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Agia Paraskevi 2012
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AGIA PARASKEVI OF ARACHAMITAIReport of work conducted in 2012 Rectangular Building II and the Water Management at the Site Two trenches were also opened outside RB I, one to the north and a second one to the south of it. The trench on the north side was 10x2 m large, extending perpendicularly from the northern long wall of RB I. The prime aim with this trench was to establish in which way the area to the north of RB I, which we believe was its front side, was used. Ca. 10 m to the north of RB I we found the wall of another building. A restudy of the magnetometer map reveals the rough outlines of this building, which is rectangular, measuring ca. 32-34x12-13 m. This new building, Rectangular building II (RB II), is located parallel to RB I and thus probably contemporaneous with it.
The bottom of the ditch was finally found at a level of ca. 1.8 m below modern surface. The ditch itself was at the time of the construction of RB I ca. 1 m deep and had a width varying from 0.5 (at the bottom) to 1.5 m (at the level of the ancient surface). The fill itself consists of several different lenses, which probably have accumulated at different stages in the past. A detailed study of the pottery and other finds from these layers will probably reveal the full history of the re-fill, which seems to take place roughly during the late second and early first century BC.
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Parallel to RB II, on its south side, runs a ca. 30 cm wide open water channel,
the sides of which are built by small stones and the floor by flat bricks. Water
has been led along this channel from somewhere to the east of RB I and RB II.
The water channel seems to turn 90 degrees towards the south into RB I somewhere
to the east of Room 5. Here only part of the water channel could be uncovered as
we had no time to enlarge the trench towards the west. However, the water
channel crosses RB I and exits the building on its south side, where it stops
ca. 1 m to the south of RB I. Water has apparently been led into RB I in order
to be used in the yet not excavated Room 6, which is located next to the bath
installation in Room 1 and Room 4. Water that has not been used has then been
let out of the building into the deep ditch that ran parallel to its southern
long wall.
The ditch on the southern side runs parallel with RB I, ca. 2 m to the south of
it, leading rain water from the east towards the west. This ditch was at a later
stage on purpose filled with broken pottery, other finds and food remains. The
rich fill, which contains e.g. large amounts of Megarian bowls, was studied by
us through trial trenches in 2007 and 2008 as well as 2011. However, we then
never managed to reach the bottom of the ditch. This year we opened a new
trench, which partly is located at the same place as our trial trenches of 2007
and 2008. The main aim of the new trench was to clarify the stratigraphy of the
ditch and to collect more information of its re-fill.
The trench on the south side of RB I was extended all the way up to its southern
long wall, whereby the exit of the water channel described above was found in
the northwestern part of the trench. In the northeastern part of the trench we
found next to RB I the remains of a floor level, which was located ca. 1.6 m
below the present surface and probably extends below RB I. Just above the floor
level and next to the lowermost part of the foundations of RB I we found the
foot of a Late Archaic to Classical stemmed drinking cup and next to it a small
complete terracotta figurine depicting a pigeon.