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"This brief summary is a very preliminary account of the work done in the Athenian Agora during the summer of 2006, with a team of forty-two student volunteers and five supervisors.\nThe year 2006 marked the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the excavations and the 50th anniversary of the reconstruction of the Stoa of Attalos, both occasions commemorated in a series of events held in the Stoa and at the ASCS on June 15th and 16th, during the first week of excavations. Events included a photographic exhibition of the history of the work - accompanied by a volume prepared by Craig Mauzy - a display of archaeological material from the new excavations, and a one-day symposium on the recent work of the School by various School staff and Agora scholars.\nIn the course of the past winter, three of the four modern buildings acquired in recent years were demolished, and the fourth is about ready to come down. Excavations in one of the new plots was begun this season as part of Section BH. Otherwise our efforts were concentrated on two areas excavated last year: northwest of the agora and in the old excavations at the southwest corner of the square.\nSection Gamma\nIn this area south of the Tholos we continued to explore the remains of the building often identified as the Strategeion, or office of the generals. The discovery last year of a hoard of about 400 silver tetradrachms threw more doubt on that identification, already called into question by the discovery years ago of a pyre in the building. Fifty of the fifty-one known pyres are found in houses or commercial buildings, never in sanctuaries or public buildings, with this one possible exception. In addition, hiding 1600 drachmas in a public office, while conceivable, seems somewhat unlikely, and the hoard, like the pyre, perhaps points to a commercial function for the building.\n\"Strategeion\" Area.\n\nThe work here was supervised by Laura Gawlinski, assisted by Joanna Hobratschk and Amanda Reiterman. Excavations this season were concentrated on the eastern half of the building and were very productive, especially in terms of architecture. The western half, explored last year, was cut into the base of the Kolonos Agoraios hill, leaving virtually no floor fills and only the slightest traces of interior walls. The eastern half, by contrast, had deep fills to be investigated, and considerable new information about the plan of the building emerged. Three new crosswalls were encountered, along with a stretch of the wall which separates the eastern rooms from the rest of the building. While the exterior walls are made of large ashlar blocks of poros, the interior walls are of small fieldstones, set in clay, some 0.40-0.45 m. wide, resting on shallow foundations some 0.60 m. wide. In addition, several terracotta drains were recovered; these carried water eastward through the east wall of the building to empty into the great drain. The mixed construction of the walls and the drains leading out of individual rooms are both paralleled in the commercial buildings being excavated behind the Painted Stoa in Sections BZ and BE and add their weight to the accumulating evidence that we should interpret the building as commercial, either public or private, rather than as an official public office building. In one of the northern rooms we encountered a patch of plaster floor and beneath that a thick layer composed of almost nothing but marble working chips, of the sort found overlying most of the 'State Prison', which also may be better understood as a commercial building.\nSkeleton of a mid-sized, arthritic dog.\n\nPottery found in the fill beneath the floor levels confirms a date in the first half of the 5th century BC for the original construction of the building. Deep in this fill we found the articulated, tightly-flexed skeleton of a mid-sized, arthritic dog.\nSection ΒΖ\nIn this section Matt McCallum, assisted by Jen Poppel, was responsible for the north-south road and buildings to the west, while Marcie Handler, assisted by Chris Young, excavated the buildings along the east side of the road. \nWest of the road we excavated in various fills. Removing the bottom of a large round tile-floored cistern, we came down on a smaller one, immediately below. From the pottery, both seem to date to the 10th century AD and later. Further west, we excavated fills alongside a large water line associated with the bath in use in the area in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, and closer to the road we cleared more of a pebble mosaic floor which should be Hellenistic in date. Deep down to the north we uncovered what seems to be yet another pyre of early Hellenistic date.\nLamp with Christian Cross.\n\nWithin the road itself, we cleared more of the late water channels, particularly at the north. A second full section of the lead pipe was exposed, measuring - like the first - 2.10 m. long. In addition, a second lead pipe, of smaller diameter, was found at a slightly lower level. The big late drain running along the east side of the road was also more fully exposed. It shows signs of repeated repairs, with a variety of materials used to cover the actual channel, including amphoras and wall-tiles. Some of the amphoras date to the 5th century AD, as do a pair of intact lamps, including one with a Christian cross.\nPottery from the pyres beneath the floors of the classical commercial building.\n\nEast of the road, we reached depths sufficient to bring to light earlier walls. Some of these seem to indicate the the Classical commercial building investigated to the south several years ago continued this far north. Within what should be one of the rooms of the building we recovered two more pyres buried beneath the floors of the building. One, with a coin associated, seemed to date to the early 3rd century BC, while the other, found lower down, seems only slightly earlier. They increase the number of pyres found in this building to ten, by far the largest single concentration from anywhere in the agora. Their purpose and meaning are still being studied by Susan Rotroff. Further north, where we cleared along a substantial wall of poros blocks we recovered two silver drachmas. Just to the south we exposed what looks very much like the upper part of a collapsed cistern; presumably Hellenistic in date, its full excavation will have to be undertaken next year. Behind the building we recovered a fair amount of Hellenistic pottery and from early Roman levels around the building we recovered many more fragments of terracotta figurines and masks. East of the building we also excavated archaic layers at elevations higher than floor levels within the Classical building, suggesting that it was set into a slightly rising slope.\nSilver Drachma.\n\nSilver Drachma.\n\nHellenistic Mold-made Bowl.\n\nIt seems almost inevitable that many of the most interesting finds are made in the final days of an excavating season. This year was no exception, though an important part of the discovery was actually made in the conservation laboratory a week after excavation had ended. Two days before the end of digging we found a small chytra (cooking-pot) buried in late Archaic / early Classical levels near the Classical commercial building. It had an iron lid, with an iron spike, and inside were the remains of what have preliminarily been identified as the head and feet of a chicken. Later cleaning of the encrustation on the outside of the pot revealed lines of several dozen lightly-incised letters. The text has not yet been interpreted, but the find, the remains, and the circumstances of deposition perhaps suggest that we are in the world of curses and magic.\nSection ΒΗ\nThis section was excavated under the supervision of Anne McCabe, assisted by Matt Baumann. The section was expanded to the east, following the demolition of the modern building at the corner of St. Philip's and Hastings Street this past winter, and we began at a level beneath the modern basement floor. In a relatively small area we had an abundance of features: walls, pithoi, pits, a burial, and two wells. Generally what we recovered seemed to date to the period familiar to us from the adjacent areas: the coarse-ware pottery and brown-glazed pieces are hard to date precisely, but most of the material should date to the years around 1,000 AD. For the most part we excavated beneath the floor levels of the buildings, presumably houses. Large pithoi were encountered, both stone-lined and mortared pits and large ceramic vessels, set with their mouths at floor level.\nNorthern Part of Section ΒΗ at end of 2006 Season.\n\nIn the corner of one room we had a coarse-ware cooking pot with the skeletal remains of a fetus of about 32 weeks, also buried beneath the floor. This is the second such internment found in the Byzantine settlement north of the river, and may be the accepted manner of disposing of such remains in this period. Two wells were excavated to a depth of 2.00-3.00 meters and then left for future seasons. Both are lined in the upper part with stones, and with proper well-tiles lower down and seem to have been used in the Byzantine period; it is not yet clear if either was in use at an earlier time. A large stone-lined pit was excavated down to a very hard-packed surface which seems to have served as its floor. In it northwest quadrant, the pit incorporated a poros block which seems to rest on this same surface. From the orientation and elevation it seems entirely possible that the block and perhaps the surface can be associated with the eastern part of the Stoa Poikile, just within its north wall, though far more excavation will be necessary before this hypothesis can be confirmed.\nCoarse-ware cooking pot.\n\nSkeletal remains of a fetus.\n\nJohn McK. Camp II Director, Agora Excavations August 2006\n"],
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"Preliminary Report on the 2006 Excavation Season"],
