"UserLevel","Id","dc-publisher","Type","Collection","dc-creator","dc-description","dc-title","Chronology","dc-subject","Redirect","dc-date","Name","Icon"
"","Corinth:Basket:Nezi Field, context 6286","","Basket","Corinth","","Deposit","Well fill, top deposit","1280 +/- 10","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Nezi Field","","2009/05/06","Nezi Field, context 6286",""
"","Corinth:Report:Temple E, Southeast 2017 by Tori Bedingfield (2017-05-02 to 2017-05-19)","","Report","Corinth","","Temple E, Southeast Excavations 2017; Coordinates: N: 1043.270, S: 1039.866, E: 114.763, W: 109.937; ; This is the final summary report for work undertaken in the northeastern corner of the courtyard of Unit 1, Frankish Area, during the second excavation session of the 2017 season. Personnel: Guy Sanders (Director), Ioulia Tzonou-Herbst (Assistant Director), James Herbst (Architect), Orestes Zervos (Numismatist), Rossana Valente (Field Director), Panos Kakouros (Assistant Foreman and Pickman), Marios Vathis (Shovelman and Sieve), and Tori Bedingfield (Recorder).; ; The area of excavation is located in the northeast corner of the unpaved section north of the paved courtyard in Unit 1. The western section of the unpaved part, 4.5 meters wide (E-W), had previously been excavated during session 1 of the 2017 excavation season. The excavation during session 2 was conducted in the remaining eastern section, approximately 5m (E-W) x 4m (N-S) area. The excavation was bounded in the north by an E-W reconstructed wall (labelled wall 2 in the 1992 excavations, NB 849); in the east by a N-S reconstructed wall (referred to as the south wall of room 8, or annex, in the 1992 excavations, NB 852); in the south by the northern limit of the paved courtyard; and in the west by the excavation scarp created in session 1 excavations. Room 8 is situated directly north of the excavation area, and room 3 is situated to the east. The unpaved portion of the courtyard in Unit 1 was last systematically excavated in April-May 1992 (NB 849, pp.  11-17, pp. 29-51, pp. 69-73, pp. 83-101, lots 1992-24, 1992-42, 1992-39, 1992-40, 1992-50, lot 1992-51; NB 852, pp. 8-10, pp. 38-62, lot 1992-31). The previous excavations removed approximately 1 meter of destruction debris, with a “Turkish house” built over the destruction layer (NB 832). The final elevation recorded in the excavation area by the 1992 excavation team (85.546 masl, NB 852, basket 114) is approximately ten centimeters higher than the opening elevations recorded for the 2017 excavation season (85.46 masl). The final context (NB 849, basket 54) of May 1992 excavation season in the eastern part of the unit, and the final context (NB 852, basket 114) of the June 1992 excavations in the north and western part of the unit, was recorded as being a hard clean clay surface, which is not incongruous with the hard, marl clay surface that was on the surface at the start on the 2017 excavation. The approximately ten centimeters of difference in level between 1992 and 2017 may be explained by a number of reasons. Given that this area was exposed to the elements for 25 years and experienced foot traffic from the restoration efforts on the north and east walls, it is not entirely impossible to exclude that there has been some loss from wind erosion and wear. As in all areas left open to the elements for such a long time, cleaning operations are imperative before the beginning of a new excavation season, in order to remove any potentially mixed strata.  The coordinates of the excavation area are N: 1043.270, S: 1039.866, E: 114.763, W: 109.937; the opening elevation was 85.494 masl, and the closing is 84.99 masl, though the lowest elevation recorded was at the bottom of a pit cut at 84.42 masl. ; ; The overall goals of session 2, 2017 excavation season were threefold: to understand the phasing of the east wall, the floor layers, and the pit deposit visible on the surface, and their relationship to one another; to understand the so-called “mud brick structure” (feature 1073) exposed during season 1 of the 2017 excavations; and to look for evidence for reorientation of the entire space, a theory posited in previous scholarship. By and large, theories and responses to these goals were satisfactorily developed, though more excavation is required to verify any conclusions with absolute certainty. In particular, excavation underneath the paved courtyard to the south of the excavation area would be fruitful for our understanding of this part of the Frankish occupation. ; ; Frankish Period (1210-1458 CE); ; The earliest use of this space that was uncovered was a levelling event made up of redeposited mud brick, resulting in a unified elevation in this portion of the unpaved section of the courtyard (context 1107, lot 2017-1). The westernmost boundary of the mud brick redeposited layer was first uncovered in session 1 of the 2017 excavations (feature 1073). ; ; During the late 13th to the early 14th century, a subfloor (context 1107, lot 2017-1) and accompanying lime floor (1106, lot 2017-3) were laid down on the redeposited mudbrick floor. Despite its relatively durable construction, a repair patch (context 1105) in the floor was needed in the southwest corner of the floor some time later in its use. The west edge of this floor was visible in the excavation unit, and it did not continue over the “mud brick structure” (feature 1073). Therefore, the original western boundary of the floor may be preserved. The southern boundary is unknown, as the floor stretches under the paved courtyard. ; ; At some point later in time, still during the late 13th to early 14th c., a wall stretching across the northern boundary of the courtyard was constructed, and a foundation trench cut through the lower flooring and redeposited mudbrick layer. Contemporary with this north wall, a clay floor approximately 8 centimeters thick was laid down (context 1104, lot 2017-2). After this, a pit (approximately 1 meter by 1 meter) was cut in the northwest corner of the excavation unit to a depth below context 1107 (bottom elevation 84.11 masl), the deepest layer excavated. Due to several days of heavy rain during the excavation season and the high clay content of the surrounding layers, the fill of the pit is not excavated. After this, though still in the late 13th to early 14th c., the clay floor and pit were overlaid by three subfloor layers (8-9 cm thickness in total, context 1103 lot 2017-4, context 1102 lot 2017-5, and context 1101 lot 2017-6), and a cement floor (context 1100).; ; In the 14th c., three more cement floor layers were laid down directly on one another (context 1099 lot 2017-7, context 1097, and context 1085, lot 2017-8), lacking the subfloors seen in previous layers. All layers up to this stage had continued under the paved courtyard to the south of the excavation unit. Additionally, all floor layers are characterized by a high residuality in respect to the artifacts recovered, due to the redeposited material used for the floors.; ; Continuing in the 14th c., another north wall was constructed on top of the earlier wall, and its foundation trench cut through all floor layers down to the lowest of three subfloor layers associated with one of the cement floors (context 1103, lot 2017-4, bottom elevation 85.22 masl). This wall was built directly on top of the earlier north wall. Due to the modern intrusion of the wall restoration, the exact dimensions of the earlier wall are not clear. The existence of an earlier wall was evident mostly in the presence of its foundation trench. ; ; A paved courtyard was constructed to the south of the excavation area, probably contemporaneously