This small and degraded tufa ashlar block, along with the larger tufa block to the West SU 6127, at the central-southern border of room G-1 is likely the pier for a now absent column. The series of reused ashlar blocks lining the southern limit of G-1 along the road, and another set of the ashlars in front of the Area F building to the West indicate the possible presence of colonnade or portico delimiting the road from the adjacent spaces to the north. We believe that this is part of a later phase of construction and that this is not the ashlar block’s original deposition. The primary reason is the block’s placement at a high level directly on top of the concrete layer of SU 6176. SU 6176, the tufa block SU 6175, and the concrete layer SU 6162 appear to form a base for the pier composed of this tufa block, SU 6128, and the tufa block to the West, SU 6127. The relationship of the pier to G-1’s earlier abutting surface levels SU 6161and SU 6178, and the height of this tufa block, SU 6127, and tufa block SU 6127 close to the level of the imperial road also indicate a later deposition. Additionally, the two adjacent tufas', SU 6127 and SU 6128, similar widths and close placement makes them appear as a single unit, further supporting the hypothesis that they once formed a pier.
Room G-1 center-west
Photo from north