Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (19.2007(2010))

ΝΕΑ PAPHOS

CYPRUS

foundation leveling course of the late wall
mentioned above. The northeastern corner
of room 1, large blocks of which were
bonded with gypsum mortar, had collapsed
northwards. A N-S wall situated about
a meter to the east seems to have been two-
phased. The upper phase corresponded to
the E-W wall and the lower one to the
foundation leveling course uncovered 0.80 m
below. The earlier phase therefore must have
belonged to a Hellenistic structure.
Between this wall and the northeastern
corner of room 1 there is a blocked passage.

The blocking is different from the
surrounding walls in that there are
potsherds between the stones. A fragmen-
tary cobbled surface, made of fist-sized
stones, on the eastern side of this N-S wall
corresponds in level to the floor in room 1.
To the east, a trench made for the NW-SE
Late Roman wall obliterated anything of
earlier date. Further east the entire trench
was filled with loose soil. No architectural
remains were found there, apart from
a single displaced column drum bearing
a mason’s mark.

HELLENISTIC HOUSE

A residual part of a N-S baulk at the very
east end of this building, dividing the Early
Roman House from the Hellenistic House,
was now partly removed. The southern part
of HH room 19 and, south of it, room 19A
were cleared. It has been established that the
wall dividing ERH and HH was built in two
phases, the first corresponding to the
west wall of 19A which was built of large
blocks set with gypsum mortar and having
a southward-going extension constructed of
small, irregular stones filling a framework of
vertical piers. All that remains of the wall
dividing room 19 and its porch, if it ever
existed, is the foundation leveling course.
This wall continues the line dividing rooms
17 and 8E. It is probable that it belongs to an
earlier, perhaps Hellenistic phase.
The rubble filling of these structures
yielded a well-preserved marble head
representing an old Dionysus [Fig. 7]. This
herm sculpture is made in archaizing style
with a cylindrical support on top of the head
and traces of an iron clamp suggesting that
the herm had been part of a bigger group.
At the western end of the Hellenistic
House, north of its main hall (no. 10) and its
western courtyard (no. 13) with room 11 in

between, a series of rooms: 20-23 with floors
at a level corresponding to the surface of
courtyard 13 was excavated [Fig. 5]. The
westernmost of the uncovered spaces, unit


Fig. 7. Marble head of a herm
(Photo W.Jerke)

509

Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 19, Reports 2007