Session Two of Corinth Excavations 2008

Every morning at 7:30 am from May 5 to May 24, eleven regular and associate members dashed from their coffee and toast into the field for the second session of the 2008 season in the Nezi field.  In the green field area to the south, Joel Rygorsky and Marty Wells continued excavating a pit started the previous week by colleagues from the first session. Afterward they began clearing strata and pits over top of a Frankish phase of architecture which is tantalizingly peeking out throughout the area.  This phase likely relates to an apsidal structure uncovered last season.  In the same area, Matt Sears and Joey Lillywhite investigated early modern features including a property boundary wall and drain pipe.  They then defined securely Frankish horizons which should prove profitable, if the pottery from the mixed layers above is any indication, as some nice polychrome pieces have been recovered.

To the north, in the area excavated by former ASCSA Director Henry Robinson in the 1960’s, four teams continued investigating a multi-period labyrinth of walls and rooms.  Nate Andrade and Jody Cundy (ASCSA 2006) excavated in several areas.  In one room, they uncovered a primary deposit of 13th century A.C. iron tools laid upon a floor.  The assemblage included a sickle and handle, a knife, and an adze head.  Thanos Webb and Christina Kolb dug byzantine fills attempting to reveal the construction sequence of a large tile-built storage pithos.  Nearby, Sarah Lima shed light on the nature and use of a room adjacent to a courtyard exposed during Robinson’s excavations. After assessing already exposed features and removing numerous fills, she uncovered a tile-lined well. One interesting find, a polished bone pin with a carved duck adorning its shaft, dates from 4th to 6th centuries A.C. but came from redeposited fills.  A fourth team of Anne Feltovich and Cathy Person cleared the foundation trenches for walls in a late Roman room to phase and date the architecture.  They then moved to another area to excavate Frankish levels, taking down a 1960’s martyr and three bothroi.  Their most exciting find was a glass seal with the letters Nu and Epsilon.  Alicia Carter (ASCSA 2005) was the Assistant Field Director and Sarah James (ASCSA 2004) worked with excavators in the pot sheds in the afternoon.

In the Museum, Curator Ioulia Tzonou-Herbst was assisted by Jenny Sears who entered into the database records of objects from the early 80’s excavations and regular member Andrea Guzzetti who inventoried objects and researched the archive of Henry Robinson’s excavations adjacent to Nezi Field.  Also during the second session, Thanos Webb enhanced and extended our recording system for human and animal bone.  Excavation continues to June 14 and is followed by study in the museum until June 30.