with the construction of this later north wall. Paving stones were laid over a section of the floor layers (to the south of the excavation area), and may have reoriented the space from a north-south orientation to an east-west one. In addition to the construction of a paved courtyard and the north wall, a marl floor was laid down in this area. During the 2017 excavation season, the floor was patchy and relatively thin, though in previous excavation this was recorded as being a sturdy clay floor layer (NB 849, p. 41). The clay floor was described as being flush with the level of the paving stones in the paved courtyard, though at the start of this excavation period, the floor was some centimeters lower than the courtyard. Even at its deepest level, this marl floor does not continue under the paved courtyard to the south, and so it is certain that the marl floor was laid down after the paving stones. ; ; After the paving of the stone courtyard, the space seems to have fallen into a period of disuse, and in the east of the excavation unit a pit was cut into the floor layers. Beginning at some point in the 14th c. and ending sometime in the second half of the 14th c., the pit was filled with dump fills of large joining fragments of matt painted amphora and other ceramics, tile, and refuse (from first to last deposited: contexts 1076, 1086-1089, lot 2017-10). Due to the relatively few animal bones and organics recovered and the absence in the soils of the loamy quality common in cesspits, it appears this was not used in a household context, at least in the latter part of the 14th c. During the 1992 excavations, the other portion of this pit was excavated (“pit A” in NB 849). The final elevation of pit A as well as the nature of the finds make it very likely they are from the same event, though there seem to have been around three different pits cut in this area, with at least one pit cutting through the southeast portion of pit A. In addition, a destruction layer covered over this whole area (NB 832), and the excavators who recorded the context below the deposit (NB 849) were ambiguous about the boundaries of the various pits at the start of their excavation. This makes it difficult to be certain the pits are related. The excavation drawings also show an outline that roughly aligns with pit 1078, though it was not explored. The drawing may show the slumping of the floor over the pit, as well as the difference in the adherence of the clay floor to the layer below it. ; ; Following this activity, a wall in the east of the excavation unit was built that cut through the pit. This was the last phase of activity excavated during this season. The clay floor layer mentioned in the 1992 excavation probably dates to this period as well, though it isn’t possible to be certain. To compensate for the loose fill of the pit, it was necessary to fortify the foundation with large cobbles and stones below and around the foundation trench within the pit. A precise date cannot be offered for this wall, other than the terminus post quem is  sometime after the final fill of the pit was deposited (1076, lot 2017-10), in the second half of the 14th c., and after the second phase of the north wall, which dates to the late 14th c. ; ; The previous excavations of April-May 1992 had recovered evidence for a large scale destruction event covering the whole area. It had been assumed that this was due to the Catalan destruction of Corinth in 1312. Given the dating of the pit (after the second half of the 14th c.), this gives good reason to rethink the phasing of the Frankish alteration of the site, as well as to the cause of the destruction layer. In fact, during the year 1312, this area of the site was experiencing continuous maintenance.; ; Outstanding goals; ; The removal of the mudbrick floor level would be important in clarifying the murky understanding of the relationship between the excavation units of session 1 and session 2. In addition, the removal of the paved courtyard would provide more understanding of the function of this area prior to the paving of the stone courtyard.","Frankish Area: Unit 1, Courtyard, Northeast Corner","","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Temple E, Temenos | Temple E, Southeast","","","Temple E, Southeast 2017 by Tori Bedingfield (2017-05-02 to 2017-05-19)",""
"","Agora:PublicationPage:Agora-7-218","","PublicationPage","Agora","","Agora 7","Concordances","","","","","Agora 7, s. 218, p. 202","Agora:PublicationPage:Agora-7-218::/Agora/Publications/Agora/Agora 007/Agora 007 218 (202).png::1449::2048"
"","Corinth:Report:South Stoa east 2016 by An Jiang and Catharine Judson (2016-04-05 to 2016-04-21)","","Report","Corinth","","An Jiang, Catharine Judson; 2016 Corinth Session I; South Stoa Excavation, Shop 1 Rear ; Coordinates: N: 1092.3, S: 1084.7, E: 355.9, W: 349.6     ; Excavation Dates: April 5-21, 2016; ; Introduction; This is the final report of the first session of the Corinth excavation for 2016 in Shop 1 Rear in the South Stoa. Guy Sanders (director), James Herbst (architect) and Danielle Smotherman (field director) supervised. An Jiang and Catharine Judson (area supervisors) recorded. The workmen were Panos Kakouros (pickman) and Marios Vathis (shovelman and sieve), Vassiles Kollias and Giannes Oikonomopoulos (wheelbarrow). Photogrammetry has been carried out for every context of the room since April 11, 2016. ; ; In Shop 1 Rear, the area of excavation was bounded by the four walls of the room: Wall 457 to the east (N 1106.511; S 1086.5; E 356.4; W 348.667), Wall 458 to the south (Greek phase; N 1086.379; S 1084.15; E 355.829; W 351.808), Wall 459 to the west (to be measured in Session II), and Wall 461 (N 1092.747; S 1090.634; E 353.638; W 349.193) to the north. The coordinates of the interior space of the room are: NE corner E: 353.85, N: 1092.3; NW corner, E: 349.6, N: 1090.8; SW corner, E: 351.8, N: 1084.7; SE corner, E: 355.9, N: 1086.5. ; ; The goals of the excavation in this room are to determine the chronology of the activities in the room during the use of the Stoa (where these levels are preserved); to investigate the pre-Stoa activities in this area; and to prepare the area for consolidation, conservation, and presentation to the public. The dates during which we excavated are: April 5-21, 2016.; ; Shop 1 Rear was previously excavated by Oscar Broneer in the 1930s and 1940s. The bulk of excavation was carried out in March of 1934 (Corinth NB 139). Broneer began by removing “fill and rough masonry” across the entire area. On March 3, he records removing rubble foundations (c.70 cm thick) from this specific room. These walls may have been Byzantine in date, based on vague references to the general area in the notebook during this part of March. On March 20, Broneer excavated a trench along the entire length of the west wall between crosswalls Wall 371 to the south and Wall 461 to the north. This trench is identified both by the old excavation photos (Corinth 1.IV, pls.6.2, 7.1 and 27) and by the modern material we found in the fills along the western wall (Contexts 298 and 310). In this area, Broneer reports finding “little except some Early Helladic and Neolithic potsherds and a few Greek sherds” (p.116). On March 21, he reports that the fill close to the west wall goes deep below floor level, and that this produced primarily Early Helladic and Neolithic pottery. This may refer to the very deep sounding that we excavated as Cut 301/Context 298. Broneer also excavated in the SE corner of the room on March 21, and along the east wall on March 22, reporting Neolithic fill, Neolithic and Classical sherds, and