{"id":3953,"date":"2026-08-07T12:28:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T17:28:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/?p=3953"},"modified":"2026-08-07T12:28:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T17:28:34","slug":"episode-9-the-plaster-strikes-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/2026\/08\/07\/episode-9-the-plaster-strikes-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Episode 9: The Plaster Strikes Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have been working on the Acropolis of the Antiochia ad Cragum site for the last month. I began by working in ANS 9, then moved to ANS 8 for the last two weeks of the season. For most of the time, our unit was split into approximately 2 separate loci, with 2 undergraduate students working in each. These two loci were divided by a central feature (Locus 5) for a large part of the excavation. In the last two weeks of ANS 8, we have found: pottery, bones (goat, swine, bovine, fish), glass, industrial waste, several iron pieces (some identifiable as nails), a loom weight, and several bronze pieces. There was a variety of bronze finds including: 6 coins, a bronze figure head, ring, and smaller identifiable pieces. Additionally, we identified two plaster surfaces. One on an earlier pass, which was limited to the western corner of the unit and very thin. The second extends throughout the north corner to the east side of the unit, extending into the eastern wall and ACNS 6B. This plaster floor is extremely disturbed, likely from earthquake damage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since the start of my work in ANS 8, there has been a consistent burn layer in the southwestern side of the unit. This spot is believed to be a dump pit. Curiously, none of the special finds were found within this burn patch. Instead, they were scattered throughout the far southern side of the unit, especially in the southwest corner of the unit. Special finds were found in a similar area in ACNS 6B, leading us to believe that these items were not randomly distributed in that location. How and why these special finds were found in the same area is still unknown. If a team were to dig in this unit again next year, I would pay special attention to this corner and try to identify a cause for the placement of these finds. The pottery and bones found throughout the unit are thought to be floor fill. As we continued to move down in the unit, we frequently encountered extremely packed earth. Strangely, there was a decrease in the amount of pottery and bones found. Underneath the first plaster surface we encountered, there were very few pottery sherds, which made us question the intention and purpose behind the surface. On the final day of excavation, we unearthed another central feature, in the same location as Locus 5, that we believe to be an earlier wall. We believe this to be a wall because there are what appear to be cut stones in course throughout our unit, extending beyond our unit as well. The plaster surface we found goes over the eastern side of this wall. We believe that this feature served as a wall to a room, with the inside of the room being on the southern side of the feature.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All of our finds have provided us with strong evidence that our unit was repurposed several times. The different walls, surfaces, and variety of finds demonstrate how the ancient people of Antiochia ad Cragum adapted spaces to better suit their needs. Locus 5 raised several questions about whether our unit was inside or outside the main structure, and our current hypothesis is that its status as an indoor or outdoor space shifted based on the purposes of the space, as well as the damage from various disasters. My view on where and what our unit was has never stopped changing in my two weeks at ANS 8. Each day we would uncover new evidence that disproved our theories from the previous day. If a research team were to dig in this unit again next year, there are several things I would like them to consider. I believe their first focus should be on the plaster surface we uncovered. It would be beneficial for them to find the extent of the surface and see if it bears any resemblance to the surface found in ACNS 6B. If so, this surface may confirm that our unit is in an indoor room. Additionally, I would be interested to know how far down the wall extends, and if it goes to bedrock. I would pay special attention to the southern side of the unit, especially the southeast corner where we have found many special finds. It would be interesting to see if there continue to be special finds in that location, especially once a team gets under the plaster surface. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have been working on the Acropolis of the Antiochia ad Cragum site for the last month. I began by working in ANS 9, then moved to ANS 8 for the last two weeks of the season. For most of the time, our unit was split into approximately 2 separate loci, with 2 undergraduate students […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5728,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research-blog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Iz8A-11L","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5728"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3953"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3955,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3953\/revisions\/3955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/antiochia2014\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}