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"Excavations were carried out in the Athenian Agora from June 11 to August 3, 2001 with a team of about 45 students and supervisors. Work was concentrated at the northwest of the Agora, with a second group in the area of the Eleusinion. This brief and very preliminary account of the season's work has been prepared with thanks to all those who worked so well together as a team this summer.\nFragment of a funerary stele, found reused in a wall in Section ΒΖ.\n\nNorthwest Area\nIn Section ΒΖ the excavations, supervised by Floris van den Eijnde, Marcie Handler, and Michael Laughy, continued to expose the Middle Byzantine settlement of the 11th century. For the most part we excavated through and under the lowest floor levels, digging into fill representing the abandonment of the area in the 7th to 9th centuries AD and exposing the upper parts of the late Roman walls beneath. The Byzantine house walls, built of irregular stones set in clay with a fair admixture of reused material, were exposed to their full depth. A tile and stone-lined well (J 2:18) was partially excavated; the lining had collapsed where it passes through Dark Age levels and final excavation will have to wait for next season. A fair amount of glazed and sgrafitto pottery from the lining suggests either that the well is one of the later features to survive on the site, dating to the 12th or 13th century AD or, more probably, that a late attempt was made to reline the upper part of the well. A second feature uncovered this year was a stone-lined cess-pit, placed in the road just outside the house. It was well-preserved, with a cover slab in place, along with a drain leading into it from the adjacent house. It is the first such installation for household waste to have been uncovered or recognized in this neighborhood. In the southern area a large plaster-lined pit - perhaps the lower part of a cistern - produced pottery of the 12th and 13th centuries along with large chunks of rooftiles. At the extreme north end of Section ΒΖ a serious and successful attempt to clear up the area of a modern basement was carried out. The churned-up fill included fragments of terracotta wheels and figurines of the sort found in large quantities in a shallow pit just a few meters to the east - evidence of coroplasts at work here in the Roman period (J 1:1 - Hesperia 65, 1996, pp. 239-241, and pl. 69).\nTwo herms found in Section ΒΖ.\n\nSection ΒΖ continued to produce assorted fragments of herms, adding to the corpus of such monuments recovered from the northwest corner of the Agora, which was known in antiquity as 'the Herms' because of the large number dedicated there. Herms were used to mark the entrances of houses and shrines all over Athens and they are concentrated in our area because we are excavating the principal entrance to the Agora, along the Panathenaic Way, and therefore a suitable location for the erection of public herms. To date, parts of 17 have been found in the area north of Hadrian Street. Also somewhere in this vicinity stood the Stoa of the Herms, referred to in ancient sources from the 5th to the 2nd century BC; thus far it is either unexcavated or unrecognized.\nIn Section BE, supervised by Dave Scahill, we continued work in the Classical shop building. In the southernmost room excavations beneath the floor produced yet another Hellenistic pyre deposit (J 3:7). These shallow pits, full of small-scale vases, traces of burning and a few bones, represent a ritual not attested to in the literature. They are found in houses and shops, almost never in public buildings or sanctuaries, so they seem to be an expression of private cult activity. The vases indicate that dining and drinking were part of the ceremony, while the invariable presence of a lamp perhaps suggests that the rite was nocturnal. The BE shop building has a higher concentration of these little deposits (seven) than anywhere else in the excavations. Deposit J 3:7 contained about 20 pots and a lamp dating to ca. 350-275 BC.\nPyre J 3:7.\n\nMycenaean Jug from the newly discovered tomb in Section BE.\n\nFurther work was done in both of the Mycenaean chamber tombs, partially excavated in previous seasons and dated to the 14th century BC. In the southernmost grave (J-K 2:2), enthusiastic pumping by the Metro company had lowered the water table sufficiently to allow us to clear the last of the bones scattered on the floor. The large number of additional bones may require a reassessment of the full complement of individuals buried in the tomb, presently estimated at two adult males, an adult female, and a child. In the northern tomb (K 2:5) we removed the end of Roman Wall C and finally exposed the entranceway or dromos into the tomb. The doorway, partially cut by the 5th century well excavated the past two seasons, was blocked with stones. The dromos itself approaches the tomb from the west, entering at the north end of the west side of the chamber. Set near the center of the dromos, some 2.50 m. from the blocked door, was the lower part of a large grey-ware Lesbian amphora, dating the the first half of the 5th century BC. The top had been shaved off in antiquity, at the same level as the preserved top of the dromos. Within the amphora was some charcoal and ash, together with a single large iron nail.\nThe northeast corner of a third Mycenaean chamber tomb (J 2:19) was uncovered this season, just south of the dromos described above. It seems from its alignment to be somewhat earlier, perhaps 15th century BC. The cutting was full of large stones, several vases, and a pile of bones. Much more work will have to be done on this tomb; like the others it is largely obscured by later walls and installations.\nHorse skull.\n\nAcropolis Slopes\nIn Section ΕΛ, supervised by Laura Gawlinski, we continued to dig in the area just south of and uphill from the Eleusinion, along the east face of the late Roman fortification wall. A handful of late Roman sherds found in the fill presumably reflects its construction in the years around AD 280. For the most part we encountered a thick layer filled with fragmentary pottery mostly of the late 3rd and early second centuries BC; included were numerous black-glazed kantharoi, mould-made bowls, bee-hives, and examples of West Slope ware. Also recovered were numerous fragments of worked bone, several dozen loomweights, many stamped amphora handles (most from the island of Rhodes and others from Knidos), the partial remains of two or three horses (skulls, vertebrae, and leg bones, partially articulated), and fragments of terracotta figurines. There is no obvious historical or archaeological event to account for this deposit, nor any certainty that it is in primary deposition here. Somewhat puzzling is the fact that this material lies directly over bedrock, leaving no sign of earlier activity in the area. In the final hours we uncovered the shaft of an unlined well cut through bedrock; the upper fill was Hellenistic. A few irregularly placed post-holes were encountered in the bedrock; when excavated lower down the hill they have usually been interpreted as sockets for anchoring wooden bleachers (ikria), set up for spectators watching parades or chariot races along the Panathenaic Way (Athenaios 4. 167f).\nTerracotta figurine fragments.\n\nJohn McK. Camp II August 2001\n"],
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"Excavations were carried out in the Athenian Agora from June 6 to July 31, 1998 with a team of some 40 American students representing 25 universities and colleges. This brief preliminary summary is the result of their hard work and good will, along with that of the four supervisors: Kevin Daly, Lee Ann Riccardi, David Scahill, and Geoffrey Schmalz, together with their assistants, Mark Alonge, Karen Donohue, Laura Gawlinski, and Anne McCabe. All digging this year was confined to the area of recent excavations, outside the northwest corner of the Agora square, in Sections BE and BZ.\n\nMost of the effort this season went into the upper levels at the extreme northwest, where the modern building on city plot 1370/9 was demolished late last summer. This has opened up a new area for exploration some 280 square meters in area. Most of the work was confined to the upper, late strata which were preserved to a satisfactorily high level under the modern building, the basement of which was confined to the northernmost quarter of the trench. Just south of the basement, stratified levels of the Ottoman, Venetian, Frankish, and Byzantine levels were explored. The principal feature uncovered was the north-south road which runs through the area, preserved here to a level almost a meter higher than encountered anywhere else thus far. The uppermost surfaces were defined by late walls, made of large reused blocks, indicating that the street is some 2.60 meters wide as it passes through the area. The highest road surface was characterized by an open stone-built drain which runs down the middle of the street. The sides were built of reused blocks, several of marble, all showing signs of wear from considerable foot traffic. Only the uppermost levels were uncovered this season, but it seems clear that in future seasons we will be in a position to explore some two thousand years of stratified road deposits dating from ca. AD 1500 to 500 BC.\nAt either end of the trench the tops of the walls and the mouths of large storage jars (pithoi) of the Middle Byzantine settlement, dating to the 10th and 11th centuries, were uncovered.\nOne of the attractions of this new area is that it allows us to link up the recently excavated material lying to the east and south with a small building plot lying immediately to the west. This plot was excavated by Eugene Vanderpool and John Travlos in l958, before a modern 5-storey building was constructed over the site. It contained the northern continuation of our street, along with medieval house walls and the curving walls of a large Late Roman bath, all of which can be expected to appear in our new area of excavation as well.\n\nWe also continued exploring the area of the Classical commercial building behind the Painted Stoa. In the street outside the southernmost shop we cleared the contemporary road levels of the late 5th century BC. In one layer we recovered an ostrakon of the Athenian general Nikias, son of Nikeratos, who was a candidate in 417 BC. He escaped exile by agreeing with his main adversary, Alcibiades, to have their supporters unite to vote against the hapless Hyperbolos, who was duly exiled. This result was such an obvious perversion of the system that the Athenians abandoned the procedure of ostracism and never used it again. Ostraka from this final ostracism are extremely rare and this is only the second known example carrying the name of Nikias to have been found in the Agora excavations.\nBehind the Classical building we encountered another deposit of pottery dating to the years just after the Persian destruction of the city, the third such group to have been found in the area.\nExcavating within the building itself, we explored levels deep under the floor of Room 2. Here a large cutting in sterile fill soon proved to be a Mycenaean chamber tomb. The scattered and shattered bones along the north side represent the remains of at least two individuals.\n\nThey were accompanied by at least 9 pots (below), most with painted decoration, found more or less in situ where they had been smashed when the roof collapsed. Prominent among them were a ewer decorated with linked clusters of spirals, a jug with cut-away neck decorated with curving stripes, two squat alabastra, and a cup.\n\n\nAlso recovered from the tomb were a bronze spear-point with a heavy central ridge and a bronze dagger with gilded rivets.\n\n The date of the tomb would seem to be LH IIIA (14th century BC), the same date as the vast majority of chamber tombs known from Athens and somewhat earlier than the floruit of so many of the Argolid sites in LH IIIB. This is the first substantial Mycenaean deposit to be excavated in the Agora in over thirty years.\n\nA second chamber tomb came to light some 10 meters to the north. It also contained scattered bones and fragments of Mycenaean painted pottery, along with an intact small bowl with a high-swung handle, and an enthroned goddess figurine. Bronze objects included two daggers and a knife blade. The water sieve produced numerous small beads in various materials: shell, faience, and carnelian. Amongst them, and apparently mounted as jewelry, was a small carnelian scarab.\n\n\n\nAs the Late Bronze Age in the Agora has produced limited imports, it will be of interest to determine if this scarab is in fact Egyptian or a local imitation. The particular significance of these moderately rich new tombs is that they are by far the earliest graves yet known in the area north of the Eridanos river, and extend the life of the cemetery there back by some 300 years.\nJ. Camp July 31, 1998\n"],
"dc-title":[
"Preliminary Report on the 1998 Excavation Season"],
