Southeast of the Agora
2025 season
Detail of the areα to the SE of the agora with the excavated trenches
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The 2025 excavation season at Sikyon focused on the area southeast of the agora, east of the large workshop complex that we began excavating in 2013. Specifically, we continued excavation in Trench 21, which had been opened in 2024. Immediately to its east, we opened a new trench (Trench 23), measuring 10 m (north-south axis) x 6 m (east-west axis), and further east, within the newly acquired plot of land, we opened a second new trench (Trench 24), measuring 9 m (north-south axis) x 10 m (east-west axis).
Trenches 21 and 23
With the removal of the surface layer in Trench 23 (Context 7021), the continuation eastward of Wall 1526 was revealed along the northern side of the trench, together with Wall 7024, running north-south along the western side of the trench, as well as parts of two additional walls: Wall 7061 on the southern side of the trench and Wall 7055 near the southeast corner of the trench. Wall 7024 is 7.45 m long and 0.40 m wide and consists of orthostates interspersed with smaller stones. The orthostates are reused blocks, and due to their size we may safely assume that they originated from a public monument of the city. In the section between Walls 5021 and 5022, the western face of Wall 7024 has been dressed with courses of smaller stones. At its southern end, Wall 7024 abuts Wall 7061, an east-west wall that continues eastward from Wall 5022. Only a small portion of Wall 7061 was exposed this year, over a length of 2.10 m, consisting of ashlar blocks 0.40 m wide. In addition, near the southeast corner of Trench 23, an in-situ ashlar block oriented north-south came to light (Context 7055). It clearly belongs to a wall extending southward beyond the trench limits. Of particular interest is the fact that this wall lies along the same notional alignment as the back wall of the single-aisled stoa uncovered farther north in Trench 6. It obviously does not belong to that specific stoa but rather to another building integrated into the urban plan of the ancient city.
Continued excavation revealed a thick fill deposit (Context 7034) with clear characteristics of ceramic kiln waste disposal. Among the abundant pottery recovered here (3,464 sherds were recorded), notable examples include specific cooking and table wares as well as imitations of North African lamps, dating to the second half of the 6th and first half of the 7th century CE. Similar types were found in Trench 16 (Context 5002), only a few meters farther west. Six bronze coins were also found in this layer, the earliest being a Sikyonian issue of the late 3rd century BCE and the latest a 20Nummi of Emperor Phocas from the early 7th century CE. Removal of this thick fill exposed the broad foundation trench of Wall 7024 along its eastern side. Excavation of this trench (Contexts 7041 and 7042) yielded pottery securely dating the deposit to the early 5th century CE. In addition, two bronze coins (nos. 30 and 43) were found within the joints of Wall 7024, one a Corinthian issue of 40–30 BCE and the other probably a Sikyonian issue from the reign of Emperor Septimius Severus (193–211 CE).
Excavation of the area bounded by Wall 1526 to the north, Wall 7024 to the west, and Wall 7061 will continue in the next excavation season in an effort to uncover earlier occupation horizons.
Orthophoto of Trenches 21 and 23
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Wall 7024 and its foundation trench.
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With the exposure of Wall 7024, the northern and central rooms of Trench 21, whose excavation had begun in 2024, were more clearly defined. We continued excavation there in order to fully expose the olive press installation and any related facilities to its south. In the northern room, we removed collapsed stones (Contexts 7035, 7036, 7037, 7045) to reach a possible working surface contemporary with the olive-processing installation (Context 7046). Two badly preserved bronze coins (nos. 34 and 35) were found on this surface. Only the second could be dated, to between the second half of the 5th and the first half of the 6th century CE. Removal of the fill also fully exposed the stone base (no. 7020) discovered last year on the western side of the room. It measures 0.90 m on each side, with a thickness of 0.40 m, and is built into a foundation 0.40 m high constructed of stones, mortar, and a few tile fragments. Immediately north of the base, Wall 1526, located 0.46 m away, had undergone modifications apparently connected with the use of the base. A 1.65 m section of the original wall had been removed and later blocked with horizontally laid stones (no. 7052), unlike the original wall where the stones were set upright. In addition, a rectangular socket was cut into a stone in front of this addition (no. 7052), corresponding to a rectangular recess in the vertical face of the wall. The socket measures 21 x 13 cm and is 9.2 cm deep, intended to receive a vertical element, probably a wooden post. Most likely, this was part of a press installation, with the base serving as the compression platform for olive pulp, operated either by a beam attached to the northern wall with counterweights at the opposite end, or possibly by a screw mechanism.
In the central room, the removal of late Roman fill layers (Contexts 7022, 7026, 7027, 7028, 7029, 7038, 7039, 7040, 7044, 7047, 7048, 7049) revealed a floor of large stone slabs (Context 7043) extending between Wall 5021 to the north and Wall 5022 to the south. The floor measures approximately 3.6 m in length and 1.5 m in width, while its eastern side is bounded by a roughly built wall (Wall 7023) constructed from spolia. The limestone slabs of the floor are themselves reused material and include a large stone threshold (Context 7056) measuring 1.74 x 0.70 m. Wall 7023 and perhaps also the stone floor cover an earlier east-west wall, part of which survives to the east (Context 7050). Since the floor does not extend throughout the room and projects slightly above the floor level of the rest of the space, it is more accurate to describe it as a stone platform. The close proximity of this platform to the olive press in the northern room, together with the discovery of many crushed olive pits, raises the possibility that the platform was intended for crushing olives using a cylindrical crusher. Such a crusher may have been the worn column drum found within the fills at the southern end of the platform.
