Site Plan update
Below is the latest site plan for the Beta Building complex.
Dr. Mark Schuler
About Dr. Mark Schuler
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Week 3
With the departure of the Canadian team and other volunteers, the Concordia team is much smaller in Week 3 (eleven people). We are working solely in the Beta Building complex.
During this week we got a fuller sense of what appears to be an inner courtyard of the complex. It is some four by six meters in size and probably served a domestic function.
The courtyard is surfaced with re-used pavers and some building stones.
In a probe between the Alpha and Beta buildings, we sought evidence of an earlier stylobate that was part of the final floor of the Alpha Building. Did the stylobate extend to the north? How far?
We found the stylobate in the north wall of the Alpha Building.
But all portions of the stylobate to the north were removed prior to the construction of the Beta Building complex. We posit that the stones were incorporated into various walls of that building.
Rains from last winter had caused the collapse of the northwest corner of the Alpha Building. This week we put back into place two courses of the wall.
Work was challenging this week, but not without its lighter moments. Erin takes a bit of a rest in a stone feed box excavated by the team.
The team moves into the final week of the dig starting on Sunday. We will be home on Friday, leaving behind challenges for future seasons and friends living in a very tense part of the world.
Site plans
Half way through the season, we present our site plan for those of you following our work.
We have halted the work on the east room of the House of Tyche. More to follow in 2013.
But work will continue for the next two weeks on the Beta Building, especially in squares DI39 and DJ40
Week 2
With the conclusion of the second week, we say “farewell” to the Canadian contingent as we welcome returning volunteers.
With the second week, portions of the Beta Building are coming into focus. The southeast portion of the building is an enclosed courtyard with a simple staircase of limestone.
The paved courtyard proceeds north from the staircase. Sitting on the courtyard were two basalt bowls and two grinding stones of varying design.
To the north of the paved courtyard is a room with a packed earth floor.
Probes in the northerly room revealed an early floor at the base of three courses of an earlier floor.
Part of our work in week 2 involved repair to the Alpha Building, the northwest corner of which collapsed. To date we have reset the foundation course and the first major course of stones.
Week two saw the end of the work on the east room of the House of Tyche. Mysteries remain in the northern part of the room, to be revealed in a future season.
After two weeks in the heat, we ended the day with popsicles in the field. Delicious!
Fresco Fragment from the House of Tyche
While uncovering the southern section of the east room of the House of Tyche, excavators retrieved fragments of an ancient fresco decorating the room. The fragments were no longer attached to the walls of the room, but a reconstruction of a portion of the fresco is possible.
Dr. Stephen Chambers was the primary excavator involved.
We are currently looking for similar Byzantine frescoes from other sites.