Re-imagining the Basilica at E.F2 at Polis-Chrysochous

8/13/2019 Re-imagining the Basilica at E.F2 at Polis-Chrysochous

1/20

Re-imagining the Basilica at E.F2 at Polis- Chrysochous William Caraher, University of North Dakota

Amy Papalexandrou, Richard Stockton College

Delivered at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental ResearchNovember 22, 2013

Since 2010, a team of scholars under the direction of Amy Papalexandrou have worked to studythe South Basilica in the area of E.F2 at Polis. [SLIDE] The primary goal of this work was toestablish archaeological dates for the construction and modification of this church and to situate it inthe environs of E.F2. Of particular interest was determining a date for the conversion of the churchfrom a wood-roofed structure to a barrel-vaulted building. This modification locates the church

within a significant group of Christian basilicas on the island which scholars have largely dated onthe basis of architectural style alone. Our work also produced a substantial assemblage of Late

Roman pottery from a residual context that allows us to locate the site of Polis within the largernetwork of exchange both on the island and in the region. Finally, this work fits into a largerprogram designed to bring over 20 years of excavations in the area of E.F2 to publication in such a

way that the archaeology of Polis and Cyprus during the historical period speaks to larger issues oftrade, architectural history, craft production, and social organization.

[SLIDE] The EF2 Basilica, which we are calling the South Basilica, is the most prominentbuilding in the excavated area. It stood parallel to a major east-west road and near the intersection

with a north-south road that runs immediately to the west of the churchs narthex. [SLIDE] The


2/20

method of excavation likewise complicated our ability to reconstruct stratigraphic relationships within each trench. The site was excavated according to trenches which were then subdivided intolevels and passes. In general, levels represented either stratigraphic or horizontal divisions in eachtrench and passes provided greater resolution. Because several levels could be open simultaneouslyacross the trench, the excavators frequently disregarded the last in, first out rule in excavation infavor of a more ad hoc approach. As a result, the description of each level appeared scatteredthroughout each trenchs notebook recorded more or less in the order that the excavator worked onthe level. This made it very difficult to reconstruct the stratigraphy of a trench or even to understand

the archaeological relationship between levels. Finally, the presence of innumerable burials, draincuts, and foundations churned up the stratigraphy leaving few deposits unmolested and the constantflow of water through the area often obscured changes in soil type.

[SLIDE] While these issues frequently resulted in compromised contexts that we had to excludefrom our analysis, we were nevertheless able to reconstruct the stratigraphy of several key areas ofthe basilica architecture with sufficient confidence to make sound arguments for the phasing and

dates of the building. These accomplishments owe much to the recent program by the PrincetonPolis Expedition to scan all the notebooks and images collected over the 30 years of activity at thesite. We used the scanned notebook as the basis for our transcription of the level and passdescriptions from the trenches in immediate vicinity of the South Basilica and collated them in a

Access Database. This allowed us to reorganize the descriptions of levels and passes, to definestratigraphic relationships, to identify secure deposits, and to produce Harris Matrixes for eachtrench.

[SLIDE] At the same time that we worked to organize the excavation notebooks and plans, we


3/20


4/20

quantity of Forms 8 and Form 11; the latter featured large folded rims with a distinct groove on theoutside of the vessel where the rim folds over the body. There are few examples of this form fromelsewhere on Cyprus, and the form does not appear among the types associated with the kilnsrecently published from near Gebiz in Pamphylia. The presence of these forms may speak to therather late date of activity at our site, as CRS11 and CRS8 represent two of the latest forms of this

ware. Moreover, CRS11 is the largest vessel in CRS fabric, and the quantities of this particular shapeat Polis and its absence at the kiln sites in Pamphylia might suggest a nearby production site.

[SLIDE] The rubble context for this assemblage at Polis may be significant in and of itself. TheSouth Basilica sits perpendicular to the slope of a hill and astride a drainage. The preponderance ofdrains throughout the area indicate that the builders struggled with the seasonal flow of water downthe hill. Deposits of green clay around the foundations of the church and surrounding buildings,similar to the waterproof clay used decades ago to seal tile roofs in the village, suggests efforts toprevent water from seeping into vulnerable foundations. Perhaps builders installed the large rubbledeposit at the same time as the reconstruction of the main nave to control the flow of water down

the hill and against the foundation of the church. It is tempting to imagine the addition of the rubblecourse as a response to the refurbishing of the first phase of the basilica. Relatively little is knownabout efforts to control the flow of water around buildings in antiquity, and our efforts tounderstand methods used to protect the foundations from water and to control drainage should notbe limited to those techniques that actually worked.

The study of hydraulic systems, drains, and the control of water in antiquity is in its infancy, and we are hopeful that our work at Polis can benefit from and contribute to recent interest in this topic. We are likewise optimistic that the ceramic assemblage produced by our work at the site


5/20

Olson directed a targeted campaign focusing on architecturally significant sections of the churchplan. Each model included over 200 photographs and took multiple days of processing to produce.

At the same time, we continue to develop our excavation and ceramic dataset and hope to beable to publish this raw data in conjunction with our analysis, the digital site plan, and 3Ddocumentation to create a dynamic and interactive space for the study of this site. As projects acrossthe Mediterranean embrace new ways to allow researchers to drill down into data and to visualizeanalyses, the Princeton Polis Expedition looks to optimize its research to contribute to the digital

revolution in Mediterranean archaeology.


6/20

!"#$%&'$($(' *+" ,&-$.$/& &* 0123 &*45.$-#!"#$%&'"&(%

6$..$&% 7&8&+"89 :($;"8-$*< 5= >58*+ ?&@5*&A%< 4&B&."C&(D85E9 !$/+&8D F*5/@*5( 75.."'"


7/20


8/20


9/20


10/20


11/20


12/20


13/20


14/20


15/20


16/20


17/20

7


18/20


19/20


20/20

Re-imagining the Basilica at E.F2 at Polis-Chrysochous

Documents

Transcript of Re-imagining the Basilica at E.F2 at Polis-Chrysochous