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"Excavations were carried out for 8 weeks in the summer of 2000, from June 5 to July 28, with a team of some 55 people made up of student volunteers, supervisors, staff, and workmen. This report is a very preliminary account of the results of their hard work and combined efforts. Excavations were carried out in three sections, two to the northwest and one to the southeast of the Agora square. \n\n\nSection ΒΖ\nExcavation here was supervised by Mark Alonge, Kevin Daly, Michael Laughy, and Anne McCabe. In this section, we continued to expose the remains of the Byzantine settlement of the 11th century AD encountered immediately under the debris of the modern building demolished in the summer of 1997. The plans and stratigraphy of the houses were greatly clarified this season, with three distinct floor levels indicating successive refurbishments. Several pithoi were more fully exposed, one with its mouth raised to function with a later floor. A tile-lined well was also uncovered and partially excavated and should indicate the position of the courtyard of one of the houses.\n\nThe picture of this medieval neighborhood gathered in earlier years was enhanced this season: close-packed houses with no open spaces between them, provisions for considerable subterranean storage, and a hoard of bronze coins. The interpretation of this evidence is less clear. Are these troubled times and do we have people crowded together in the city for security, desperately hoarding supplies and coins? Or are times good, and do the many new houses reflect a rising population, with ample agricultural goods needing storage, and extra money hidden away for safe-keeping? The present archaeological evidence allows either interpretation. The construction of the Church of the Holy Apostles to the south and the Asomaton to the northwest perhaps favors the latter, happier view of Athens in the 11th century.\n\nDigging along the robbed-out Byzantine street wall, we encountered a substantial collection of bronze coins in a relatively small area. In all, some 130 coins were recovered. They are mostly illegible, but a very few are late Roman (4th AD?) in date, suggesting we have here the remains of a hoard, scattered as a result of later building operations. Alaric's invasion in 396 AD or possibly that of the Vandals in the 470s may well have been the occasion for the original deposition of the hoard.\nSection ΒΕ\nExcavation was supervised by Dave Scahill. Here we continued to explore early levels in and around the Classical shop building. Further cleaning of the two Mycenaean tombs was carried out. Prof. Maria Liston began a preliminary analysis of the bones recovered in the past two years and can report that one grave (K 2:5) held the remains of at least 7 individuals (4 adults, 3 kids), including an elderly man who had survived a broken collarbone and several broken ribs. The other (J-K 2:2) had at least two adult males, one adult female, and a child). \n\nThe last of the fill containing ostraka was also cleared, and another dozen or so were found, raising the total to over 150 pieces, making this the third largest deposit of ostraka found in the Agora. As with the others from this group, all the new ostraka were cast against either Themistokles or Xanthippos. Prof. James Sickinger of FSU will be in Athens in early August to begin research for publication of the deposit.\nAfter a major operation by Craig Mauzy to stabilize the collapsing shaft, we were able this year to complete the excavation of the 5th century well begun last season. The well was 1.20 m. in diameter and some 5.50 m. deep. A large pithos mouth had been reused as the well-head, fell into the shaft, and was found at a depth of about 4.50 meters. The upper dumped fill excavated this year included a handsome red-figured pelike, with the draped figure of a woman on one side and a draped youth on the other. \n\n\nUnusual pieces included two late black-figured choes, one with Dionysos standing between two rams, the other with a draped woman carrying a tray being followed by a man blowing into a trumpet, and an intact cylindrical vessel of lead. An assortment of black-glazed salt-cellars, askoi, and lamps was also recovered, dating largely to the 2nd and 3rd quarters of the 5th century BC. \n\n\n\n\n\nThe well may have gone out of use as a result of the earthquake of 426 BC (Thuc. 3.87.4 and 3.89), believed to be the cause of similarly dated deposits found behind the Royal Stoa (Rotroff and Oakley, Hesperia Supplement 25).The lowest fill represented period-of-use and was composed mostly of thin-walled water jars of coarse micaceous clay. Also recovered were numerous burnishing stones, suggesting some light industry in the area; the relationship of the well to the adjacent shop building has yet to be determined.\nSection ΕΛ\nExcavation was supervised by Laura Gawlinski. Here in the area of the Eleusinion, we cleared bedrock in several trenches to determine where it would be safe to found wooden walkways planned by our Greek colleagues for the presentation of the Agora park. For the most part the bedrock lies high in this area and we had only to scrape a few centimeters of fill, some Byzantine, some Roman, and some late Hellenistic. In one of the levels near the post-Herulian wall we recovered the upper right corner of an inscribed stele of Hymettian marble. Some 22 lines of text survive, preserving about half of each line, which originally contained some 33 letters. The letter forms and formulae suggest a date somewhere in the 3rd century BC, and a preliminary reading of the text suggests it concerns Athenian relations with the city of Kydonia in Crete.\n\nJohn McK. Camp II July 2000\n"],
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"Preliminary Report on the 2000 Excavation Season"],
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"Id":"Agora:Report:Excavations 2005",
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"Excavations were carried out in the Athenian Agora in the summer of 2005 by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, in cooperation with the 1st Ephoreia of the Ministry of Culture and with the collaboration and support of the Packard Humanities Institute. The season ran from June 13 to August 5, with a team of forty-two students and supervisors, drawn from twenty-five universities (see group photo). This report was finished just as the season ended, so many of the conclusions presented are very preliminary and subject to revision. Much of this account is based on observations made by the field supervisors, whose exemplary work is gratefully acknowledged here.\nHydraulic Installations on the North-South Road.\n\nSection BΖ - Northwest of the Stoa Poikile\nSection BZ was supervised by Mike Laughy (south) and Marcie Handler (north). For the most part we worked in Roman levels, dating from the 1st to 5th centuries AD. Much more of the north-south street was excavated, revealing a series of hydraulic installations. These included a closed round terracotta pipeline (4/5th AD) and a 3-meter stretch of lead pipe, both presumably designed to carry fresh water. Along the east side of the street we exposed more of the large, late, deep drain known from excavations further south. Used for a long time, it was repaired repeatedly and was covered with a bewildering array of disparate material: amphoras, large wall or floor tiles, and canonical curved cover tiles.\nStatuette of Aphrodite.\n\nOne rare find came from the fill over the southern part of the drain: a small statuette of Aphrodite carved from elephant ivory. She is missing her right hand and both feet but is otherwise well-preserved, measuring 0.085 m. high. In her left hand she is holding a large lock of hair away from her head, apparently to dry it. This type was very popular in antiquity and is often referred to as the Aphrodite Anadyomene, based on a famous painting by the 4th century painter Apelles, showing Aphrodite emerging from the sea, wringing water and sea-foam from her hair. Examples are known in marble, bronze, terracotta, and bone, and she is depicted on coins, gemstones, and gold jewelry. Over seventy-five examples are illustrated in LIMC (see also: Studien zur Ikonographie und Gesellschaftlichen Funktion Hellenistischer Aphrodite-Statuen, W. Neumer-Pfau, Bonn 1982). Similar Aphrodite figurines of this type have been found in the area. As they now span four centuries (1st-4th AD) and two materials (ivory and terracotta) it seems increasingly unlikely that they are all the product of a single workshop in the area, but rather of a single sanctuary; they may therefore perhaps be used as further evidence that the altar and later remains found just to the south are indeed dedicated to Aphrodite Ourania.\nMarble Threshold Block.\n\nA large rubble wall overlying the drain was partially removed and proved to date to the 6th century AD, providing a useful terminus ante quem for the drain and the latest Roman phase of the eastern street wall and a marble threshold block of unusual type. The threshold does not have the usual raised doorstop all along the length of the block. Rather it has a long slot, into which a series of boards could be slid, one after another, with a locking device necessary only for the final board; ii effect, a sort of horizontal shutter for the doorway. Two things are noteworthy about such a door. First, it is rare in Greece, the other examples coming from the Library of Pantainos, also in the Agora; most other examples are found in Italy, in large numbers, at Ostia and Pompeii (G. P. Stevens in Hesperia 18, 1949, pp. 269-274). Second, securing and opening a doorway in this manner is appropriate for wide doors and ones intended to stay open; that is, for shops, as in the case of those in the Library of Pantainos. This threshold might therefore serve to bolster our tentative conclusion that the building along the east side of the street housed a series of shops in the Roman period.\nTegulae Mammatae.\n\nWest of the street we continued excavating in mixed Roman fills. The upper ones seem to date to the early 5th century AD and are perhaps to be associated with cleaning up the area after Alaric and the Visigoths attacked the city in 395 AD. The lower fills produced numerous examples of the cone-shaped projections characteristic of tegulae mammatae (Fig. 4), used in the heating systems of Roman baths (Pliny, NH 35. 159 and Vitruvius 7. 4. 2). These seem to come from a Roman bath in the immediate vicinity which was remodelled in the early 3rd century AD and went out of use at the end of the 4th century. The fact that we found great numbers of the corners with their cones or just the cones alone suggests that they were deliberately knocked off and discarded so the rest of the tile could be used elsewhere as building material.\nEast of the street we excavated areas in line with the northern continuation of the commercial building to the south. Thus far it is not clear how far north those shops extend, but the stratigraphy thus far suggests that our area followed the same sequence and is likely to be related. For the most part we recovered fills of the 1st century AD, with very large numbers of fragments of very poor quality terracotta figurines. At the far north end of the trench we recovered a deposit of several amphoras, broken but in situ.Two of them are similar and unusual in the Agora; they have disk feet and can stand on their own, as opposed to the pointed toes of almost all our other hundreds of examples. The rim is broad and flat on top, while short handles are attached halfway up a tall neck. These combined characteristics are best paralleled in amphora type Gauloise 5, from Southern France, dating to the late 1st/2nd AD, so these jars have had a long journey (La Production des Amphores en Gaule Narbonnaise sous le haut-empire, F. Laubenheimer, Paris 1985, figs. 154-157) and Amphores: Comment les Identifier?, M. Sciallono and P. Sibella, Aix 1994).