several coins (late Classical/Hellenistic [Corinth P/T?], 1 coin of Demetrios Poliorketes, 1 coin of Manuel I). The coin of Manuel I came from the level of the toichobate (NB 139, p.122), and possibly indicates the level of Byzantine occupation in this area that was cleared away by Broneer. The trench dug along the eastern and southern walls was probably an excavation of the foundation trenches. Broneer revisited this area in 1946, but appears to have done little but cleaning in this room, based on his description of work in the notebook (Corinth NB194).; ; Prehistoric; Late Neolithic and Early Helladic pottery is present in contexts across the center and southern part of the room, typically mixed with later (generally Hellenistic) pottery. There is an especially high concentration of prehistoric pottery found in layered fills in the central area of the room (especially contexts 424, 438, and 436). The presence of this pottery and associated finds (e.g. obsidian and chert blades, EH spindle whorl [MF-2016-17]) indicates the presence of prehistoric activity in this area of the site. This is also confirmed by the presence of prehistoric levels in the space of Shop 2 Rear immediately to the east. None of the contents of these deposits are in their primary (prehistoric) context, however: all deposits with prehistoric pottery also contain later material and are indicative of later activities in the area rather than prehistoric ones. The mostly likely scenario is that, during the construction of the Stoa, foundation trenches were dug into prehistoric levels and the resulting soil was immediately redeposited as a fill level in the room’s interior with little time for Hellenistic ceramic contamination (especially Contexts 424, 436, and 438). Other contexts (e.g. Context 411) also contain prehistoric material but in lower concentrations, and are more likely the result of later filling and leveling operations within the space after the initial construction of the Stoa walls and the fill event represented by the almost pure prehistoric contexts.; ; Based on the appearance of the section in the scarp of Cut 301 compared to contexts in Shop 2 Rear, and the depth that Broneer dug to against Wall 459, it is likely that Broneer (like the builders of the Stoa) cut into prehistoric activity levels. The Neolithic and Early Helladic pottery that he mentions in both the western part of the room and in the southeast corner probably represent the spread of prehistoric activity levels across the space as well as the redeposition caused by Hellenistic construction. A matte-painted terracotta figurine in the museum comes from his excavations along the east wall (MF 13360). ; ; The pottery demonstrates that prehistoric occupation of the area ran from at least Late Neolithic through Early Helladic II. LN matte-painted and grey burnished ware, and EH red and black slipped wares are the most representative pottery types for the deposits in question. Characteristic shapes include LN fruitstands (cf. C-2016-8, C-2016-10), a LN ritual vessel (C-2016-11), a LN shoulder bowl (C-2016-9), EH bowls with incurved rims, and EH sauceboats. ; ; Classical; There are some traces of Classical activities in the room. Two deposits of fill (Contexts 456 and 478), located in the southern area of the room, date to the 4th and 5th centuries BC respectively, based on pottery. It is currently unclear what sort of activity these deposits represent, as there are no preserved surfaces dating to this period in this part of the room. One whole vessel containing traces of blue pigment was excavated in Context 456 (C-2016-5), but was resting on stones within a fill level rather than on a surface.; ; The exact type of activity in the Classical period in this room is difficult to establish, because we currently have too few excavated contexts that can be securely associated with this period. Context 478 and the associated Cut 497 may indicate the location of any stratified Classical activity in the area of the room, but the pottery from 478 is heavily prehistoric and likely represents redeposited prehistoric fill. Broneer probably also excavated part of this same deposit next to the Wall 457, as he mentions a mixture of Neolithic and Classical pottery from this specific area. His trench cuts through the deposit and exposes it in cross-section. ; ; Based on the quantities of Classical pottery present in other excavated contexts across the room, this period does not appear to form a major phase of occupation in this area. ;  ; Hellenistic; Pre-Stoa phases of activity in the late 4th and early 3rd centuries are most likely represented by a possible floor (or at least well-consolidated surface), removed as Context 449. This context dates to the 4th century BC. Its connection with the 4th century fill Context 456 in the southern part of the room is unknown, as the two deposits are spatially separated and different in appearance and formation. Two pits were dug into Context 449, and probably were meant to hold pithoi (Cuts 389 and 382). These pits were dug into the top of the surface, and therefore are likely contemporary with this 4th century surface.  ; ; The construction of the Stoa, currently dated to c.280 BC by Sarah James' 2015 excavations, is marked in the interior of the room by the redeposition of fills (Contexts 424, 436, and 438) in the center of the room (discussed above in the Prehistoric section). Their redeposition in the large cut through the consolidated surface (Context 449) suggests that this surface was highly disturbed during/by this construction project. The remainder of this surface and the pits cut into it in the northern part of the newly formed room were not covered over as part of the Stoa construction, however, and may have remained in use for some time. The pithoi in pits 389 and 382 may have been removed in conjunction with the Stoa construction. Pit 407 was also dug into the surface (Context 449) during the first half of the 3rd century BC and may mark the point at which it went out of use as a surface. Additional leveling fills were added across the southern part of the room sometime in the 3rd century BC (Contexts 411 and 398). Context 398 sealed the contents of Pit 407 (Context 403) and therefore indicates that there were multiple phases of leveling and remodeling within the room, most likely associated with the construction of the Stoa. ; ; Shortly after the construction of the Stoa, Wall 371 (L 2.5 m, W 0.50 m; N 1087.0, S 1085.8, E 353.7, W 351.3) was constructed in order to subdivide the interior space of the room. This wall was constructed in two successive, but closely dated, phases, sometime in the later 3rd century BC (post-275 BC, Context 374). This represents a restructuring of the use of the space. Probably linked with this is the gradual infilling of the two pits next to the northern wall, which had been left open after the construction of the Stoa and the probable removal of their pithoi. Context 383 (the western pit) was filled in by the late 3rd century BC, and Context 376 was filled in by the early 2nd century BC, based on the pottery (Context 376 is dated primarily on the basis of C-2016-7, a bowl with outturned rim). The coins from both pits corroborate but do not narrow this dating, as they provide a terminus post quem of the mid- to late-3rd century BC for both contexts (Context 383: 2016-78 [Ptolemy II, 285-246 BC], Coin 2016-85 [Argos, 352-228 BC], Coin 2016-86 [Argos, 352-228 BC]; Context 376: Coin 2016-63 [Argos 350-228 BC], 2016-64 [Demetrios Poliorketes, 306-283 BC], 2016-67 [Corinth P/T Group VIII, 287-252 BC]). In addition to large numbers of coins, the pits