot: | Lot 2012-045 | |
| Stratum: | pottery, tile, bone, cobbles, pebbles, glass, architectural fragment, mosaic, iron, shell; 20%; 20-30% tile/cobbles in SW corner by wall 866 | |
| Description: | Top slope of the context is moderate down to the NE. The soil color is light pinkish brown. The soil compaction is firm. The soil is moderately sorted. It is clayey silt. | |
| Notes: | This is the pink layer often referred to as sloping down from the SW. This is the E portion of that formation which abuts and overlays wall 866 and is bounded to the N by C867. Wall 866 probably continues N of the cuts recorded in 849, although it seems to have been cut into, as there is a semicircular gap visible. Bluish glass shard recovered (base or rim). Another body sherd from a different vessel recovered as well. Excavation continues down the wall (866), towards the N, noticing large tiles and rocks in the mix of fill, perhaps having come off of 866. This pink sloping layer is laid on in the tile layer identified at the bottom of 865. Panos says it was different from the red layer in the N of the trench. The larger fragments of tile are mostly adjacent to wall 866 on its S end before it disappears in pit 193. The fill in this SW corner of the context includes some large cobbles/small boulders ca. 15-20 cm down from where we began digging. Section formed in N half of 879 has many tiles included. A tile with cement was noticed while digging. In E section of 879 a carved stone, possible painted red, recovered. Another glass shard also recovered. Context left open at end of day. 6 June 2012: We have continued excavating on the N end of 879, parallel to 866. There is a large concentration of tiles here just as there was in the SW end, and, moreover, as there was throughout 865. These correspondences led Rachel and Kyle, pace Panos' initial feeling, to prefer interpreting these contexts as containing, at least partially, a roof collapse. More carbon was noticed in the N end of 879. Another glass body shard recovered. In the E end of 879 there are still tiles, although slightly less in number. Another glass body shard recovered. W of 746 the ground is less clayey, more silty, and there are more cobbles, about 50/50 cobbles/tiles. Another piece of pebble ''mosaic'' recovered that is similar to the other pieces we have found. It was recovered immediately adjacent to 746 in the SE of the context. Another similar piece of ''mosaic'' floor found in the same area; also rock with cement. A large jug or amphora, red-orange fabric, near S baulk, may mend. Much more pottery - also a fragment of sculpted marble - in SE corner of context against S baulk/wall 746. Chunk of iron slag as well. This is basically the layer beneath layer 877. Slightly further N, Panos pointed out a large cobble, very heavy, and irregularly shaped, with a suggestively wedged shape notch on one side. (We have left it under the fig tree). Another fragment of mosaic floor with slightly larger cobbles (up to about 1 cm). Small, narrow roots are present - strange when we are this deep. Large tiles continue to be found, along with cobbles in SE corner of 879. As we pass back W the number of cobbles seems to increase. It should be noted that these cobbles are the same size and shape as those used in the walls 746 and 866. Another piece of marble (revetment/floor) recovered in this pass. Some of the tiles are scored. Large boulder appearing near center of context against S baulk, just west of amphora/jug sherds noted above. Possible related to large boulders visible in bottom of 193? Soil E of this boulder is very soft. N of the boulder and W it again contains more clay, though the change in soil is very gradual. Another piece of marble revetment. In SW side of 879, beneath the semicircular cut in 866, a roughly rectangular, large stone or block of the crumbly bedrock has been uncovered. More iron slag recovered. Two large joining pieces marble, or other hard, heavy stone, burned (?) - striations along exterior sloping side as if fine millstone, circular cutting broken on one side narrowing towards base. Guys says = mortar. Tile and cobbles continue to predominate throughout the context. Soil near bottom continues to have tile and is very soft - so much so that it is practically possible to excavate with broom alone. Large fragments of tile are now present throughout, so that originally