Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (18.2006(2008))

ΝΕΑ PAPHOS

CYPRUS

ROMAN-PERIOD POTTERY FROM THE
EASTERN PART OF THE HELLENISTIC
HOUSE, NEA PAPHOS 2006

Ewdoksia Papuci-Wiadyka

Pottery from the eastern part of the
Hellenistic House, discovered in the 2006
campaign, is for the most part Early
Roman in date. Hellenistic ceramics
(including fairly numerous stamped
Rhodian amphora handles) and a few Late
Classical pieces, which are obviously
residual in the mixed Hellenistic-Roman
layers, constitute a mere few percent of the
material. Late Roman vessels are also rare,
while pottery from the 3rd century AD
was totally absent. The Early Roman
ceramics are dated en masse to the first half
of the 2nd century AD.
Trench Sq. 1/06 was opened east of
Rooms 9E and 10E of the Hellenistic
House. The topsoil was removed, revealing
a layer of fill superposed on a late dust floor
(= Floor I). This fill contained, among
others, fragments of an African Red Slip
Ware vessel from the 4th century AD and
a piece from the bottom of a plate of
Cypriot Red Slip Ware with impressed
decoration on the floor, dated to the 5 th-
6th century AD (on CRSW, see Meyza
2007) [Fig. 3]· This material confirms the
late date for the floor and its connection
with the “Byzantine” wall.
Below Floor I in Room 14 the fill,
which is dated to the first half of the 2nd
century AD, was of considerable thickness.
Its lowermost part (1.85-2.04/2.17 m
below the level of datum point A on the

“Byzantine” wall) is made up of a very
compact layer of shattered vessels, large
pieces of which can be reconstructed. On
the level at which the first sherds of this
deposit were recorded (1.85 m), some
remains of a human skeleton (a few teeth),
victim of a quake, were found. Most of the
deposit still needs to be reconstructed and
analyzed, but it has already yielded
a fragment of an Eastern Sigillata A plate
with plantapedis stamp [Fig. 4], possibly of
Late Hellenistic date, and a fragment of
a big plate of Italian terra sigillata from the
early Augustan period. The deposit,
however, comprised mostly amphorae with
a decidedly small share of tableware.


Fig. 1. Neck of pseudo-Kos/Dressel 2-4
amphora in situ, c. 124-140 AD
(Photo W. Jerke)

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