The north room of Trench 21 at the level of Context 7046.
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The stone with the rectangular cut
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Context 7044 in the course of its excavation.
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Trench 24
The layout of Trench 24, approximately 45 m east of Trench 23, was determined by the results of the 2024 geophysical survey. It was designed to include the northwest side of a complex extending about 29 m south of the known road crossing the area. Removal of the upper layers (Contexts 7500, 7503, 7504), approximately 0.7 m thick, revealed walls dividing the trench into distinct spaces. Wall 7502, running east-west along the northern side, is the known wall south of the road and the eastward continuation of Wall 1526, which we have exposed over a length of 38 m in the workshop complex. It is constructed of ashlar blocks set upright as orthostates. In a later phase, a narrow wall of bricks and mortar, only 0.2 m thick, was added along part of the exterior (northern) face of the wall. This additional wall may be associated with the section of a clay cylindrical pipe (Context 7501) uncovered within the bed of the ancient road after removal of the surface layer. Given the elevation of the pipe, it is unlikely that it lay beneath the road surface like ordinary water supply or drainage pipes; rather, it probably relates to structures that encroached upon the ancient road in a later period. In an even later phase, ashlar blocks were removed from the western side of Wall 7502 over a length of 1.7 m. The interior (southern) face of Wall 7502 is also noteworthy. Its western section, approximately 4 m long, is lined with tile fragments later covered by layers of mortar. At least some of the painted plaster fragments found this year in the fills south of Wall 7502 must have originated from this wall.
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Trench 24 with the results of the magnetic prospection as background
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Of the three north-south walls uncovered this year, the easternmost (Wall 7508) appears bonded with Wall 7502, whereas the others (Walls 7506 and 7516) abut it and therefore were built later. Indeed, Wall 7516 was built after the dismantling of an earlier wall, traces of which survive only 25 cm farther east at its junction with Wall 7502. Wall 7508, apparently contemporary with Wall 7502, is similarly constructed, with orthostate ashlar blocks and later modifications. Walls 7506 and 7516, 0.5–0.6 m thick, are built of courses of smaller stones, tile fragments, and mortar, incorporating larger reused stones into their structure. Along the exterior (western) face of Wall 7506, a later revetment of bricks and mortar was added. Wall 7509-7541, running east-west and defining together with the aforementioned walls two rooms in the northern part of the trench, is constructed almost entirely of spolia. The wall junctions indicate that Wall 7509-7541 was built after Walls 7506 and 7508, while Wall 7516 was the latest construction. Both rooms were accessible from the south through openings 0.9 m and 0.8 m wide. The entrance to the eastern room is formed by two orthostates consisting of reused ashlar blocks.
Continued excavation revealed disposal layers 0.80 m thick containing stones, pottery sherds, fragments of roof tiles, and mortar, mainly in the northern half of the trench within the rooms north of Wall 7508-7541 (Contexts 7510, 7515, 7518, 7519, 7527, 7533, 7537, 7539). These fills contained a large quantity of pottery associated with the local production of specific vessel types during the first half of the 7th century CE, many fragments of glass vessels, loom weights, grinders, pithos fragments, architectural fragments, pieces of marble sculpture, and numerous animal bones, most belonging to medium-sized animals (such as sheep/goats and pigs) and fewer to large animals (such as cattle and equids). Five coins were also found in these fills (in Contexts 7518, 7527, and 7533), the earliest being a Sikyonian issue of the late 4th/early 3rd century BCE and the latest an issue of the Vandal Kingdom dating to approximately 525–534 CE.
Of the pottery recovered from these layers (36,893 sherds recorded), only 2% belonged to fine wares (739 sherds), 17% to coarse wares (6,310 sherds), and the majority, 81%, to cooking wares (29,844 sherds). Most of the sherds belong to vessels produced in the pottery workshops southeast of the Agora. The most common types are cooking pots with outturned triangular rims, jugs with either circular or trefoil mouths, large basins, lids, and imitations of North African lamp types. Among the marble fragments, noteworthy finds include the base of a statuette depicting a leaning child figure from the imperial period, and a marble lion paw from a piece of furniture.
The layers removed from the southern side of the trench (Contexts 7504, 7511, 7512, 7513, 7520, 7525, 7534, 7535), south of Wall 7509-7541 and approximately 80 cm thick in total, were also mainly disposal deposits dating to the first half of the 7th century CE. However, these were not the same deposits as those in the northern part of the trench, since they contained much less pottery and very little kiln waste from the ceramic workshops. The distinguishing feature of these layers is the large number of scattered architectural members. In one case (Context 7512), spolia including a metope were found arranged in an arcuate formation beside the corner formed by Walls 7509 and 7506. Many discarded stone architectural elements were also found in underlying layers, especially in the southeast part of the trench (Context 7525). These include, among other items, fragments of column drums and Doric capitals, two anta capitals, and a fragment of an octagonal pier. Seven coins came from layers 7520, 7534, and 7535, the latest of which date to the 6th century CE.
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The arcuate formation made of spolia in Context 7512
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Context 7525 in the course of its excavation.
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