Preliminary results of a stratigraphic analysis of late Roman and early Byzantine architecture in the residential quarter of Jiyeh

Abstract

The paper discusses the results of the first season of research undertaken to establish and document the architectural stratification of the residential quarter in Jiyeh (ancient Porphyreon). The research was started on a separate complex of 14 rooms. Three phases of building development in the late Roman and early Byzantine periods were distinguished. Evidence was found of the division of this complex into three houses. Remains of stairways identified in two of the houses proved the existence of double-storey buildings. In the northern house of the complex, the layout of recesses and corbels preserved in the walls suggests the presence of a wooden gallery, communicating at ground level with rooms on the upper floor. This paper presents also some preliminary remarks on the functional division of the houses.