Final Summary

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Trench plan.

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The area excavated comprises 3 distinct zones:

Agger 11 has four distinct layers

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of stratigraphy.  Immediately below the topsoil accumulation, a layer of yellow - designated Yellow #1 - runs to a depth of 1.60 meters from the preserved height of the east agger wall.  The soil of this layer is coarse with few stones intermixed.  A very small number of sherds were recovered from this layer, predominantly from coarseware pots.  A few fragments of bucchero were reocvered, and a fragment of an Italo-Corinthian plate ( p. 140 ) is noteworthy.  Finds included several bronze nails ( p. 138 , p. 132 ), a lateral sima cavetto fragment ( p. 130 ), and a banquet frieze fragment ( p. 130 ).

Below Yellow #1, there lies a thin burn layer, roughly 10-15 cm thick.  Here, very few sherds were recovered, though

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notable is an Italo-Corinthian plate fragment ( p. 144 ).

Below the burn layer, a layer of yellow soil - designated Yellow #2 - continues for another 25 cm.  In actual fact, the composition of Yellow #2 is identical with Yellow #1.  Pottery of quite similar quality and quantity was here contained, notably a neck fragment from an Italo-Corinthian oinochoe.

Most interesting from this layer is a pile of 123 sling shot stones which were uncovered resting as they had been placed in the southwest corner of the agger corridor.  Their position is indicative of the floor level of the corridor between the walls of the agger at the time of the Upper Building destruction.  The recovery of a frieze plaque fragment at the same depth

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confirms this fact.  Thus the floor level of the agger corridor is even with the foundation of the 3 defense walls which rest on a brown soil layer, devoid of pottery.  The brown soil layer was excavated to a depth of 20 cm.

The pottery and small finds from the three upper layers are homogenous.  Obviously the corridor was filled progressively over a short period of time during which period some amount of burning material was thrown in and ultimately filled over by more yellow soil and pottery.

A cut was made along the Southern flank of the south agger crosswall in order to define its limits.  The upper layer of the cut - essentially a pack of fallen wall stones - produced a very fine bronze cutting tool ( p. 148 ) and a feline water spout was recovered from the stone pack nearby ( p. 162 ).  A sub layer of finer yellow soil produced another interesting bronze object - possibly a cutting tool as well ( p. 164 ).

At a level beginning even with the foundation of the south agger crosswall, a layer of heavily burned soil was encountered.  This layer is equivalent with the brown soil of the agger corridor in depth, however it produced an extremely large quantity of fragments from large coarseware vessels.

Rectangle 22 has 3 recognizable layers: an accumulation of heavy stone packing, a yellow soil layer, and a layer of brown soil.  The stone packing begins

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at the preserved height of the east agger wall and slopes to a level even with the east wall of the rectangle.  Adjacent to the east agger wall, the stone packing is nearly 1.5 meters thick.  Once again, only a small amount of pottery was recovered, although numerous fragments of architectural terracottas were found interspersed with the stones.

Immediately below, a layer of yellow soil 30 cm thick produced the greatest concentration of finds from the rectangle - most notably a small bronze-lead owl - probably last when the walls of the rectangle were being pushed down and the agger corridor was being filled in ( p. 174 ).  In addition, a number of architectural

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terracottas - notably a large section of procession frieze plaque - and a half preserved Upper Building pan tile were recovered lying flat near the bottom of the yellow soil layer next to the south wall of the rectangle.  This should be indicative of the floor level of the rectangle at the time of the Upper Building destruction.  Below this level, the brown soil laer upon which the agger defense rest was similarly encountered.

The cut designated Agger 11 Extension was made in order to explore the possibility of the east wall of the rectangle continuing to the north, and to reveal the north flank of the north wall of the rectangle.  The cut produced a very small amount of pottery, though two painted sherds with incised scale pattern were recovered.

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The strata are the same as those encountered in Rectangle 22, though less rock was removed from the initial cut.  A few architectural terracottas were intermixed in the two layers of the cut, however, most interesting was the recovery of five terracotta loom weights from the topsoil and stone fall cuts.

Architectural Conclusions

Excavation in Agger-11 Rectangle 22 defined the southern limit of the agger defense walls and uncovered an adjoining eastern room which incorporated into its structure the east and south agger walls.  Preservation of the walls of the complex is quite good; the east agger wall still standing to a height of two meters from

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the floor level of the agger corridor.  The west agger wall is preserved to a height of 1 meter from the floor of the agger corridor; much of its stone having fallen as been pushed to the west.

The southern crosswall of the agger bonds with both the east and west agger walls and continues to the east in order to form the south wall of rectangle 19.  The north and south walls of Rectangle 19 appear to have been constructed of stone rather than mud-brick.  Bonding between the north and south walls of the agger and the east agger wall is well-preserved to a height of one meter.  The east wall of the rectangle is preserved in the form of a fine foundation composed of two courses of large stones and a very flat

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top surface.  Whether this wall was of mud brick or stone cannot be determined, possibly this side of the room was open to the elements.  Quite certainly the heavy concentration of large rocks in the rectangle is the result of at least the north and west walls of the rectangle having been pushed inward to help form the east slope of the agger mound.  The interior dimensions of rectangle 22 are 5 meters north to south and 4.5 meters east to west.  The foundations are uniformly 1.5 meters thick.

Finds from inside the rectangle give little clue as to the exact nature of the building.  The absence of a notable quantity of pottery or of

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any worked bone or ivory would seem to rule out the possibility of its use as a pottery or ivory workshop.  Perhaps it served a military purpose as a guardhouse or stable.  Absense of a sufficient quantity of roof tile may be indicative of a flat-roofed structure.  Obviously some amount of Upper Building architectural terracotta was deposited on the floor of the rectangle before its walls were pushed over.  At present, there is no justification for the association of the rectangle or its finds with "lower building" material.

It is possibel that rectangle 22 is the initial room in a series which runs parallel to the south flank of the Upper Building complex.  There is

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indication of a row of stones on line with the north wall continuing to the east.  Should this be the case, a secondary courtyard would be formed along the southern flank of Poggio Civitate enclosing the well in T-15, if not also the area of T-21-T-23.  The aim of next season's excavation should be to determine such a possibility.

Storage

2 cassette of representative pottery and uncatalogued small finds from AG-11 and Rec. 19

Uncatalogued architectural terracottas have been stored in the appropriate cassette in Magazzino #1.

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Plan of Agger 11 extension.

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Profile of Agger 11 and corridor.

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Final photos of Agger 11.

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Final photos continued.