contain high concentrations of pottery and other small finds, including metal fragments (MF-2016-19: bronze handle), lamp fragments, roof tiles, ostrich egg shell (cf. MF 3957, ostrich egg shell from Broneer’s excavations against east wall), bronze rings, and pebble cement fragments. These two pits were covered and closed with a layer of fill covering the NE corner (Contexts 367, 390). The pottery from this fill event provides a terminus post quem date of the late 3rd century BC, but the fill layer was likely laid down sometime in the early 2nd century BC, based on the contents of Context 376. This fill also contains a high concentration of coins, including a Classical coin from Cleonai (2016-50, 471-421 BC), a late Classical/Hellenistic coin from Argos (2016-56, 400-200 BC), and several Corinthian P/T Type VII coins (2016-88, 2016-89, 2016-90, 2016-92: 303-287 BC). ; ; Roman; There is limited evidence for the Early Roman modification of the Stoa in this space. Pit 361 and its associated fill 364 date to the 1st century BC and are sealed by Context 360, dating to the Late Hellenistic or Early Roman period. This pit likely represents a change in function of the space, and is the first dateable act of deposition after the early 2nd century BC that we can reconstruct in the room. A thin deposit of fill (Context 346) also dates to the Early Roman period, and lies across the entire area of the room. This represents a further modification of the space after the closing of Pit 361. The date of this context is based on the pottery, but this deposit also contains 16 coins mainly dated to the earlier Hellenistic period (2016-44 [Thasos, 300-200 BC], 2016-33 [Demetrios Poliorketes, 306-283], 2016-38 [Antigonos Gonatas, 277-239 BC], 2016-36 [Lokris, 338-300 BC], several Corinthian P/T). There is one much later coin in this context, however (Coin 2016-39, Late Roman minimus), which may either pull down the date of the context dramatically or be later contamination. This level is the latest stratified deposit across the majority of the room.; ; Middle Roman activity in the room is only represented by Cut 334 and associated fills (especially Contexts 332 and 337) in the NE corner. This may be a rubbish pit associated with some construction event in the area, as many of the small finds in these contexts are broken building materials (tiles, marble revetment, cement, plastered blocks, wall plaster fragments, pebble cement flooring). The squared shape of the cutting may indicate that this originally had some other function than for trash dumping, however. ; ; We speculate that the later Roman use levels of the room were removed in the post-Roman period (Broneer mentions Byzantine walls in this area) or during early excavations without any comment in the notebook, and all that remained were traces of various filling operations from Roman construction.; ; Modern; The latest activity in the interior of the room is modern backfilling and trampled fills. Cuts 301 and 316, and Contexts 287, 297, 298, and 310 represent Broneer’s activities, including both excavation and backfilling. The bottom of this modern excavation and backfilling has not been clearly identified in the area of Context 298, since we stopped digging along the west wall after the first week of the session. One of Broneer’s goals in this area was presumably to expose the entire eastern profile of Wall 459 in the area of Context 298. This deposit exposed four courses of the wall, with at least one more likely still buried, as known from the excavations in Shop 2 Rear. In addition, the construction of the stone patch (Context 326) in the NE corner of the room also probably belongs to this period because of the modern material found in it. All excavation in the area took place in the 1930s and 1940s. The terminus post quem for the backfilling of the western soundings in the room is provided by coin 2016-6, a 1954 drachma. In all areas of modern excavation, a number of modern glass, metal and plastic objects were found, including a complete modern medicinal bottle (MF-2016-16).; ; Conclusion; The excavation activities of this session have raised more questions about ancient activities in the room than they have answered. The primary problem that is raised by the types of contexts in Shop 1 Rear so far excavated is that there are no clearly identified floor levels, and therefore no clear idea of activities within the room during different use phases. Most of the deposits represent fill events rather than occupation phases. Various construction phases also severely disrupted earlier levels and therefore caused a high degree of fragmentation of deposits within the space of the room. Nonetheless, we are able to link at least some of the contexts with the construction of the Stoa and therefore can mark chronological points of change to the space (pre-Stoa, Stoa construction, mid- to-late 3rd century restructuring, Early Roman, Middle Roman), even if their function is not always clear. ; ; Future goals; 1. To determine the spatial boundaries and nature of prehistoric occupation in this space, and how it relates to similar deposits in Shop 2 Rear.; 2. To investigate the type of activities in the room in the Classical period (occupation, redeposited fill, etc.).; 3. To determine the date of the construction of the Stoa walls and how this construction relates stratigraphically to other phases of occupation (e.g. relationship with prehistoric levels, Classical levels, Roman levels).; ; ; Appendix; List of Inventoried Objects:; C-2016-2 Corinthian A Stamped Amphora Handle (context 346); C-2016-5 [pottery with blue pigment] (official name TBD) (context 456); C-2016-7 Bowl with Outturned Rim (context 376); C-2016-8 Late Neolithic Fruitstand (context 411); C-2016-9 Late Neolithic Shoulder Bowl (context 478); C-2016-10 Late Neolithic Fruitstand (context 411); C-2016-11 Late Neolithic Vessel: Leg (context 411); MF-2016-9 Bronze and Iron Boss (context 390); MF-2016-12 Bronze Stylus (context 360); MF-2016-14 Conical Loomweight Type X (context 411); MF-2016-15 Conical Loomweight Type IX-X (context 367); MF-2016-16 Modern Glass Medicinal Bottle (context 287); MF-2016-17 Early Helladic Spindle Whorl (context 424); MF-2016-19 Bronze Vessel: Handle (context 383); ; List of Coins (64 in total):; 2016-2 (context 284) Byzantine (Manuel I?); 2016-6 (context 287) Modern 1954; 2016-21 (context 298) Possibly Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-23 (context 320) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-24 (context 320) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-25 (context 330) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-26 (context 330) Antigonos Gonatas (277-239 B.C.); 2016-27 (context 337) (not a coin); 2016-28 (context 337) Greek, illegible; 2016-29 (context 337) Argos (c.350-228 B.C.); 2016-30 (context 337) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-31 (context 346) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-32 (context 346) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-33 (context 346) Demetrius Poliorketes (306-283 B.C.); 2016-34 (context 346) Epidauros; 2016-35 (context 346) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-36 (context 346) Lokris (c.338-300 B.C.); 2016-37 (context 346) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-38 (context 346) Antigonos Gonatas (277-239 B.C.); 2016-39 (context 346) Roman minimus (5th – 6th A.D.); 2016-40 (context 346) Greek, illegible; 2016-41 (context 346) Greek (Macedonian king?); 2016-42 (context 346) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-44 (context 346) Thasos (c.300-200 B.C.); 2016-45 (context 