Introduction

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The excavations of T26 through 1987 have brought to light a large, open building oriented directly east-west, with a plaster floor and three, four or five rows of columns on stone bases supporting the roof. Because of the nature of deposits in different areas of the trench, this "Southeast Building" has been hypothesized as being a workshop, with ivory and bone working taking place in the eastern end, terracotta work taking place in the central portion, and metal work in the western end.

The columns apparently supported a shed roof constructed of overlapping rows of pan tiles whose adjacent rows of edges were protected by cover tiles, the whole surmounted by a ridgepole and edged with a lateral sima consisting of alternating female antefix heads and feline water spouts. Large amounts of plaster found in association with roof tiles indicates that such plaster was an integral part of the roofing system although its exact function has not yet been determined.

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grid of trench

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The area of T26 to be excavated in 1988 includes the area at the east end of the building, where the flor and column bases appear to end. The grids to be dug, as set out in previous excavation seasons and in conformity with the architect's plan of 1987, are C-L 87-99. ( see plan, opposite page ). Depths are measured from existing ground surface.

The goals of the 1988 excavations in this area include

1) to determine the extent of the Southeast Building to the east and northeast by searching for any architectural indications of such an end and by taking into consideration the end of the floor, the end of the rows of column bases, and the drip line discovered in 1986;

2) to continue the excavations of the tile fall north of the building discovered and partly unearthed in 1987, in an effort to define the extent of the building's roof and it's collapse\xf2

3) to support the design of hte roofing system by finding further evidence of architectural plaster and architectural terracottas, specifically fragments from the lateral sima decorations and

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ridgepole tiles;

4) to define the boundaries of the ivory and bone working areas of the Southeast Building and the dumps for such pieces in T23;

5) to attempt a more detailed hypothesis of the building's use and subsequent collapse;  and

6) to study the stratigraphy of the area in an attempt to characterize each individual stratum and to correlate the stratigraphy of T26 to the rest of the Piano del Tesoro area, specificaly in relation to the archaic and orientalizing structures on the site.

For additional discussions of the area, see M.C. I , M.C. II , A.A. C. I , A.C. I , A.C. II , A.C. IV , A.C. V , A.C. VI , A.C. VII , A.C. VIII , G.D. I , G.D. II (trench T25, later incorporated into T26), and M.W. I .

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Preliminary Photos-1988

see photos