| Entry: | Many new things since my last entry. Here is a quick update: In the new trench east of Building 10, we have been primarily dealing with the pits, which were all cleaned to their bottoms (or assumed bottoms). Nothing particularly noteworthy, except perhaps their shape, which is surprisingly regular, almost a perfect circle. I don't know if this is related to their function, they certainly do not give the impression of being storage pits, they are too shallow, if anything else. They are also exceptionally poor in finds, very little came out of them. Pit 130 differs, it is deeper and its shape (conical, bell-shape) resemble that of the big pit 100 of 1996. Abundant contents, among which pottery of Late Roman or Early Byzantine period, also set this pit apart from the rest. Some more work was done in the same area, in order to define better the outer face of the eastern wall of Building 10, which was irregularly thick. The deposits here were mostly midden, loose earth, mixed with charcoal and burnt mudbrick, rather rich in finds. However, traces of wall running roughly parallel to Building 10 indicate that there was considerable building activity in this midden area, confirming our initial hypothesis. But we have no time left to explore systematically this area in this season.Too many fronts are open, and, in view of the time restrains, it was decided that from now on we should concentrate on the inside of the building. Pit 100, partly excavated in 1996, was reopened in order to emtpy its contents and use it as a window on the stratigraphic relations of the walls and floors of the north part of Building 10, which appear particularly complex. The pit was finished on the 6th of September. First remarks: Wall 113, which was thought to be related to Floor 117 and to close Building 10 from the North appears in section to be built over Floor 117, therefore a later feature, presumably related to the two later floors identified in the South part in 1996. Traces of the North platform are visible on the same section, but it goes over Floor 117. So, obviously, the North platform was a later addition on Floor 117, but earlier than the later floors, which passed over it. Connected to this North platform is a basin, nicely plastered and abutting the Eastern platform of Building 10, the continuation of which was also found in the North part this year. The surface of this paltform (F 120) was very well preserved, and its edge towards the interior of the house was marked by a well-formed lip made of plaster. In order to connect the two parts of the platform, and investigate further its form and connection to the north, the baulk separating the two parts of the trench was taken down. The remains of Pit 101 with abundant pottery, some of which lying on the bottom of the pit, were uncovered in the baulk.
Problematic remains the connection of the eastern platform to the nortern platform, visible on the pit section. Its state of preservation is extremely poor, possibly destroyed by one of the later faces of Building 10, or during the construction of Wall 113. So far we have been unable to define its exact size, form and stratigraphic relation. More work is required here.Entered By: Kostas Kotsakis |