346) Greek, illegible; 2016-46 (context 346) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-47 (context 346) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-48 (context 364) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-49 (context 364) Greek, illegible; 2016-50 (context 367) Cleonai (c.371-321 B.C.); 2016-51 (context 367) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-52 (context 367) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-53 (context 367) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-54 (context 367) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-56 (context 367) Argos (c.400-200 B.C.); 2016-57 (context 367) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-63 (context 376) Argos (c.350-228 B.C.); 2016-64 (context 376) Demetrius Poliorketes (306-283 B.C.); 2016-65 (context 376) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-66 (context 376) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-67 (context 376) Corinth Pegasus/Trident Group VIII (c.287-252 B.C.); 2016-68 (context 376) (not a coin); 2016-70 (context 376) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-71 (context 376) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-72 (context 376) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-74 (context 376) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-78 (context 383) Ptolemy II Euergetes (285-246 B.C.) golden coin; 2016-79 (context 383) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-80 (context 383) (not a coin); 2016-81 (context 383) Megara (c.307-293 B.C.); 2016-82 (context 383) Greek, illegible; 2016-83 (context 383) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-84 (context 383) Greek, unclear; 2016-85 (context 383) Argos (c.352-228 B.C.); 2016-86 (context 383) Argos (c.352-228 B.C.); 2016-87 (context 383) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-88 (context 390) Corinth Pegasus/Trident Group VII (c.303-287 B.C.); 2016-89 (context 390) Corinth Pegasus/Trident Group VII (c.303-287 B.C.); 2016-90 (context 390) Corinth Pegasus/Trident Group VII (c.303-287 B.C.); 2016-91 (context 390) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-92 (context 390) Corinth Pegasus/Trident Group VII (c.303-287 B.C.); 2016-93 (context 390) Corinth Pegasus/Trident; 2016-98 (context 398) Corinth Pegasus/Trident Group VII (c.303-287 B.C.); 2016-118 (context 449) illegible; ; List of Contexts (51 in total):; 284 Cleaning of dark soil near west wall; 287 Removal of pebbly matrix in western half of room; 297 Dark soil SE corner of cut exposed by 284; 298 Dark soil next to west wall of room; 301 Cut of 298 into 310; 310 Red Soil in NW + SW corners of room; 316 Cut filled by 310; 320 Clay across northern center of room; 326 Patch of stones in NE corner of room; 330 Dark stony soil in NE corner; 332 Red stony soil in NE corner; 333 Cut filled by 330; 334 Cut filled by 332; 337 Cobbles filling cut 334 under deposits 330 + 332; 342 Fill cut into clay surface in room center; 344 Cut filled by 342; 346 Clayey layer in center of room; 360 Clay patch next to southern crosswall; 361 Cut filled by 360 + 364; 364 Fill of cut 361 below deposit 360; 367 Clay patch next to N wall; 371 Late crosswall in S of room—top course; 374 Foundation course of structure 371; 376 Fill of pit abutting N wall; 382 Cut filled by 376; 383 Pit abutting N wall; 389 Cut filled by 383; 390 Clayey patch between Broneer and square cutting in east of room; 394 Soil under western block of wall 371; 396 Small pebbly patch next to N wall; 398 Pebbly matrix in S of room center; 403 Small bothros; 407 Cut filled by 403; 411 Pebbly layer S center of room; 421 Cut filled by 396; 424 Pebbly matrix in center of room; 427 Patch of wash on E Broneer scarp; 436 Small clay patch; 438 Cobbly layer in center of room; 449 Clay deposit in N center of room; 456 Clayey deposit in S of room; 457 N-S wall/ E wall of Shop 1 (Greek); 458 E-W wall/ S wall of Shop 1 (Greek); 460 E-W wall/ N wall of Shop 1 front; 461 E-W wall/ N wall of Shop 1 Rear; 468 N-S wall / E wall of Shop 1 (Roman); 469 E-W wall/ S wall of Shop 1 Rear (Roman); 478 Layer of black soil below 456; 493 Cut filled to S by 411, 424, 438; 494 Cut filled to N by 424, 438; 497 Cut filled by 478","South Stoa Shop I Rear","","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Forum | South Stoa east","","","South Stoa east 2016 by An Jiang and Catharine Judson (2016-04-05 to 2016-04-21)",""
"","Corinth:Report:Nezi Field 2009 by Sarah Lima (2009-05-25 to 2009-06-15)","","Report","Corinth","","Sarah Lima; Session 3 ; End of Season Report; 15 June, 2009; ; Between the dates of May 25, 2009 and June 15, 2009 (Session III), our excavation team  comprised of Sarah Lima (recorder), Panos Kakouros (pickman), Panos Stamatis (barrow man), and Agamemnon (siever) continued investigating several rooms south of the courtyard of the Byzantine house previously excavated by Lattimore (NB 229) and Berg (NB 229) in the 1960s. In 2008, Panos Kakouros excavated in the same area with Anne Feltovich, Emily Rush, and Catherine Person recording; in 2009 session I, Dan Leon and Ben Sullivan recorded there; and in 2009 session II, excavations were conducted by Mark Hammond, Kierston Spongberg, and Sarah Lima. The aim for Session III was to understand the phasing of the three rooms where our team had worked - how the space had been manipulated to serve the needs of the people inhabiting and using the area, and how people would have moved from room to room at different times.  In particular, we were interested in reaching 10th century levels in order to understand the earliest phases of the rooms south of the courtyard area, which once served as the hub of the house.   ; ; During Sessions II and III, we worked in three rooms: the “Central Room” (in Session II summary, the “East Room”) bounded by walls 5483, 5403, 6027/6284/6300, and 6267/5631/5671 with foundations 6245 (271.10-277.70 E, 1027.70-1023.67 N); the “West Room” bounded by walls 5483, 5484, 5284, and 5519 (265.90-270.70 E, 1028.00-1023.65N); and the “East Room” bounded by walls 10078/10085, 6624, 6027/6285/6300, and 5341 (1027.24-1022.98 N, 281.50-277.62 E).; ; East Room; ; We began our work in the East Room by excavating a surface exposed by DB and BS during Session I 2009. A majority of the room, primarily the central and western portion, was excavated during the 1960s. Several deep pits cut most of the southern half of the room, and on the northern edge of the room, two deep pier cuttings cut the remaining surfaces from higher elevations, leaving just a thin balk available for excavation. Joanna Potenza and Ryan Boehm had recorded the removal of a threshold of the Frankish period on the northern boundary of the room [5919], which may have been in use along with walls 10077 and 10076 to the east and with walls 5552 and its superstructure 5922 to the west. While JP and RB did uncover a floor surface in contemporary use with the threshold on the northern side of the room’s boundary (5290), only floor surfaces predating the installation of the threshold were uncovered by BL and DB to the south, the final of which was 6080; the room was then left for future excavation. ; ; The first surface that we excavated was surface 6445, which was contemporary with the use of wall segment 6426. Excavation of 6445 revealed what may be the foundation trench for that wall. The closeness of the wall to the numerous pier cuts made excavation impossible without toppling the entire balk, so the foundation trench was not further explored; we made every effort not to include fill from near the wall in our subsequent deposits. ; Several subsequent surfaces, 