\nSmall Marble Head of a Bearded Male.\n\nAmphoras.\n\nWorked Bone with a Palmette.\n\nOther finds of interest include a small marble head of a bearded male, perhaps from a herm, found in surface fill, and a small piece of worked bone carved with a palmette at one end, apparently a stamp for decorating pottery.\nIn short, along the east side of the road it looks as though the Classical commercial building may have extended to the north, going out of use in the 1st century AD and replaced by other shops which functioned throughout much of the late Roman period. Various straws in the wind perhaps indicate that the neighborhood was frequented and/or the shops run by Italians: the Gallic wine jars, the unusual threshold block, and the use of a lead pipe (rather than terracotta) to deliver water are suggestive, as is the lamp with two gladiators named in Latin, found a few meters to the east in 1995 (Hesperia 1996, p. 241, no. 19).\nSection ΒΗ\nSection ΒΗ was excavated under the supervision of Anne McCabe. Here, we finished clearing the Byzantine levels, down to the bottoms of the walls; that is, well below floor level. For the most part we seem to be entirely in the 10th centurty AD, with brown-glazed and white ware pottery, and with no sgraffito or green-and-brown painted wares of the 11th and 12th centuries. The walls were of rubble: field stones and reused ancient blocks set in clay. The area is so small that no plan of any building could be recovered, and even what seem to be individual rooms rarely have four respectable walls. The fill alongside these walls has proved remarkably deep and undifferentiated, especially to the east, and there is little stratigraphic evidence of extended use of the area, though two or more periods could be identified in the junctures and relative depths of some of the walls. Though one drain, one pithos, and some areas of deep ash or carbon were encountered, there seem to be far fewer of the installations and evidence for storage (especially pithoi), which were outstanding and common features of the contemporary buildings to the west. Also unusual, in comparison to Sections BE and BΖ to the west, is the fact that none of the walls in Section ΒΗ rest on Late Roman predecessors.\nExcavations in Section ΒΗ.\n\nSection Γ\nLaura Gawlinski was responsible for excavating in Section G, just southwest of the Tholos. Here we returned to investigate a large building of the mid-5th century BC, which has been tentatively identified in the past as the Strategeion, headquarters of the 10 generals (strategoi). The building is trapezoidal in shape, measuring ca. 20 by 25 meters. It is poorly preserved, with only a few squared blocks of poros remaining of the exterior walls, with traces of interior walls of rubble or polygonal masonry. The plan is restored as several rooms grouped around a central courtyard.\nThe identification as the Strategeion has been based on several factors, primarily the location and large size of the building, along with a handful of relevant inscriptions found in the general vicinity. Other interpretations are possible, however, one of them being that it served as a commercial building. We returned in order to clarify the plan and also in the hopes of finding evidence which would tip the balance in favor of either a public use (inscriptions or public antiquities such as tokens) or a commercial one ('pyres'). Several dozen shallow pits, containing anywhere from three to thirty-five pots, have been uncovered in the Agora excavations; usually accompanied by signs of burning and a few animal or bird bones, they are known to us as 'pyres'. They presumably represent some private cult ritual about which the literary sources are silent. Of the fifty or so recovered, all have been found in either houses or shops, none in public buildings or sanctuaries, and their presence (or absence) would therefore help with understanding the possible identification of the building. A single pyre was found in this building in the original excavations; though we have a good deal more to excavate, no additional pyres were found in 2005.\nOther evidence recovered perhaps favors a public function for the building. First, it is worth noting that the entire western side of the building is cut out of the steep bedrock slope of the southeastern foot of Kolonos Agoraios, and that the central part is made up of a surprisingly deep fill consisting largely of the bedrock dug out of the western half. In places this fill is over two and a half meters deep below the original floor level. The bedrock of the hill is cut back some 9 meters along the entire length of the building, to a depth at the west of as much as 2.50 meters. In quarrying back the hillside the builders seem to have disturbed an early burial. The skull and assorted bones of a female skeleton in a flexed position were recovered in the central fill, along with a fair number of Geometric sherds (in this connection it is perhaps worth noting that a Geometric/Early Archaic cemetery was found between this building and the Tholos). The special effort that went into siting and constructing the building in this particular spot should perhaps be regarded as evidence that it was intended to serve a public function and that both its large size and a location close to other major public buildings were regarded as necessary.\nHoard of Athenian Silver Tetradrachms in situ.\n\nClose-Up View of the Coin Hoard.\n\nSeveral of the Tetradrachms.\n\nAlso part of the story was the discovery of a large hoard of Athenian silver tetradrachms, buried in a sack under the lowest floor in the eastern part of the building. In all, 46 coins were removed separately, and the rest were lifted in a concreted mass weighing 6,280 grams. Allowing for about 17 grams per coin, the whole hoard should consist of 400-420 coins, weighing ca. 7,062 grams (about 15.5 lbs). All the coins seen so far are standard Athenian tetradrachms with the helmeted head of Athena on the obverse, with the owl, olive sprig, and legend AQE on the reverse. They date to the 2nd half of the 4th century BC and are of the 'pi' or 'bracket' type, taking their name from the volute decoration on Athena's helmet. Other indications of date are the treatment of Athena's ear and the number of relief dots used to decorate the owl. Hoards of this type and size found in controlled excavations are extremely rare, largely without parallel within the walls of Athens. The closest is a hoard of 292 coins (282 of them similar Athenian silver tetradrachms) found in a pot in the Belgian excavations at the deme-site of Thorikos, in southeastern Attika (J. Bingen, \"Le Tresor Monetaire Thorikos 1969\", in H. Mussche et. al. eds., Thorikos 1969, Brussels 1973, pp. 1-59). Much more work will be needed by the conservators and numismatist before questions of the date of deposition can be answered, but there are numerous occasions in the late 4th and early 3rd centuries when troubles for Athens might have led someone to conceal these coins. It remains also to be seen if the date, wear, and possible die-links give any indication as to how this hoard may have been assembled. Leaving the date aside, the discovery of these coins invites speculation as to who buried them and what information that might carry for the identification of the building. The first observation might be that the hoard represents a considerable amount of money, 1,600 drachmas when the drachma was about a daily wage, so about five years' income. A second observation is that they all seem to be Attic tetradrachms; if this hoard were assembled by a merchant, one might expect more of a mix of denominations. On balance, it looks as though the hoard were concealed by someone with access to public funds. If the building itself is indeed public, the the two likeliest candidates on the basis of size and location are the Strategeion and Poleterion; the new hoard may favor the latter identification. The Poletai worked closely with the boule and were responsible for the administration of large amounts of public money, including the payments for leases of the silver mines.\nJohn McK. Camp II Director, Agora Excavations August 2005\n"],
"dc-title":[
"Preliminary Report on the 2005 Excavation Season"],
"dc-date":[2005.0801],
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"Excavations in the Athenian Agora were carried out in June and July of 2003, with a team of 45 students and supervisors, representing over two dozen universities and colleges (see group photo). As in the past few seasons, the work was concentrated largely in the northwest corner of the Agora, known locally as Section BZ. The area was divided into two parts: the north-south road and areas to the west, supervised by Mike Laughy, and east of the road, under the supervision of Marcie Handler.\nPlan of Sections BΖ and BE in Late Roman times.\n\nSection BΖ\nAfter several years of exploring the Byzantine houses of the 10th century AD which overlay the area, we began this season to strip away their foundations and made substantial progress into the underlying Roman remains. Much of what was exposed dated from the 3rd to the 6th centuries AD, a period when Athens both flourished because of her philosophical schools and was severely challenged by barbarian incursions (Late Antiquity: AD 267-700, Agora XXIV, 1988, by Alison Frantz). A drawing of the area in Late Roman times is included; at this early stage the full plan, the chronological phases, and the probable functions of the Roman buildings are uncertain.\nNorth-South Street in Section BΖ.\n\nThe main topographical feature was the north-south street which divided the area into two parts. The late Roman walls on both sides of the street are recognizable from the use of the hard white lime mortar used to bond the field stones and assorted ancient blocks with which these rubble walls were constructed. Three threshold blocks, one west of the road and two to the east, give the approximate ground level in use at the time, some .50 m. lower than the floors of the overlying Byzantine houses. Where the Roman walls rose above this level their exterior surfaces were also plastered with lime mortar. Individual features encountered include a rectangular water basin to the west, and a well, terracotta water channel, and settling basin to the east; drains and waterlines began to appear in the street during the final week. A seat block for a latrine suggests the possible use of at least one of the hydraulic installations in the area. More work will be needed before the various periods can be sorted out, but excavation in previous seasons of the adjacent areas to both north and south give some idea of the use and history of this part of Athens in late Roman times. There is evidence that three successive invasions left their mark on the area.\nSeat Block for a Latrine.\n\nTegulae Mammatae.\n\nWest of the road, just to the south, we have the excavated remains of a bath built in the 3rd century AD. Dozens of tegulae mammatae, the wall tiles with breast-like protrusions designed to allow the free circulation of heated air, were found this season and almost certainly come from this bath. Pottery found in the subterranean service passages to the south (I-J 2-3:1) suggests that the bath went out of use when Alaric and his Visigoths attacked Athens in AD 396. A hoard of 431 bronze coins found just above, at J/1-2/17, indicates that the area was further threatened and/or damaged when the Vandals attacked Athens in the 470's AD. Final abandonment in the Roman period will have come as a result of the Slavic invasion of 582/3 AD.