there may have been a tile fall/pile which spread out to the E and N from a high point in the SW corner, thus causing the much remarked upon slope in the sloping pink layer. The clayey soil noted earlier as N and W of the boulder in the middle of the S scarp seems to have been confined to the area of the trench N of the second large, crumbly bedrock boulder on the W side against wall 866. (RM is not entirely convinced that the middle portion of 866 is a wall - it is ok for ca. 1 m from C867, and then becomes a mess of tightly packed tile and stones with no consistent orientation). At the bottom of this context, where we have found the amphora and much of the bone and pottery, the red layer observed in the N appears to be cut by a tile layer with very loose soil similar to that which we were encountering just above. This is the larger extent of the tile layer marked on the bottom plan for 865. It now can be seen extending in a wide ark like one quarter of an oval, cut by ''wall'' 866 on the W and truncated by the arbitrary baulk to the S. We will be digging this as a new context (886) since it is distinct from the surrounding area and has contained more cultural material than the pink sloping mudbrick/tile in this context. 9 June 2012: Sculpted marble: this is a small fragment of fine-crystal white marble sculpture, preserved L 0.069, W 0.051, T 0.031. Orientation is unclear, but for purposes of this description the preserved side is positioned on the viewer's left. The finish on the front and preserved side is very fine; the back is smoothed flat, but not polished. It is broken at top, bottom, and on one side. The finished side is very slightly convex, with a vertical incised line continuing the design from the front, so it cannot be a resting surface. The design on the front with two projections separated by a very slightly convex surface may be folds of drapery, but the fragment is too small to be certain. The right edge of the front left projection runs parallel to the side of the fragment, but the surface divides vertically in the middle of the front and this division slopes up and to the left to the break on the top. The front right projection is smoothly convex and curving, almost like the side of an egg from an egg and dart. | |
| Context Pottery: | Fineware. pre medieval33 bodysherds. ; Coarseware. ; Coarseware. late roman amphora1 rim. 2 handles. 14 bodysherds. (saved to lot) .post roman variety; Cooking ware. stew pot2 rims. one out-turned mid 6th; one out-turned early 7th century | |
| Pottery Summary: | 38 frag(s) 0.28 kg. (0% saved) fineware. | |
| 429 frag(s) 10.4 kg. (5% saved) coarseware. | ||
| 126 frag(s) 1.64 kg. (0% saved) cooking ware. | ||
| Context Artifacts: | marble?, purple, 1 (saved to lot); glass, clear, blue, outward thickened foot, restored diam. 0.05, base, 1 (saved to lot); iron, slag, 2 (saved to lot); marble, white, revetment?, 1 (saved to lot); waterpipe, bs, 6 (saved to lot); mosaic, small multicolored pebbles, 1 (saved to lot); marble, white with grey schisty streaks, ridge on one side, 1 (saved to lot); mosaic, tiny multicolored pebbles, 2 (saved to lot); glass, clear, colorless, bs, 3 (saved to lot); marble, white with grey streaks, 1 (saved to lot); terracotta, triangular rim or base, crenellated decoration on exterior rim, 13 (saved to lot); glass, clear, colorless, light greenish blue tinge, restored diam. 0.30, flattened tubular rim, plate?, rim, 1 (saved to lot); terracotta, rim of large basin, restored diam. > 0.60, painted red on interior, triangular rim w/ convex articulation on interior, articulation on exterior top surface separates squared downturned lip from horizontal portion of rim, 1 (saved to lot); marble, white, 1 (saved to lot); marble, sculpted relief, see notes section for full description, 1 (saved to lot); mortar, marble ?, calcined ?, 2 joining frgts (saved to lot); glass, clear, greenish yellow, bs, 3 (saved to lot) | |
| Period: | Early Byzantine (610-802 AD) | |
| Chronology: | late 7th-early 8th | |
| Grid: | 274.5-270.7E, 1009.58-1012.81N | |
| XMin: | 270.7 | |
| XMax: | 274.5 | |
| YMin: | 1009.58 | |
| YMax: | 1012.81 | |
| Site: | Corinth | |
| City: | Ancient Corinth | |
| Country: | Greece | |
| Masl: | 85.78-86.65m. | |
| References: | Report: Nezi Field 2012 by Kyle Mahoney and Rachel McCleery (2012-05-28 to 2012-06-15) Object: C 2012 10 |
|