KITCHENS AND DINING ROOMS AT POMPEII ... - Get a Free Blog

disintegrated, leaving the top surfaces to collapse. Often only the two stub walls, or one stub
wall and a slot in a nearby wall indicating the insertion of the stove surface, are preserved.
Again, the rectangular space underneath the stove surface was probably used for the storage of
fuel. This kind of stove is similar to, but larger than, hearths of sub-type (2).
Three additional features are found on many stoves: a tiled 'curb' that lines the edges of
the stove, small 'burners' built of masonry at the back of the stove against the wall, and a vaulted
'hood' which overhangs the surface of the stove. The 'curb' that follows the front and side edges
of the stove away from the walls is usually constructed of imbrices (the curved tiles that capped
the peak of a roof) set end to end over a ridge of mortar that holds the tiles in place (Figs. 2.20-
2.21, 2.23, 2.27). 114 Curbs on the front edge are also made of the short lip of a tegula (flat roof
tile); curbs on the side of the stove are sometimes built out of masonry (Fig. 2.23). 115 The front
curb keeps coals and ashes that accumulate on the stove surface from spilling out and sullying
the floor or burning the cooks. Another curb is commonly built against the side and back edges
of a stove tangent to the kitchen walls. This curb is made of flat tiles set end to end on their
edges, constructed of masonry, or formed by the lip of a tegula, so as to provide an upright buffer
for the wall against spills and heat damage from the stove surface (Figs. 2.19-2.21, 2.23, 2.26-
2.27). 116 The heat-resistant tiles act to contain the cooking process and prevent fire damage.
Not all stoves have well-preserved curbs. Salza Prina Ricotti has suggested that solid
masonry stoves lacking curbs on the front edge were simply tables for food preparation, but
traces of burning on the tiled surfaces of even these stoves argues for cooking activity. 117 There
were doubtless portable wooden tables in the kitchen (e.g. Varro's urnarium) upon which much of
the food preparation was done, but these do not survive, even at Pompeii. 118
'Burners' appear even more infrequently than curbs, and are often poorly preserved. A
burner consists of short, thin supports of masonry, brick or tile built in the shape of the letter 'C';
two burners next to each other share the middle support, and so form the shape of an 'E' (Fig.
2.27). The open sides of the burners face the front of the stove, and the burners are always
114 Examples of a curb constructed of imbrices include: I.6.4 (n); I.6.7 (m); I.6.8-9 (c); I.7.10-12 (21); I.7.18 (e);
I.8.17 (21); I.9.10 (2); I.10.1 (5); I.10.7 (11); IX.1.20 (x).
115 A tegula lip for a curb: I.7.10-12 (7); I.10.18 (9). Curbs of masonry: I.6.8-9 (c); I.7.10-12 (21); IX.1.4 (b);
IX.1.6 (a); IX.1.22 (t); IX.2.18 (n).
116 Examples include [upright flat tiles]: I.4.5+25 (42); I.6.11 (8); I.7.7 (i); I.7.10-12 (21); I.9.10 (2); I.9.12 (9);
I.10.4 (52); I.10.7 (11); I.10.11 (16); VII.14.5 (20); IX.1.20 (x); IX.2.26 (b); [masonry]: I.7.18 (e); I.8.17 (21); I.10.18
(9); IX.2.10 (o); [tegula lip]: I.6.7 (m).
117 Salza Prina Ricotti 1987, 118-119. Traces of burning appear on the following tiled stove-tops that are not
outfitted with curbs on the front edge: I.8.5 (13); I.9.8 (7); I.10.4 (52), both upon the arched stove and the
solid counter; IX.2.17 (m).
118 Var. L. 5.126; see chapter one, p. 15, n. 45.
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