\nBull's Head Lamp.\n\nLate Roman Lamp.\n\nLate Roman Lamp.\n\nEast of the road, a well (K 1:2) of the 3rd century AD excavated several years ago, seems to have occupied an open area and to have provided water for more than one building, including the one exposed this season. As it produced 24 coins and 6 bone dice, unusual finds for a well, it may be that one the buildings was a tavern or some other recreational center. Evidence of occupation of the area during the 4th century was excavated this year at the extreme north, where a shallow, unlined well (K 1:4) produced abundant material of the mid 4th century AD. It appears as though this well, like the western bath, also went out of use as a result of Alaric's visit in AD 396.\nAfrican Red Slip Bowl Fragment.\n\nPlate Fragment with Stamps.\n\nAfrican Red Slip Bowl.\n\nPrevious work nearby had produced indirect evidence of activity by coroplasts, makers of teracotta figurines, from the 1st to the 4th centuries AD (Deposits J 1:1 and J 1:5). The evidence consists of figurines, rejects, and moulds, though in limited concentrations and with no evidence thus far of any kilns. The pattern was continued this season with the discovery of several terracotta pieces, one a plaque with a helmeted female deity, presumably Athena, though she is uncharacteristically burdened with, wings, a cornucopia, and a quiver. Also noteworthy is a large figurine of a snub-nosed, pot-bellied Silenos.\nAthena Plaque.\n\nSilenos Figurine.\n\nSection ΒΗ\nTo the east, under the supervision of Anne McCabe, excavations were carried out under #3 Astingos (Hastings) Street, which was demolished in March 2003. The basement floor of this modest structure consisted of 0.90 m. of solid concrete with reinforcing rods. Almost immediately beneath, we began to get the tops of medieval walls of rubble construction, following the northwest/southeast orientation set very early on by the line of the Eridanos River. As usual, they are of fieldstones, tiles, and reused ancient material set in clay and presumably are of private houses, similar to those which have been encountered all over the sections to the southwest. Toward the west, heavy layers of ash and fragments of slag suggested that some industrial activity was carried out nearby. The uppermost fill had fragments of pottery of the 11th and 12th centuries (brown-and-green painted ware and sgraffito wares) and perhaps somewhat later. It is still too early to tell the dates of the walls. From this upper fill we also recovered a battered votive relief showing a mounted horseman, probably dating to the 4th century BC.\nMounted Horseman Relief.\n\nSection ΕΛ\nOur work in the Eleusinion under Laura Gawlinski was completed this season with the excavation of two wells. One, started last year, dates to the years around 500-480 BC and proved to be 12 m. deep, some 3.00 m. deeper than the average for the period. Near the bottom we recovered the staves of a wooden bucket but almost no period of use fill, suggesting that the well may have not been a success in producing water, a situation not unparalleled on the Acropolis slopes, where the subterranean water tends to follow well-defined seams.\nJugs and Mugs from a Roman Well.\n\nClose by we excavated a second well, of the Roman period. This was also unlined, though collapsed tiles and stones suggest that the upper part of the shaft, where it passed through fill rather than bedrock, may have been lined originally. The well was some 6 m. deep and a distinct period-of-use fill was encountered at the bottom, consisting of about a dozen largely intact jugs and mugs, many with wheel-ridging and gouged decoration, along with large fragments of several micaceous water jars. The closest parallels, from Robinson's Groups L and M (Pottery of the Roman Period: Chronology, Agora V, H. S. Robinson, 1958), suggest that the well was in use in the latter half of the 4th century AD. As it lies just within the protection of the late Roman fortification wall it is not clear whether or not its abandonment was the result of Alaric's attack in 396 AD.\nMarble head of a sleeping infant.\n\nAlso from the lower levels of the well came a small somewhat battered marble head of a sleeping infanτ or child. Eyes closed, he lies with his head tilted to his left; his left cheek bulges out and the entire right side is far more carefully finished than the (largely concealed) left. The basic scene and pose are very familiar as a figure of a sleeping Eros. Almost 400 examples are known, both in stone and terracotta (M. Soldner, Untersuchungen zu liegenden Eroten in der hellenistischen und romischen Kunst, Frankfurt 1986). Unusual is the fact that our head is carved separately from the rest of the figure; normally the head rests on the child's hand, a pillow, or some drapery, carved from the same piece of marble. Here, the head is finished in the round and there is a small round dowel-hole under the left side of the chin. Also surprising is the large hole, filled with lead and traces of some iron attachment, in the top of the head. A possible original location for this piece is the sanctuary of Eros and Aphrodite, excavated by Oscar Broneer in the 1930's on the north slope of the Acropolis, some 250 meters to the southeast.\nFragmentary Inscription.\n\nFrom the lining of the well we recovered a fragmentary inscription of the 4th century BC (Fig. 10). Parts of 10 lines of text are preserved, with no more than 8 letters surviving on any one line. Because the letters are vertically aligned, however, and much of the language is formulaic, it is possible to restore a line length of 21 letters per line. Preserved is the upper part of a stele containing the preamble of a decree of the year when Nikophemos was eponymous archon, that is, 361/0 BC. The formulae are identical to IG II2 116, passed in the same year, and the decree may have to do with a treaty between Athens and the Thessalians.\nJohn McK. Camp II August 2003\n"],
"dc-title":[
"Preliminary Report on the 2003 Excavation Season"],
"dc-date":[2003.0801],
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"Excavations were carried out in the Athenian Agora from June 7 to July 30, 1999; in all, 53 people participated, including volunteers, supervisors, and permanent staff. This report has been prepared for the volunteers and represents a very preliminary account of the results.\nMost of the work this season was concentrated in the upper levels in the northern half of Section BZ, under the supervision of Laura Gawlinski, Mark Alonge, and Anne McCabe. The Byzantine levels first uncovered last season were more fully explored this year, with good results. Long stretches of relatively well-preserved street walls were found on both sides of the narrow (2.60 m.) north-south street which runs through the section, and the plans of the houses behind began to emerge. Parts of three houses were uncovered - the two eastern ones joining with rooms excavated in 199l/1992 - along with an alleyway running east-west at the north end of the section.\n\n\n Two Roman carved gemstones - one depicting Athena, the other Fortuna - were recovered from the upper levels of the alley. The house walls are of rubble set in earth, incorporating a considerable number of large squared blocks clearly borrowed from some earlier structures. One reused piece was the upper part of a marble herm, inscribed with a invocation to Good Fortune.\nThe number of built pithoi or subterranean storage bins in these houses is striking. Several more were added to the number found last season, and multiple examples are now known for many rooms. These can be seen as a regular feature of these houses and they represent impressive storage capacity, far more than usually encountered in a Classical or Hellenistic private house of similar size. Also characteristic is the density of construction: the houses are closely crowded together, even sharing party walls. After two centuries of abandonment, our area became thickly inhabited, the neighborhood growing up in a relatively short time.\nWelcome evidence for the chronology of the buildings was encountered in the form of a small hoard of 21 copper coins in good condition. They show the bust of Christ on one side and the four-line inscription 'Jesus Christ king of kings' on the reverse.\n\nThey are part of a class (A) of 'anonymous folles' minted between 970 and 1059 A.D., anonymous because they represent a relatively short period when neither the emperor nor his name appears on the coins. This hoard confirms what we have learned from the wells of the adjacent houses to the east, that a major phase of construction and habitation in the area should be dated to the 11th century AD. It becomes a question whether the crowded houses, provisions for storage, and the burying of a hoard are all related, and what they may have to tell us about the economic or political situation in Athens at the beginning of the millennium. \nIn the lower area, Section BE, excavations were continued under the supervision of David Scahill. In the Classical shop building another pyre was discovered and excavated, the seventh from the building thus far, the largest concentration of these enigmatic deposits known from the Agora. The usual assemblage of wine cup (kantharos), lamps, miniature cooking pots (chytras), and small saucers and plates was recovered, twelve pieces in all, dating to the early 3rd century BC. Not attested in the literary record, these pyres presumably reflect some nocturnal ritual involving food; as they are generally found only in private houses, commercial buildings, or funerary contexts, such deposits should be regarded as evidence for private cult.\n\n Also uncovered was the upper part of a well. The unlined shaft, ca. 1.05 m. in diameter, was excavated to a depth of 4.00 m., at which point digging was abandoned until collapsing side walls could be shored up. Probes indicate that the well is at least another 2 meters deep. The shaft of the well was filled with debris and a great deal of fragmentary pottery which seems to date to the 2nd and possibly 3rd quarter of the 5th century BC. A wide range of black-glazed shapes was recovered: skyphoi, 'Pheidias mugs', salt cellars, lekythoi, oinochoai, lamps, lekanides, and one-handlers, as well as amphoras and cooking pots.\n\n\n\nOnly a few examples of figured wares were present, and they do not represent the high point of Greek vase painting: one black-figured stemmed cup with a sketchily drawn frieze of standing and seated figures, and three red-figured lekythoi. Athena attacking to the right with a spear, 2). a draped woman approaching an altar, and 3). a seated woman looking into a mirror. All this pottery represents a dumped fill, and the period of use was not reached. It remains to be seen, therefore, how this well might relate to the commercial building behind which it lies. Burnishing stones found both in the well and in the lowest floors of the building suggest a possible association. \nFinal clearing of Mycenaean tomb K 2:5 was completed, with more scattered bones found on the floor in the north half and more miniscule beads of the faience necklace recovered from the watersieve. The question of access and a possible dromos at the northwest remained unresolved due to the position of the 5th century well. More work was also done in Tomb J-K 2:2. Here, in the final moments of the season, several Geometric pieces (9th BC?) were found, at floor level. At the moment it is not clear whether these represent a deliberate reuse of the grave, or offerings left after an unintentional intrusion. Well K 1:5, dug in l997, also dates to the 9th century and lies only some 15 meters to the north, suggesting that the area was used for more than just burials in the Iron Age. \nAt this stage, it remains only to thank all of you for a productive and positive effort throughout the summer, and to wish you well for the fall. It has been a great pleasure working with you. \nJ. Camp July 1999\n"],
