Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (13.2001(2002))

CHHIM

LEBANON

VILLAGE E

STRUCTURE E.VII
Previous work in this structure revealed
the presence of two consecutive floors,
provisionally referred to as Byzantine (up-
per) and Roman. Excavations outside the
entrance to the structure, immediately to
the left of the entrance, brought to light
two hearths made of pithoi bottoms
ensconced in a circle of small stones
(diameter 0.50 and 0.60 m respectively).
Large quantities of ashes filled the hearths
and surrounded them. This was apparently
the kitchen annex of the house in the
Byzantine phase (an analogous installation
but of Roman date had been discovered on
the opposite side of the room last year.2-1
The Roman-period floor — tamped earth
on a bedding of small stones — was cleared
throughout the interior. It was identical in
structure with the part already uncovered
in the northeastern section of the room.
Current pottery finds have confirmed the
general dating of the occupation cor-
responding to this floor level from at least
the 1st through the 3rd century AD.
A test pit under the Roman-period
floor in the northeastern quarter of the
structure, just by the northern house wall,
reached bedrock at a level about 0.50 m
lower down. The rock appears to run con-
tinuously under the entire area.
The most interesting discovery from the
point of view of site chronology came to
light in the southern half of the structure.
Just below the Roman-period floor, the
remains of a wall, c. 0.80 m wide, were
traced (Fig. 2), running in an E-W line that
parallels the southern wall of structure
E.VII. Blocks of big and medium size
constitute the face of the wall, its core

being an earth-and-stones fill. This earlier
wall continues unbroken beyond the
overlying eastern and western boundaries of
the uncovered structure and is covered with
a layer of light brown soil containing
insignificant quantities of sherds dated
provisionally to the Hellenistic period. It
is, however, also connected with a layer of
gray-brown soil, in which sherds of Persian
and even Iron-Age date have been recorded.
Apart from one or two structures under
Temple C, this wall seems to constitute the
sole evidence of settlement on the site
previous to the Roman period and should
be viewed in context with the pottery of
Hellenistic, Greek, Persian and even Iron-
Age date that is found in small quantities
under all the excavated buildings on the
site. The wall is sufficiently long and
massive in structure to be considered as
part of some bigger structure, which
disappeared from existence not later than
when E.VII was constructed. This wall has
been recorded as continuing in the test pit
dug inside E.VIII.
Current research has also proved
beyond doubt that the walls of the house
had been founded straight on the ground,
without any underpinning or deeper
foundation.
STRUCTURE E.VIII
A test pit was opened in the southern end
of the room in order to check for earlier
occupational phases. Under a floor of flat
stones of Roman-Byzantine age, a light
brown compact layer was noted — the same
as in E.VII. It contained a considerable
concentration of Hellenistic potsherds
(more precise dating is still lacking

2) For a report on last season's work, cf. T. Waliszewski, PAM XII, Reports 2000 (2001), 297-306, for E.VII, see esp. 303,
Figs. 3, 4.

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