Athens - Agora - 2024

Athenian Agora. John Papadopoulos (UCLA) and Debby Sneed (California State University) report on the second
excavation season in the area beneath the former building at 14 St. Philip Street (Agiou Philippou 14).

The entire area beneath the building, which covers the central portion of the Stoa Poikile, was labelled section Beta Kappa (BK) and as in 2023, the area was divided into three trenches labeled BK North, BK South, and BK West (Fig. 1). The modern building that was located above Section BK measured somewhat more than 300 m 2 in area. Oriented east-west, it was built in 1860 and covered much of the central portion of the Stoa Poikile, as well as part of the Middle Byzantine neighborhood in this area (Fig. 2).

Work in BK North was focused on architectural features and deposits dated by pottery to the Middle Byzantine period (mid-12th to mid-13th centuries AD), some of which we have been able to connect with those that had been excavated in Section Beta Eta (BH) to the north (Fig. 3). In the southeast corner of the trench, intersecting walls 19 and 20 formed a corner of room P. While Wall 20 is barely visible beneath a modern foundation, enough of wall 19 is visible to determine its basic construction, which included a variety of stones (including a reused triangular marble piece with visible tool marks), tiles, and white mortar. The destruction deposit in room P consisted primarily of rubble, pottery, and construction materials, including copious tiles. Another more centrally located wall (21) may have functioned as an entrance for room M, bounded at the north by walls 15 and 16. The wall, only a small section of which survives, includes three large slabs of limestone and marble with multiple cavities that were likely used as pivots or settings for wooden poles supporting a double door. Room M contained evidence for industrial activities, notably metallurgy and glass production, indicated by the presence of glass, copper alloy, and iron slag, including at least one hearth bottom, along with evidence for heavy burning in the form of charcoal and vitrified pottery sherds. Additional features excavated in BK North include an Ottoman-period pit (Pit D), as well as the southern half of a pithos first identified in BH. In this area was evidence of a water channel that may have directed water into the pithos from an adjacent slope. Notable finds include the torso of a marble female figure dated to the Roman period and a body sherd of a Kerch-style red-figure closed vessel.

Work in BK South was focused on a modern pit (Pit A), two Middle Byzantine features, and mixed deposits containing copious waste from dye production processes. At the end of the season, a pit containing primarily Late Roman material was identified in BK South. A pillar or portion of a wall showing at least two construction phases was identified in the northeast corner of BK South, which possibly dates to the Middle Byzantine period. Mixed deposits around this feature included a localized dump of murex shells. Rena Veropoulidou, an archaeo-malacologist, confirmed the association of these shells with dye production, noting the abundance of mono-species murex, likely from the Saronic Gulf. The size of the recovered shells indicates deep-water collection at an industrial scale. A similar dump of murex shells was identified in the opposite corner of the trench, and, in general, mixed deposits from BK South contained significant quantities of this material. The most notable feature in BK South is a square, stone-lined pit (Pit A), which was first identified in the 2023 season. The fill inside the pit was highly mixed but included a deep layer of iron production waste and much modern material, such as plastic, fabric, and stamped bricks from multiple early 20th century workshops. At least ten square cavities, in pairs in the centers of opposing walls, have been identified at regular intervals along the stone lining of the pit (Fig. 5). These cavities, which appear to have been plastered, may have been used to support wooden beams of a climbing or scaffolding structure inside the pit. A break in the stone lining and a different construction technique beneath it suggests at least two phases in the construction of this pit. 

Work in BK West was primarily aimed at removing mixed modern fill that covered the area, which had begun at a higher elevation than the other two trenches when the area was first opened in 2023. The most notable feature in BK West is a large circular pit (Pit B), which had been integrated into the basement of the modern building that was removed in 2022. The large circular pit (ca. 2.6 m diameter) contained largely mixed deposits with much modern material, including plastic. The eastern half of BK West contained a variety of deposits and possible features, including a pit of undetermined date, a dump of equine legs and a ceramic pot, and a stub of a stone wall that may date to the Ottoman period (wall 6) (Fig. 6). Notable finds include a Latin Bottony crucifix and a terracotta figurine head with preserved paint possibly dated to the Roman period (Fig. 7). Finally, a human skull was block-lifted and excavated in the lab by Maria Liston; a badly corroded coin that may date to the Frankish period was found beneath the skull, though its relationship with the skull, if any, is undetermined at this time.