"dc-title":[
"Preliminary Report on the 1999 Excavation Season"],
"dc-date":[1999.0801],
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"Excavations were carried out for six weeks from June 7th to July 16th in the Athenian Agora during the summer of 2004, with a team of 37 students and five supervisors (see group photo). This is a very preliminary report on the results of the work this season. All the work this year was concentrated at the northwest corner of the Agora, north of the Panathenaic Way (cf. Plan). The material is presented in stratigraphic order, from latest to earliest.\nPreliminary Study of 2004 Excavation Findings.\n\nSection ΒΗ\nHere, we continued to expose the Byzantine remains which lie behind the Painted Stoa. As usual, these consisted of rubble walls of field stone set in mud. Assorted walls were exposed, representing several buildings and phases, though the area is too small to have allowed us to recover the full plan of any one building. The unglazed, very coarse pottery indicates that the main period of habitation is similar to that found to the west, that is, around 1000 AD and slightly later. A single pithos was found, containing a fair amount of fragmentary pottery and several coins. The fact that it was the only one found, however, perhaps suggests that the character of the remains in this area is somewhat different from that found farther west. That area, with its numerous pithoi in almost every room, has a distinctive domestic feel to it, with provisions for considerable storage, whereas the BH remains, with signs of extensive burning, chunks of slag, and a crudely fashioned water channel, seem more industrial. Further work will be needed to determine if this is a real distinction in the use of the two areas or simply an illusion.\nFor other traces of the people who may have lived and worked in the area at this time, Anne McCabe has pointed out that many of the funerary inscriptions carved on the columns of the nearby Theseion, converted to a church of St. George, date to the 11th century AD (Archimandrite Antoninos, The Early Christian Inscriptions in Athens, [in Russian] St. Petersburg 1874).\nSection BΖ - North\nHere, having already stripped off most of the Byzantine fills, we took off the last of the Byzantine foundation walls. Very often they follow - and are occasionally built right on top of - the lines of late Roman walls. It would appear as though the area, lying outside the line of the post-Herulian fortification wall, was largely abandoned after the attack by the Slavs in 582/3 AD and was left in ruins and neglected in the succeeding two or three centuries. When the area was reoccupied, the builders could apparently see the stumps of earlier walls still exposed and in many cases simply reused them. That the earlier remains were visible and available for reuse is also suggested by the fact that three late Roman wells and at least one pithos in the area were cleaned out and reused, with new raised well-heads or mouths added to function at the upper, Byzantine floor levels.\nSeveral threshold blocks give the approximate floor levels of the late Roman remains, though here, too, the plan of the building is incomplete and its function unclear. A series of as many as four drains was found, each cut through the long western street wall, conducting water out of the building and into the street itself or, more probably, into a deep street drain not yet uncovered. The numerous drains, operating independently, perhaps suggest that several of the rooms functioned as independent units, each with direct access to the street.\nTerracotta Pan Figurine.\n\nTerracotta Figurine Fragment.\n\nThe late Roman walls are themselves set into earlier fill which seemed to be predominantly early Roman in date, mostly 1st centuries BC/AD. Finds from this Roman fill included the usual array of terracotta figurines and moulds similar to others found earler in this area. Also recovered was a gold pendant in the form of an elongated wishbone, decorated with three 6-petalled rosettes and two triangles of gold grains. The technique, style, and somewhat worn appearance of the piece (petals broken and possibly enamel missing from the rosettes) suggest that the pendant may predate its archaeological context by a couple of centuries (Greek Gold, D. Williams and J. Ogden, London 1994, nos. 22, 81, 85, 87, 93, 94, and 106).\nGold Pendant.\n\nSection BΖ - South\nHere we continued to work in the north-south street and in the buildings along its west side. In the street, we stripped away assorted layers of the late Roman period, many of them dating to the 5th and 6th centuries AD. Among the finds at these levels was a bronze beam from a steelyard or scale; cleaning revealed a series of incised markings to indicate different weights (cf. Corinth Volume XII, The Minor Objects, G. Weinberg, Princeton 1952, pp. 207-208, nos. 1661-1666 [pp. 214-216], and plate 98). Along the eastern side of the street the surfaces were not well preserved, dissolving into a series of almost contiguous pits. These disturbances can probably be accounted for by the extensive reuse and rebuilding of the late Roman street walls along the east side of the street in the Byzantine period (11th AD), and/or repairs to a large, deep, late Roman drain which is known from earlier excavations to the south, and which probably continued northward under the east side of the street in this area, though we did not reach it this season. Two terracotta drains leading from the buildings at the west cross the full width of the street to its eastern side; presumably they will eventually be found to be heading for this large, deep, hypothetical drain. The street surfaces were better preserved in the middle and along the west side of the road. Along the west side a round, terracotta pipeline for fresh water, broken by several later pits, was traced for much of the length of the excavated street.\nBronze Beam from a steelyard or scale.\n\nFurther clearing in the buildings west of the street did little to clarify the situation, though the chronology is now better understood. Still enigmatic are the two courses of extensive conglomerate foundations supporting several handsome limestone blocks. An anta block with narrow steps showing heavy footwear, found built into a late wall nearby, may also be associated. It would appear that we have some good Classical architectural blocks reused on an early Roman foundation, though the function of the structure is unclear.\nGold Solidus of Leo I (457-474 AD).\n\nTo the south, more of a layer of rubble and debris found last year was cleared and in its midst was recovered a gold solidus of Leo I (457-474 AD). This coin, the debris itself, and a hoard of some 431 bronze coins of the same date found less than ten meters away should perhaps be associated with an attack on Athens by the Vandals in the 460's-470's AD (Vandals at Athens: A. Frantz, The Athenian Agora XXIV, Late Antiquity A.D. 267-700, Princeton 1988, pp. 78-79; bronze coin hoard: Hesperia 66, 1997, pp. 511-512; gold coin, obverse: portrait of the emperor with inscription: DNLEOPE RPETAUC, reverse: winged Victory standing, holding a tall cross, with inscription: VICTORI AAUCCCB, with CONOB in exergue [=Constantinople mint]. P. Grierson and M. Mays, Catalogue of Late Roman Coins in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection and the Whittemore Collection, Washington 1992, pp. 161-165, and plate 20).\nSection BE\nFinal clearing of Rooms 1 and 2 of the Classical Commercial Building was completed at last. Under the original floor in the northwest corner of Room 1 two handsome red-figured stemless cups were recovered in a small deposit of pottery dating to the 5th century BC.\nRed-figured Stemless Cup.\n\nCup tondo of a man on horseback.\n\nRed-figured Stemless Cup.\n\nWe also took advantage of the drying out of the whole area as a result of the continuous pumping of the Eridanos River by the Metro in Monasteraki square. The general lowering of the water table allowed us to excavate more deeply than ever before into the lower levels of the road which passes by the west end of the Painted Stoa. Here, in a trial trench, we encountered several very hard-packed cobbled road surfaces of the Classical period. Beneath them, we hit a layer of densely compacted pottery of the 6th century BC, with many pieces clearly smashed in situ into tiny fragments. There were fragments of cups and kraters and several black-figured pieces, including a handsome cup tondo of a man on horseback. Beneath this layer was another very hard, very worn cobbled road surface, clearly indicating that the road is one of the earliest and more important features of the urban landscape in this area, before it was developed monumentally with the construction of the altar of Aphrodite (ca. 500 BC) and the Painted Stoa (ca. 470 BC). Why the road is so heavily travelled and what, if anything, it tells us about the elusive early fortification walls of Athens are questions which remain to be answered. With Iron Age graves to the west of it and Bronze Age graves to the east, it may be supposed that the line of the road is very early, but if so it must have been simple track as we encountered bedrock immediately beneath the cobbled surface.\nFurther excavations in Sections BH and BZ are planned for 2005, as well as the extension of work in Section BH with the removal of several modern houses overlying the area.\nJohn McK. Camp II Director, Agora Excavations August 2004\n"],
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"This is a very preliminary report of the 2007 season of excavation at the Athenian Agora; the results presented here are tentative and should be considered with caution.\nSection ΒΖ.\n\nSection ΒΖ South\nThis area was excavated under the supervision of Mike Laughy, assisted by Jen Poppel. Two primary areas were investigated: the north-south road and the areas west of the road. In the road, we continued to take down the very hard-packed gravel surfaces, mostly of the Roman period, 4th century AD. In doing so, we fully exposed the later water supply lines found in earlier seasons, one of terracotta and two of lead (Fig. 1). These will all have been for fresh water, and were probably pressure lines. Lower down, we cleared more of the deep street drain and, at the extreme north, another sudsidiary channel entering it from the west. All these channels, both supply and drainage, were in use in the 4th or 5th centuries AD.\nWater supply lines.\n\nTo the west, we explored deeper fills under the Roman levels. Here, though we have little associated architecture, we excavated Hellenistic and Classical levels. In one area we exposed a fairly well-preserved pyre, of the type known from across the ancient street and in other areas of the Agora. They are usually deliberately buried under the floors of private houses or commercial buildings and are being studied as a group by Susan Rotroff. The example found this year seems to date to the late 4th or early 3rd century BC. It contained a lamp, a drinking cup, a pyxis, and several of the characteristic unglazed plates, cooking pots, and small saucers.