Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (5.1993(1994))

with overlap in order to dispose of rainwater. A fragment of the
wall comprised between the buttress and the comer of the cistern
was transversally restressed, using methods already proven in the
conservation of the monument.
The southwestern comer of the cistern was reconstructed on
account of the need to prepare a path for visitors as part of a
tourist development plan for the site. The restored section will at
the same time serve as a retaining wall for the escarpment. (Fig.
3) The wall made of large blocks ca. 20-40 x 30-40 x 40-50 cm
was built on preserved relics using lime mortar and separating the
new parts from the original ones with tarpaper. The wall, which
had most probably collapsed during a 5™ or 6^ century earth-
quake, was in Byzantine times encased inside a new one of
irregular shape intended as the closing of the cistern complex on
the south. The Byzantine wall was recorded and then covered up.

3 The method was described in PAM II, 199 ( ’992), p. 5f.

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