6468 and 6488, were excavated, prior to uncovering a large built storage pit (cut 6557, fills 6495, 6466, and 6452 built components 6594 and 6558), which would have occupied the room during its 12th century phase. We decided to cease excavation of the balk at this point because the east-west wall segment 6624 had become pedestalled, and permission has not yet been obtained for its removal. ; ; We turned our attention to the eastern boundary of the room, removing wall and threshold 10085 and its underlying foundations (6475 and 6476). At the time that we excavated these contexts, we believed that 10085 was a separate construction from wall 10078, based both on the appearance of the foundations and on the style of the wall itself. We envisioned wall 10085 as installed especially to accommodate a much later threshold construction, as a part of already-existent wall 10078. However, upon excavating the section and seeing how deeply subfoundations 6476 lay (at an equal depth to the foundations of wall 10078’s), we concluded the opposite: that 10078 and 10085 were probably of contemporary construction. Further support for this idea is the fact that there were two surfaces (6451 and 6445 ) running against foundations, suggesting that the foundations predated those deposits. However, this was unclear at the time, since those surfaces were at significantly lower elevations than the wall sections in situ.  The pottery from foundations 6676 dated to the late 12th or early 13th century. ; ; The upper blocks used in the construction of remaining wall section 10078 are very substantial in size and appear to be reused Roman road blocks of the Late Roman period; one interesting feature of these eastern sections of wall is that one block that remains in situ appears to have been cut to corner westward about 4 m from the southern terrace wall 5341, dividing the room nearly in half (we assigned this wall the number 6522). We began excavating strata that were positioned around the place where the wall projected from the section, and the excavation of fill 6521 revealed the line of a long east-west robbing or foundation trench cut running nearly the lengh of the room (cut 6523). The reason that the foundation versus robbing cut identification remains ambiguous is that pit cuts have truncated that part of the room badly, so all that we can understand is that the wall existed, and that based on the foundations that were uncovered, it was a substantial, load-bearing wall.  I propose that wall 6522 functioned as a terrace wall and was the earlier Roman terrace wall that existed before wall 5341 was constructed immediately to the south in the medieval period for the same purpose. The evidence for this is that  it is set into reddish-colored colluvium above bedrock and rests at a lower level than the foundation trench 6509 for wall section 6027, which bounds the room to the west (foundation trench fills 6530 and 6506, covered by fill 6504). Further, the first medieval floor in the room immediately to the west is constructed right atop the red colluvium (this is a course pebble  floor that is only partially visible under paving stones 6190 and would have been in use with threshold 6285); there was no earlier phase of use of this space. This changes our impression of the construction of threshold 6285, excavated during Session II; we had envisioned the entire wall section comprised of 6300/6285/6027 to be earlier than the features of the East Room, but if the east-west wall 6522 once existed at an early period, holding back red colluvium on its south-facing side, there is no way that threshold 6285, given its physical position, could have been in use during that period for purposes of communicating with the East Room. However, after the east-west wall was robbed out (at whatever elevation and time that that event occurred), the East room would have received a new terrace wall to the south (i.e., the wall 5341, now in situ), and the space would have been expanded to the south(and therefore open for communication with the east room via threshold 6285). The best guess for when this event may have occurred is Late Byzantine, based on the scant amount of ceramic material available from foundation trench fill from 6530 and 6506 and overlying 6504; additionally, if the cut indicating the course of early east-west terrace wall 6522 is a robbing event, then the date of that event can be further narrowed to the 10th/11th century. Therefore the earliest medieval phase of this part of the house began with a massive reorganization of space and great effort spent at expanding the usable space by moving the Roman terrace wall 4 m to the south. ; ; Future Considerations ; ; The balk cannot be explored further until wall 6624 is documented and removed, since the wall is pedestalled as it currently lies. The relationship between the wall sections 6300, 6285, and 6027 is not yet fully understood, as foundation trenches have not yet been revealed for 6300 and 6285; recovery of foundation events for those sections could confirm or refute our speculations about how the East and Central Room construction sequences work. Another question worthy of further attention is whether wall 10078 truly represented the easternmost extent of the East Room or not; while the blocks that comprise the wall as it stands are extremely large, there does appear to be another wall running behind it; are there multiple eastern wall phases for this room? Finally, the section of 10078 immediately to the north of the cut for excavated foundations 6476 and 6475 for wall/threshold 10085 should be considered together with those construction events if and when it is removed. ; Western Room; ; The Western Room was excavated in 1960s excavations by Lattimore and Berg (NB 229, p. 180). As was the case in the East Room, this room featured several deep Frankish-period storage pits (labeled as “bothroi” in the 1960s notebooks) that truncated many of the earlier features within the room. In the case of the Western Room, those two storage pits (cuts 6380 and 6363 which terminated on bedrock) were confined in the southern half of the room. The space was further restricted by two large Frankish north-south wall sections, 5485 and 5490, which lay against north-south wall 5284. In 2008, AF and ER excavated within the Western Room, reaching levels that ran beneath wall 5490. Because permission had not been obtained from the Byzantine Ephoria to remove the two later wall sections, they were pedistalled so that excavation could continue east of them. Our efforts during Session II were focused on cleaning and investigating the previously-excavated storage pits, and on excavating contexts preserved in the balk under the walls once they were removed. We wanted to reveal and excavate the floor revealed by 6428 (=5887), which represented the same stopping point that AF and ER reached in 2008. Additionally, a Frankish period cooking pot was excavated from one of the surfaces that we excavated (surface: 6393, cook pot: 6397).; Our excavations of the surfaces to the north had, in turn, left a balk of higher elevation on the southern side of the room, since it was difficult to reach and excavate the thin deposits surrounding the two storage pits and running up against walls 5284, 5484, and 5483. In Session III, we began our excavations of the southern strata with fill 6439, uncovering the remaining fill of foundation trench 6427 (fill 6552) for wall 5284. 