\nSection ΒΖ North\nThis area was supervised by Marcie Handler, assisted by Chris Young. We excavated mostly Classical and Hellenistic levels in and behind the Classical commercial building. One of the major gains of the season was to establish beyond doubt that the commerical building extended this far north. More of its eastern back wall was exposed, along with several cross-walls, and we can now speak with some confidence of at least six rooms/shops set side-by-side along the east side of the street. An intermediate phase of the building was uncovered in the form of a draw-shaft and part of the tunnel of a Hellenistic cistern complex found outside the building to the east. It was of standard form, a vertical shaft waterproofed with a good hard white mortar. The shaft itself was ca. 0.75-0.90 m. in diameter, preserved to a depth of ca. 2.50 m. The tunnel runs off to the northwest and may be heading to a collapsed cistern we have located within the building itself. The tunnel showed signs of collapse about a meter from the draw-shaft and will have to be explored in future seasons. Fill within the shaft suggests that it went out of use in the 2nd half of the 3rd century BC. A wall of the 1st century BC/AD was eventually built over the mouth of the drawshaft.\nDraw shaft.\n\nTokens or seal impressions.\n\nFinds from this season in this area included several lead and terracotta tokens or seal impressions. For tokens generally and their uses for distributions, admissions, and as vouchers, see Mabel Lang and Margaret Crosby, The Athenian Agora, Volume X, Weights, Measures, and Tokens, Princeton, 1964, esp. pp. 76-78. In the Agora we have about 900 examples, carrying a wide range of symbols and depictions. Some of this year's finds were of types previously known, such as one showing a round shield decorated with the letter A. This type is part of a series showing shields, breastplates, hemets, and greaves, thought to have been used for issuing armor from the state arsenal (J. Kroll in Hesperia 1977, pp. 141 ff.). Other examples found this year are more unusual, in particular a small lead token with the stamped depiction of a 'Gallic' shield, recognizable from its elongated oval shape and the central spine. Such shields were used by northern invaders into Greece in the 270's BC, usually referred to as Gauls or Celts. They were largely turned back by the Greeks (especially the Aetolians and Athenians) at Thermopylai in 279 BC, though a small contingent attacked Delphi and was driven off with divine help (Pausanias 10. 19-23). They then crossed the Hellespont and caused havoc in Asia Minor for a generation or so, eventually settling down there and becoming known as the Galatians (as in the New Testament). Captured shields of this type are to be seen in many sculpted representations of trophies celebrating victories over the Gauls, and on many Hellenistic coins, especially those minted by the Aetolian league. The defeat of these barbarians was often seen as a parallel with the earlier Greek victories over the Persians, especially by the Aetolians and the Attalid kings of Pergamon, who fought them repeatedly.\nSection Gamma\nLaura Gawlinski supervised work in the area south of the Tholos, assisted by Johanna Hobratschk. Here we continued to explore the building traditionally identified as the Strategeion, as well as the scrappy remains of Classical buildings lying somewhat to the east. In the 'Strategeion' we excavated a series of well-preserved levels in the eastern part of the building, presumably successive floors covering its period of use. This included a pit full of marble chips, itself overlying a pit filled with amphoras. Parts of at least six were recovered; though found in fragments, at least some of the amphoras seem to have been deposited while still whole. From their shapes, several seem to have come from the North Aegean - perhaps from the island of Thasos - while two others are recognizable as coming from the island of Chios. One had an incised inscription on the shoulder: a delta-pi ligature (5x10: 50) followed by three vertical strokes = 53, presumably a measure of volume or cost. Associated black-glazed pottery found in the pit ('Pheidias' mug, stamped bowl, unglazed plate with moulded rim) suggests that it was filled in the late 5th century BC, though the amphoras are said by Mark Lawall to be first quarter of the 4th BC.\nPit filled with amphoras.\n\nAmphora from Chios.\n\nElsewhere, fill under the floor went down as much as three meters, producing pottery of the late 8th and early 7th centuries BC. The 'Strategeion', carved out of bedrock at the west, was set over a surprisingly deep gully in its eastern part.\nFurther east, we began the exploration of a series of small irregular buildings, in part to determine if they represent houses, shops, or public buildings. There are at least two phases. The earlier remains, only partly explored, consist of the rubble walls of buildings in use in the 4th and 5th centuries BC, lying west of the main road which at that time led into the Agora square from the southwest. These remains were replaced by walls of more substantial construction, presumably in the late Classical or Hellenistic period. In the middle of the 2nd century BC, when the Middle Stoa was built, the line of the old road to the east was covered and the road was shifted westward, covering much of this area with a succession of hard-packed gravel surfaces.\nSmall finds from Section Gamma this year included lead weights, terracotta and lead tokens, bone eyelets, the lower part of a red-figured lebes gamikos, and part of the marble eye from a trireme (Fig. 5a-c).\nLead weight and terracotta token.\n\nLower part of a red-figured lebes gamikos.\n\nMarble eye from a trireme.\n\nSection ΒΗ - Painted Stoa\nSection BH was supervised by Anne McCabe, assisted by Matt Baumann. We cleared the last of the 10th/11th century walls and other Byzantine installations and began to go lower, into late Roman fills. Here, further excavation confirmed what we suspected last year, that we have uncovered a stretch of the back wall of the Stoa Poikile, the first new bits to become visible since the west end of the building was found over 25 years ago. The new part found this season consists of two adjacent blocks from the outer face of the back wall of the building, made of limestone and originally joined at the ends with a double-T clamp. They are orthostate blocks, that is, from the first standing course of the wall. The back faces are finished with a drove (flat-faced chisel), while the top surfaces have been finished with a claw chisel. Each block has a projecting boss left on its outer face. The difference in the tooling and the presence of bosses so low down leave open the possibility that the blocks are reused. Blocks in secondary use, presumably made available by the Persian destruction of Athens, were found in the western foundations. The tops of the new blocks lie at ca. 53.54 m. above sea level, which means they rise ca, 1.30 m. higher than any part of the building seen to the west.\nSection ΒΗ.\n\nSection ΒΗ.\n\nBack wall of the Stoa Poikile.\n\nTo the southeast the top of a limestone unfluted column shaft ca, 0,60 m. in diameter appeared below the Byzantine walls, lying very close to the projected placement of an interior Ionic column of the Stoa and also apparently in situ. It stands to a level of ca. 53.20 masl, much higher than anything seen to the west. If it is in situ, then we are unlikely to see the east end of the building, which can lie no closer than 4 meters northeast of the column, beyond the present limits of the trench. As this column falls 44 meters from the west end, the minimum length of the stoa must be 48 meters. In any case, at present it looks as though the eastern part of the building, where we are presently excavating, is appreciably better preserved than further west.\nTop of a limestone unfluted column shaft.\n\nOn the Identification of the Stoa\nThe identification of the remains is by no means a sure thing, though the weight of evidence seems to favor the Poikile, famous for its paintings and as the birthplace of Stoic philosophy. There is a wide range of scholarly opinion as to whether or not that identification is correct. Some are so sure it is that an article has been written describing exactly where the paintings should go in the mostly unexcavated building and how large they were. This has led in turn to a second article discussing how much room was then left over for the shields, captured from the Spartans at Pylos in 425/4 BC, which were displayed in the building for centuries. At the other end of the scale are several scholars who reject the identification entirely, preferring to see the remains as those of another missing stoa, the Stoa of the Herms.\nThe identification as the Poikile rests first on Pausanias (1. 14-15), who described it during his visit to Athens in ca. AD 150. After referring to the Hephaisteion as being on the hill above the Royal Stoa, he describes in order a sanctuary of Aphrodite Ourania, a gate carrying a trophy of the Athenian cavalry over the Macedonians, and the Stoa Poikile. He then moves on to describe a series of monuments which lie to the east, under modern Plaka. We have the sequence of monuments noted by Pausanias: sanctuary, gate, and stoa, in the order in which he saw them, moving towards the east.\nThe archaeological evidence corresponds to what we know from other ancient sources (Agora III, nos. 47-98) concerning the history of the Stoa. It was built at the time of Kimon's ascendancy, that is in the 470's or 460's BC, and it survived until late antiquity, at least as late as the time of the Bishop Synesius, who saw the building (though not the paintings) in the years around AD 400. Pottery found against the foundations and under the floor at the west indicates a construction date around 470 BC, and the building certainly stood until the 6th century AD.\nFinally, the numerous ancient references (50) indicate that the Poikile was a well-known and prominent building, used for a variety of public functions. The present remains of a large stoa (44+ meters), facing south, overlooking the Agora square and the Acropolis corresponds to such prominence.\nAs noted, those who reject the Poikile identification identify it as the Stoa of the Herms. It, too, seems to have been standing in the 5th century BC, at the time of Kimon (Aeschines III, 183-185), and it is referred to in several Hellenistic inscriptions (Arch. Delt. 18, 1963, pp. 99-114 and Hesperia 65, 1996, pp. 252-257). Pausanias does not describe it, however, nor does it appear in any source of the Roman period, leaving open the possibility that it did not survive the siege of Sulla in 86 BC, in which case the archaeological evidence for our stoa would not match the history of the Stoa of the Herms.\nIn short, at the moment the problem is one building, two missing stoas: the Poikile and the Herms. On balance, if we have to pick a single stoa, the identification of the Poikile seems preferable, on the basis of location, size, and history of the building; there is certainly no stronger evidence in favor of the Herms. Continuing excavations will perhaps shed more conclusive light on the issue.\nThere is a compromise position, and that is to assign both names to a single building. There are numerous examples of this in Athens: 1). The Poikile itself was originally known as the Peisianakteios, after the man who had it built, 2) the Tholos is referred to in inscriptions as both the Tholos and the Skias, and the area around it was known as the Prytanikon, and 3) the Polemarcheion was also known as the Epilykeion. In theory, our building could easily have been referred to as both the Poikile and the Herms.\nThose of us who have worked at the Agora for a while are reluctant to take this path because it was tried once before, with dismal results. By the 1960's we had a similar problem: one stoa, two names (Zeus Eleutherios and Basileios). The route of the Panathenaic Way was clear, and as there were only 18 meters between the north end of the Stoa of Zeus and the road, it was clear that no stoa could fit in that tiny space (unexcavated, north of the railroad tracks). So the two names were assigned to the single stoa, though many people were not happy with that solution. How right they were was shown in 1970 when, digging north of the railroad, we uncovered an 18-meter stoa, right where it should be, between the Stoa of Zeus and the Panathenaic Way. So for some of us there is a residual psychological reluctance to applying two names to a single stoa. \nJohn McK. Camp II Director, Agora Excavations August 2007\n"],
