Colegio del Pilar: Excavations in Jerusalem, Christian Quarter

The archaeological sounding on the site of the Colegio del Pilar in the

Old City of Jerusalem in 1996 was a salvage excavation, suspended for

administrative reasons. The present publication offers the results of a

rare archaeological investigation in the Christian Quarter. A

stratigraphic survey showed Ayyubid (XII-XIIIth centuries) occupation on

bedrock. Structural remains of the Mamluk period reflected the growth of

the city in the XIV-XVth centuries, and a well-preserved stone-built

cesspit of this period provided abundant pottery. Most of the volume

describes the fully illustrated pottery, organized by stratigraphic

context. The Mamluk pottery includes vessels imported from Italy. The

analyses of faeces from the cesspit have provided important information

on the health of the population at the time. There are reports on the

glass, coins and animal bones up to the end of the Ottoman period. The

del Pilar volume contributes to the renewed interest of archaeologists

and historians in medieval Jerusalem.