6439 was assigned a date of the 2nd or 3rd quarter of the 12th century on the basis of its ceramics, while the surface that was cut was 2nd quarter of the 12th century, dating the construction of wall 5284 to that period. This does not match the date of the foundation trench found on the other side of the wall by JC and NA in 2008; their foundation trench was dated to the 13th century by stratigraphic relationships. This situation  is worthy of further consideration in light of the potential shifting of dates posed by lower fills from this room (explained in more detail below). ; ; One goal in excavating the Western Room was to understand the nature of the robbing event that took place on wall 5519. The east-west wall 5519, which bounds the northern side of the Western Room, features a significant gap of approximately 1.5 m on its eastern side, near its junction with north-south wall 5519, bounding the eastern side of the room. It was our intention to compare the surfaces that we uncovered within the western room with the surfaces recorded to the north of 5519 by Scott Gallimore and Will Bruce during Session II of 2009. The last surface that they excavated to the north of 5519 revealed the edge of a cut that appeared to be part of the robbing event of the wall, and they expected that we would find a similar cut on our side beneath floor surface 6540 (84.54 MASL). We did not find a cut on our side of the wall, but other pieces of evidence suggest how the robbing event may have taken place, and how the use of the space may have changed after the removal of the wall section. Our investigations revealed that not only were our surface deposits below 6540 (i.e., surfaces 6572, and 6589) different in composition from those revealed to the north of the wall (beaten earth in the western room, pebbled and tiled surfaces in the courtyard), but their elevations were different as well, by approximately 0.50 m (surface deposit 6572, 84.49 MASL, and surface deposit 6589, 84.41 MASL). One possible explanation for this difference is that perhaps it was a threshold that was robbed from wall 5519, mediating between the space in the courtyard and the space within the Western Room. In that scenario, differences in elevations and in composition could be accounted for because the spaces were bounded by a wall, with communication between the two rooms offered by a door and possibly a step downward into the Western Room. After the section of 5519 (putatively a threshold) had been robbed, the space where the door had been would have still remained, allowing access into and out of the room, but the floor levels would have had to be brought to the same level to allow movement in and out. Fill 6628, underlying 6540, demonstrates how this would have been done; its location near the missing section of wall suggests that the threshold blocks were removed, and that the resulting hole was filled with tile and debris as a means of raising the floor level to accommodate the resulting height differences between the surfaces to the north and to the south. 6540, then, would represent the first surface in the Western Room after the putative threshold was removed. The pottery of 6540 dates to the 12th century, and its overlying fill deposits 5887 and 6428 are from the first half of the 12th century. ; ; The foundation trenches for walls 5483 and 5519/foundations 6575 were uncovered at lower elevations, below the level of both surface deposit 6572 and surface deposit 6589; these surfaces may be considered to have been in use with 5483 and 5519 wall sections after they were founded. Ceramics from all three surfaces date to the 12th century. As far as the sequencing of the walls of the room go, wall 5483 is stratigraphically the earliest, although the elevation of its foundation trench is almost identical to the lowest foundation trench of wall 5519 [cut 6677 at elevation 83.98 versus cut 6646 at 84.00 MASL]; since the upper courses of the walls appear to bond, it would make sense for their foundation events to have occurred at the same time. Wall 5519 does show evidence for at least two foundation events, indicating that it had an earlier phase on its eastern side (cut 6677, fill 6646) and a second phase to the west of that, cutting the earlier foundation (cut 6616, fill 6611, revealed by late Byzantine fill 6578). Finally, the foundation trench 6427 cut the foundation fill 6616 for wall 5519, indicating that that 12th century foundation event is a terminus ante quem for the other two sections. ; ; The earliest surface excavated was 6624, revealing a hard, light pinkish brown surface that appeared to be composed of the colluvium that has been observed to rest above bedrock levels throughout the North of Nezi area. This unnumbered and as yet unexcavated surface appears to have been cut by numerous features, including the earliest foundation trench for wall 5519 (trench cut 6647, fill 6646) and the foundation trench for wall 5483 (trench cut 6677, fill 6675), which came down onto bedrock. Additionally, the unnumbered pinkish brown surface was cut by a large ashy pit that was revealed in the northeastern corner of the room (pit cut 6645, fill 6639, overlying fill 6639), truncating both early foundation trenches in addition to cutting a much larger robbing trench cut 6665 (putative), to the south. Overlying surface 6624 has pottery from the 11th century, which would potentially provide a terminus ante quem for these earliest foundation events- but there is an inconsistency with the pottery from fills from the truncated east-west robbing trench 6665. Two fills from robbing trench 6665 (6649 and 6663) yielded joining coarse incised sherds of the mid-13th century, potentially shifting the dates of all of the previously discussed contexts (and other contexts from the room) two centuries later. This warrants a more detailed discussion of how the putative robbing trench was discovered, how we approached its excavation, and the potential scenarios by which these inconsistencies may be interpreted. ; ; The cut of the putative robbing trench 6665 was first noticed in the section of storage pit cuts 6380 and 6353 as a straight line appearing to run the length of the room from east to west. We noticed the cut before it was exposed in plan on either its northern or southern sides, and speculated variously about its length, suggesting at times that it ran all the way across the southern side of the room, and at other times that it was thinner in width, perhaps in connection with robbing cuts 6381 (for north-south wall 6157 visible below wall 5411) and with robbing cut 6674 (east-west cut, visible below wall 5284). In context 6587, the difference in strata to the north versus south of the cut line became more visible (but the cut was not revealed in plan), and immediately after, surface 6589 was excavated with knowledge that the strata south of the line of excavation were different from the surface that was excavated. In these contexts, the line of the cut may have been visible, but its full extent was not yet defined in plan, so it was left unexcavated. It was only visible as a straight line in the south-facing section of the two storage pit cuts, making it impossible to use the sections to try to determine its extent and shape; however, since virgin red colluvium had been cut for the construction of the two storage pits and had preserved their round shapes on all sides, it is certain that the cut could not have stretched completely across the southern half of the room at the levels we were excavating. What’s more, we were steered away from thinking that the cut related to cuts 6381 and 6674 by the fact that the cut continued further east past the point where it would have cornered to rob wall 6157. ; ; The cut became clearly exposed in plan after the excavation of surface 6624, cutting into the hard pinkish brown surface truncated by numerous earlier pits. The excavation of 6619 was an effort to find the southern line of the cut, but was unsuccessful, as was the excavation of fill 6631, which revealed the southern edge of pit 6645, making it stratigraphically later than the robbing trench cut 6665.  