Upper Cavea sector: Trenches 1A,
1B, 1C & 1W Andrea
Rowe
From the beginning of the Sydney University excavation
project on the Paphos theatre site, the section of exposed
upper seating was of interest. Previous clearing in this
area in the 1960s (Nikolaou) and mid-1980s (Grimm) had
revealed several rows of what looked like seating cut into
the natural rock of Fábrika Hill.
An important part of the excavation strategy was to open
three NS trenches parallel to each other running across the
upper part of the site. These would investigate what, if
any, remains of seating had been preserved, and help begin
to reconstruct the shape and size of the cavea section of
the theatre complex. Trenches 1A, B and C were laid out on a
5 x 15 m grid, and excavation began in April 1995.
The results from all three trenches are important and
provide the first clues as to the size and shape of the
cavea, as well as essential information on the type of
seating used. Evidence for a process of systematic ancient
quarrying has also been revealed.
The remarkable state of preservation of the upper seating
was at first a surprise. It is now clear, however, that the
steep incline of the upper area has in fact helped to
preserve it from later rebuilding. Soil has continuously
been washed from the top of the hill over the upper seating,
then slid downhill to collect in lower areas around the
front seating and the stage area. This has left the upper
area covered by a relatively thin layer of topsoil directly
underneath which are important deposits representing a
quarrying phase and the remains of the original seating
itself.
View across the upper cavea,
towards the northeastt
In 1A a continuous series of stone steps representing the
negative imprint of the original seat blocks was uncovered
along the whole 15m length of the trench. Patches of
the original
plaster
which covered the seats are preserved. The natural stone
of the hill is a calcareous sandstone which is not very
weather-resistant. The plaster seems to have been applied,
and regularly re-applied, in order to give a uniform smooth
appearance to the whole of the cavea. A 50cm baulk was
originally left between 1A and the previously-cleared
seating; this was removed in 1996. Today this gives the
oberver a sweeping view of the curve of the cavea at this
central point.
The seating in Trench 1B has suffered from the ravages of
time and quarrying much more than in the other trench.
Despite this it is here that the most useful evidence for
the original form of the cavea and the seating has been
recovered. Clearing of a section of the upper seating in the
mid-1980s had revealed the remains of a stairway in the
western part of the cavea. In 1B the very battered remains
of a matching east stairway were uncovered. 1B also includes
the end face of the natural rock-cut seating. Extensive
ancient quarrying has remodelled this eastern side of
Fábrika Hill, but it is clear that the full
semicircular sweep of the cavea was not cut out of the
natural rock. At this point in 1B, the embankment of the
cavea was built up with a coarse, stony orange fill, closely
packed, upon which pre-cut seating blocks were probably
laid. An oddity found in this trench was a large square
space which had been carefully cut out of the bedrock in the
middle of the seating. It does not seem to be merely the
imprint of ancient quarrying. One theory is that it is a
Roman cutting executed to create a kind of Royal Box in a
good viewing position halfway up the auditorium (compare the
theatre at Pergamon).
Further evidence that the sides of the cavea were built up
artificially was provided in Trenches 1C and 1W as well as
1J and 1S. 1C is located on the eastern side of the cavea
and was opened in 1995. This 5 x 5m square was excavated
down to a pebbly orange packing layer above the bedrock; it
is almost certainly part of the artificial bank built up on
this side of the cavea. Remains of stone blocks, roughly in
line, were found here but their purpose was not understood.
The excavation of 1W on the western side of the cavea in
1997 answered the question. Here evidence of not only the
orange packing was preserved but also stone retaining walls
built into the packing as an extra strengthening measure and
a precaution against slippage. Similar but much larger
retaining walls have been uncovered lower down the cavea on
the western side in 1R. The remains of walls in 1C probably
served a similar purpose.
We shall be conducting resistivity surveys to check this
construction feature more thoroughly.
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The excavations on the upper section of the
cavea have revealed surpisingly well preserved
remains of the original construction. Unlike the
lower sections and stage area which have been
continuously reused and rebuilt, the upper area
seems to have survived with less damage. All the
trenches excavated here have provided vital
information about the size and construction methods
of the semicircular auditorium. Further work in
this area is planned in the near future, most
particuarly on the western side. We suspect that
the overburden of a modern rubbish dump may be
covering the remains of the back edge of the
cavea.
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