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"Excavations were carried out in the Athenian Agora from June 10 to August 2, 2002, with a team of up to 34 students and six supervisors, supplemented by an indoor staff of fifteen individuals (see group photo). Work was conducted in three areas: at the northwest corner of the Agora (Sections BE and BΖ), along the Panathenaic Way (Section Σ), and just south of the Eleusinion on the northern slopes of the Acropolis (Section ΕΛ). The project is part of the ongoing excavations of the Athenian Agora by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, in collaboration with the Packard Humanities Institute (PHI).\n\nSection BΖ\nIn the northwest corner we continued down, exploring the transition between the 10th/11th AD Byzantine settlement and the late Roman remains which underlie it. Most of the features of the Medieval settlement had been known, but our understanding of several was refined by this season's work. The large plastered cistern found last season (J 2:20) was dismantled and proved to have been lined with mud-bricks, and a paved platform was encountered around the mouth of well (J 2:18) in Room B. A large coarse-ware jar buried under the floor in the corner of Room D contained the skeletal remains of an infant (J 1:4). The Byzantine walls, made of assorted stones and tiles set in mud, have a fair admixture of ancient material built in, including some very large blocks. Several of the marbles, though fragmentary, clearly come from funerary monuments (columnar grave monuments, sarcophagus lids, grave reliefs), which must have been brought in from beyond the city walls, some 500 meters to the northwest.\nA large coarse-ware jar buried under the floor in the corner of Room D.\n\nTerracotta water channel and large rectangular settling basin.\n\nThree terracotta figurines.\n\nA mould for an alpha-globule lamp.\n\nThe late Roman walls, recognizable from their lower levels and the use of a lime mortar, should tie in with similar walls found to the southeast. Thus far no clear plan or obvious function has been identified for the Roman remains, though a terracotta water channel and large rectangular settling basin were found in what should be a courtyard around well J 2:18, which seems to have been in use in both the Roman and Byzantine phases. Floor levels, thresholds, and the well all seem to fall fairly consistently between 53.25 and 53.75 masl for the latest Roman floors. An assortment of small terracottas was found in the area, both reliefs and figurines; similar pieces, dating from early Hellenistic to late Roman times, have been a common find in the immediately adjacent area. A mould for an alpha-globule lamp (ca 100 AD) was also encountered, but generally there are no signs of kilns or other industrial activity which would suggest that the material was actually being made in the vicinity.\nMarble Head.\n\nA late Roman pit in the area produced one of the more interesting finds of the season, the marble head of a long-haired, heavily bearded individual wearing a rolled and twisted fillet ornamented with some sort of central medallion or jewel. Such fillets are often interpreted as indicating that the individual depicted is a priest, though the unusually long locks and somewhat idealized features perhaps suggest that we are dealing here with a deity or barbarian, rather than a portrait. The carved pupils of the eyes and the deep drilling of the hair indicate that we are fairly far along in the Roman period for the date of the piece.\nSection BE\nIn the adjacent area we explored various levels in, around, and under the Classical Commercial Building. This section was most directly affected by the torrential downpour on Monday July 8th, causing us to alter our plans for the season somewhat. Thirteen centimeters of rain fell in about 2 hours, leaving this trench under as much as two feet of water until Craig Mauzy resurrected our overworked pumps. The fill under a pedestaled wall became completely saturated, causing the wall above to collapse.\nSkeleton AA 362a.\n\nDespite these difficulties, a round shaft lying under the south wall of the Classical Commercial Building was partially excavated. It seems to be a well (J 3:8), dating to the Protogeometric or early Geometric period (ca. 1000-900 BC) making it the earliest evidence of habitation in this area north of the Eridanos River. In the upper part of the well we encountered the well-preserved skeleton of a robust young man, loosely flexed, lying on his right side. A preliminary analysis of the bones by Professor Maria Liston suggests that he was 30-35 years old, muscular, and must have suffered from severe back pain. The pose and the full complement of bones in their correct relative position suggest that the burial was intended rather than accidental and that after its collapse and/or abandonment the upper part of the well was deliberately used as a grave (J 3:9). We reached a depth of about 2 meters, at which point the regular collapse of soft, saturated bedrock from the sides of the shaft persuaded us to cease operations.\nPanathenaic Way\nA small trial trench was opened up along the east side of the Panathenaic Way, to the west of the bema in front of the Stoa of Attalos. Earlier excavations in the area had been carried down to the late Roman levels, but not earlier. It is clear that the width and course of the road varied somewhat over the centuries. The southwest side of the street is well defined in the Hellenistic and Roman periods by a handsome stone gutter, but the northeast edge is generally far less well defined. In places the maximum width of the road can be measured where it is limited on either side by buildings, but its full width has not been determined where it passes through the open square. We hoped to find the ancient shoulder and therefore the edge of the road, and several hard-packed surfaces were encountered, though further digging will be necessary before we can confidently restore the width and history of the Panathenaic Way, the major street of Athens, its main processional way, and the training-ground for the cavalry.\nEleusinion\nWork continued also in the area just south of and uphill from the Eleusinion. Here the depth of fill has left almost no surviving architectural remains, and our understanding of the use of the area in antiquity (residential, sacred, industrial?) will probably have to come from wells, cisterns, and/or other deposits in pits in the bedrock. This season we excavated more of a well first encountered last season, though we have not yet reached the bottom. It was 1.15 m. in diameter and over 12 meters deep, cut through hard bedrock and unlined. The fill seems to date late 6th/early 5th BC and produced a bronze measure for dry goods, the skeletons of several dogs, a fair number of loom weights, assorted fragments of painted pottery, and the palmette finials of a stone altar.\nPalmette finials of a stone altar.\n\nBlack Figure pottery sherd.\n\nScraping bedrock also resulted in the surprise of the season: a handsome, well-preserved, marble portrait head, apparently of a priest (cf. Portrait of an Imperial Priest). The portrait is life-size, showing a male with abundant curly hair and a light beard. On his head he wears an elaborate diadem or crown, decorated with eight small busts, either cuirassed or togate. Such crowns, adorned with busts, are usually interpreted as an indication that the individual was a priest, most often of the imperial cult. A fair number of examples are known from Asia Minor, but few if any from Greece. In all, some 21 examples are known, dating from the 1st to the 4th centuries AD, with more than one example reported from Ephesos, Aphrodisias, and Perge. They are worn by both priests and priestesses, on both busts and full statues; at least some are adorned with deities and may not be for imperial cult. The number of busts varies considerably, from as few as one to as many as fifteen. In addition to the 21 examples of portraits wearing such crowns, they appear in another 55 instances on coins, sculpted reliefs, and the like, again almost exclusively in Asia Minor. The appearance of such a rare, substantial, and well-preserved example from Athens is therefore noteworthy.\nMarble Portrait Head.\n\nSmall bust from diadem.\n\nWhile many of the known examples combine both members of the imperial family and deities, the new portrait seems to portray all mortals, increasing the probability that he is in fact a priest of the imperial cult. It is unclear whether the busts represent a single generation of the imperial family or the lineal descent through eight generations, or a combination of the two. The absence of any female figures perhaps suggests the busts are arranged dynastically rather than as a family group. The figures are small but relatively well cut and detailed. All the heads seem to be bearded; the fourth figure from the left has a round object decorating the center of his cuirass, apparently a gorgoneion. The appearance of the device should help further to date the piece. The gorgoneion appears on the cuirass of the large imago clipeata in the pediment of the outer propylon at Eleusis (often identified as Marcus Aurelius), on several marble portraits of Marcus Aurelius, and on a gold bust of Septimius Severus found at Plotinoupolis in 1965, now in the Komotini museum. Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus, and Commodus all had particularly close ties with Athens, and it is perhaps to within their reigns in the late 2nd century AD that we should date this portrait of a priest of the imperial cult. The piece shows signs of obvious reworking in the area of the beard, suggesting the portrait was recut to serve as the likeness of a second individual, presumably in the 3rd century AD.\nWe anticipate that next season will see the continuation of excavation in all these areas. We also plan on opening up a new area to the east, where we have acquired a building which should be ready for demolition in a matter of weeks. Other properties overlying the Painted Stoa are in the process of expropriation. In the Stoa of Attalos we continue to make good progress in making the Agora archives available electronically, and we have completed most of the transfer of the metals to our new climate-controlled storage facility.\nJohn McK. Camp II August 2002\n"],
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"dc-title":["Preliminary Report on the 2007 Excavation Season"],
"dc-identifier":["Excavations 2007"]},
"agora:report:excavations 2002":{
"dc-description":["Excavations were carried",
" ongoing excavations of the",
" partially excavated. It seems to"],
"dc-title":["Preliminary Report on the 2002 Excavation Season"],
"dc-identifier":["Excavations 2002"]}},
"spellcheck":{
"suggestions":[]}}