Pit 6645 cut into fill 6649 to the south, which was one of the aforementioned contexts in which one of two joining 13th century coarse incised sherds was collected. Three more fills south of the cut line, 6657, 6660, and 6663 (the other context from which a joining coarse incised ware was collected) were then excavated before the southern extent of the robbing event 6665 appeared clearly in plan, along with the foundation trench for wall 5483 (foundation cut 6677, fill 6675, overlying fill 6663). The excavation of lowest fill 6676 within cut 6665 revealed a hard, brownish yellow surface, likely the floor associated with an earlier architectural phase of which wall 6157 is part prior to the foundation of wall 5483, while the excavation of lowest fill 6675 within foundation trench 6677 revealed bedrock. ; There are at least three possible conclusions to draw from the stratigraphy as we have defined it and the ceramics that have come from these contexts, in light of the discrepancies we have discovered:; ; Scenario 1) The stratigraphy was excavated correctly and the dates of the ceramics from stratigraphically later contexts need to have their dates bumped up to account for their stratigraphic relationships. In support of this are findings from Jody Cundy and Nate Andrade’s 2008 records of the room directly west of the Western Room. While many of their upper strata were found to be 12th century, a Frankish strap handle was found at the bottom of a pit cutting lower strata in the room, thus altering the date of all overlying contexts. There is further support for this idea in the pottery from fill 6676, the bottommost fill of cut 6665; it dates to the 12th/13th century.  Finally, the fact that the 13th century levels were found in lowest stratified levels of the room, and were all excavated on the same day in a limited amount of time makes the possibility of contamination (e.g., through tumble or long-term exposure) less likely.; ; Scenario 2) We missed the line of the robbing trench cut 6665 at a higher elevation and needed to treat the fills within it as fills lying on each other within a cut, rather than relating them variously to surfaces to the north, potentially across the putative cut line. This would also mean that the final cut line that we identified after excavation of 6663 relates to another cutting event, and not to the line of the robbing event. Further supporting this scenario is the fact that a boundary was defined for the northern side of the cut as early as context 5343/5345 during session II; however, it remains that the entirety of the cut was not exposed until the excavation of context 6663. ; ; Scenario 3) The area was significantly disturbed by 1960s excavation events, in ways that we did not fully perceive while excavating during both Session II and Session III. In this scenario, the stratigraphy could have been cut in order to accommodate the excavation of pits 6353 and 6380. The cutting events involved could have been anything from half-sectioning, to creating steps out from the storage pit cuts during excavation to facilitate getting in and out of them, and to prevent the walls from collapsing. In this scenario, the fills we dug south of cut 6665 were actually backfill from the 1960s. In support of this scenario are two facts: A) 1960s records (NB 229, p. 180) mention that the southern portions of north-south walls 5490 and 5485 were removed in order to accommodate the excavation of the storage pit cut 6353; additional disturbance could have occurred at the same time. B) Contexts 6343 and 6345, excavated during Session II, uncovered a cut in the same place that the cut 6665 begins to the west, and at the time that we were recording it, it was speculated that the cut might have been for a half-section created to facilitate 1960s excavations within the Western Room; if that small cut represents the beginning of cut 6665, we would be able to place it significantly later in our stratigraphic understanding of the room. ; ; Future Considerations ; ; Pit 6645, cut 6665, and foundation trench cut 6677 which were the last contexts recorded cut the unnamed pink surface revealed by 6624 to the north, but 6665 and 6677 also cut a smaller level of fill revealed by 6660 in the southeastern corner of the room. Provided that these fills are not found to belong to very early levels truncated by an erroneously defined cut, the fill in the southeastern corner should be prioritized for removal in 2010. Likewise, the fill of robbing event 6381, heretofore only visible in the northern and southern facing sections of pit 6380, but revealed by the excavation of fill 6676 and cut 6665, should be exposed in plan and removed. After those contexts are excavated, it will be possible to consider exploring beneath the pink surface. ; ; Conclusions; ; The way that the discrepancy between the Frankish lower fills and the Byzantine upper fills is interpreted has implications for the way that the courtyard area is phased, since one of the questions that this excavation addresses is how the area changes through time, and when those changes take place. One scenario is that construction activities occurred in two phases: the 10th/11th century, and the 13th century, with less activity in the 12th century. A second possibility is that development was steady and gradual, occurring from the early Byantine through the Frankish period. ; Until the lower Frankish fills were uncovered in the West Room, that space showed strong evidence for some early activity (evidenced by the robbing events 6381 and 6674 visible below walls 5411 and 5284, as well as the early surface uncovered below pit cut 6665, predating wall 5483), a great deal of construction  activity in the 12th century, and subsequent Frankish building activity as well.   ; ; The levels in the East Room are early and definitely reflect “phase one” constructions of the 10th and 11th centuries, prior to a subsequent restructuring of the room that involved relocating the southern terrace wall to open the East Room for communication with the Central Room via threshold 6285. There is little evidence for 12th century activity in the East Room as it currently survives, but the eastern wall section that we removed, 10085, featured foundations (6575, 6576) that contained 12th/13th century pottery, supporting the idea of Frankish period reuse of the space. ; ; The Central Room, like the West Room, features up to three phases of development. The earliest floor surfaces there are directly on top of the red colluvium soil, meaning that they are quite early and probably date to the 10th century, and the east-west wall 6120 would have divided the room. The walls 5483 and 5631/6425 date to the 10th/11th century as well, and would have represented part of the room’s expansion, since 5631 lies further north. Then, the Central Room opened up to the East Room via the construction of 11th century threshold 6285, expanding movement still further; subsequently, the threshold was blocked off by fills 6278 and 6277, and Frankish constructions such as walls 5552 and 5553 would have constricted the Central Room again.","Final Report 2009 - rooms south of the courtyard of the Byzantine House, first  phase of the Byz House","","Corinthia | Ancient Corinth | Central Area | Nezi Field","","","Nezi Field 2009 by Sarah Lima (2009-05-25 to 2009-06-15)",""