From the 28th of July to the 6th of August my team and I worked on the Acropolis North Slope Unit 9 (ANS 9). During this time our team removed approximately one meter of soil and rock in a series of ten centimeter passes. Over the course of this excavation we discovered six different features within ANS 9, consisting of 4 different walls of various ages, a possible flagstone floor, and a large plaster deposit. The first feature we discovered were two interconnected walls that came together at a 90 degree angle near the southern corner of the unit. Our first theory regarding this feature, now known as Locus 7, was that it was the remains of a staircase, as a similar structure had been found in the acropolis. However, this theory was later abandoned due to the position of the feature, which made little sense for a staircase to be placed, as well as the lack of large flat stones that could be used as stairs. Upon further excavation we determined that this feature was most likely the partially uncovered corner of a larger room adjacent to the southeastern edge of our unit. We named this potential room Locus 8. Within the two walls of Locus 8 our team found what appears to be a flagstone floor. Along the northeastern wall of this unit in the eastern corner there is a course of 4 stones with the characteristic wide and flat shape of flagstones. These stones appear to be deliberately placed at the same level as one another and match up with other stones at the southern edge of Locus 8, suggesting that a flagstone floor once covered the entirety of this locus. Within Locus 8 our team also discovered a course of stones spanning from the northeastern retaining wall to the southwestern of Locus 7. We believe this course of stones to be the remains of an earlier wall, given the fact that it runs neither parallel nor perpendicular to Locus 7 and given the fact that it extends under multiple portions of Locus 7. We also believe that this feature was later utilized as part of the flagstone floor, as the surviving portions of this feature are on the exact same level as the flagstones found in Locus 8. During our research we also excavated the portions of ANS 9 outside of Locus 7 and 8. Within Locus 9 we found a double course of stones with mortar between the stones. This feature was found along the Northwestern edge of ANS 9 and was named Locus 13. During our excavation of Locus 9 we found what we believed to be bedrock, and closed Locus 9. We opened Loci 10 (the cut in the bedrock), 12 (the fill in this cut), and 12 (the rest of what was Locus 9). Within Locus 11, we found a large amount of plaster in the floor, extending from Locus 13 to Locus 7 along the Northeastern Retaining Wall. This plaster extended about two feet out from the Retaining Wall where it abruptly stopped. Given that this plaster was in line with the assumed bedrock, our team guessed that this plaster was used to level the floor.
On our last day of work our team worked to discover the extent of the bedrock found in the southwestern quadrant of ANS 9. When we started to articulate this feature we discovered that it was not bedrock as we first assumed, but instead part of a large wall that extended from under Locus 13 to the southern corner of ANS 9. We named this double course of stones Locus 14. As we excavated Loci 8, 9, and 11 we found relatively small amounts of pottery and very few special finds. Given the presence of additional walls at lower levels that we were able to fully excavate, I would predict that a more rich cultural layer may be found deeper in the unit closer to bedrock. The main conclusion that our team came to was that ANS 9 is a prime example of how structures evolve over the course of their lives. Within this one unit we have found multiple layers of walls, indicating that this area was repurposed multiple times over the course of its life. The presence of these surviving features within this unit also shows how the people who lived in Antiochia Ad Cragum repurposed previous structures to fit their own needs, as seen with the potential wall feature in Locus 8 that was repurposed as part of the flagstone floor. Given our findings, my team and I would recommend that further research be conducted into Locus 11 to find the extent of Locus 14 and to find bedrock within ANS 9. Given the lack of finds in Locus 9, we believe that Locus 8 could be an interior room that may have more significant small finds in comparison to Locus 9 which may be an exterior area. Because of this we would also recommend that a new unit be excavated along the Southeastern side of ANS 9 to explore the extent of Locus 8 and the flagstone floor within it.