For four weeks in July and August, I worked at the Antiochia ad Cragum archaeological site in Gazipaşa, Turkïye. Throughout this time, I was stationed in room 5 of the Great Bath, right in the center of the site. I worked under the direction of Dr. Tim Howe, Dr. Candice Rice, and a grad student named Yunus. In total, we dug about a meter down into the soil and rocks compared to where our unit began. To do this, we used a variety of tools- primarily shovels, trowels, pick-axes, and hand-picks. By the end of our excavation, we had a wall running through the center of our room, dividing it in two. This was in addition to a few other small wall-like structures, and an eastern, northern, western, and deconstructed southern wall. This division was particularly unique because we came to realize that almost all of the notable objects that we came to find were located in the northern half of the room. One of our most significant finds was a long pipe running through the floor of the room. This was located in the center of the northern segment. Nearby, there was an opening which appeared to be the end of the pipe sticking up through the floor. This was likely used as a sort of drain for water, perhaps for a shower or gutter. We also found another portion of pipe closer to the western wall, but it wasn’t attached to anything so we believe that it was not a part of the structure we found in the north. We also came across a large amount of glass shards. Once again, these were almost exclusively found in the northern half of the room. Due to their varying size and close proximity, we believe that the shards may have come from an ancient window that shattered due to an earthquake or other natural disaster. Similarly, we found many animal bones throughout the northern half of the room. A significant portion of the bones were teeth, leading us to think that there may have been a trash deposit in the room in which the parts of animals which were not eaten could be discarded.
Our most common find was pottery. These sherds were scattered all throughout the space and were present in every layer of the soil. We didn’t find any intact ceramics, though there were a variety of non-diagnostic and diagnostic pieces of all different shapes and sizes, likely used as filler for the building surfaces. In addition to this pottery, we also found a total of five coins in our room. The only coin which was clear enough for us to identify right away appears to date back to the era of the tetrarchy in the Roman Empire. The other anomaly of room 5 which makes it stand out was the presence of significant amounts of burnt timber. A large blackened piece of wood ran through the center of the room near the top layers of soil. This was accompanied by several other small pockets of charcoal throughout the soil. We don’t understand the purpose of this timber, though it may suggest that the room’s intended usage shifted over time since the walls, drain, and animal teeth were all found far below where the timber was. Overall, we think that the room was actually many smaller rooms during its early use and may have been used for storage or cooking, based on the artifacts we uncovered. We unfortunately didn’t have the opportunity to dig deep enough to reach bedrock. This leaves many questions unanswered about the format and function of the room. If excavation were to continue on room 5, I would urge archaeologists to strive to get a clearer sense of where the walls within the room lay, and to consider reasons why there was such a dramatic difference in the quantity of artifacts uncovered in the northern and southern halves of the room.