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

House, Room Address Width Length House, Room Address Width Length
I.6.7 (g) [lm] 1.38 2.39 I.9.8 (9) [lm] 1.20 2.27
I.7.1 (16) [lm] 1.30 2.71 I.9.13-14 (d) [lm] 1.08 2.20
I.7.5 (d) [lm] 1.26 2.64 I.9.13-14 (j) [ls, lm] 1.29 2.68
I.7.10-12 (7) [ls, lm, li] 1.14 2.22 I.10.7 (9) [lm] 1.24 2.55
I.7.10-12 (10) [lm] 1.45 2.31 VII.1.27 (5) [ls, lm] 1.47 2.30
I.8.4-6 (3) [lm] 1.11 2.78 IX.1.7 (e) [ls, lm, li] 1.42 2.34
I.8.4-6 (13) [ls] 1.01 2.39 IX.1.7 (h) [lm] 1.32 2.24
I.8.8-9 (10) [ls, lm] 1.39 2.29 IX.1.12 (g) [lm, li] 1.08 2.62
I.8.15-16 (6) [lm] 1.26 2.50 IX.1.12 (n) [lm, li] 1.12 2.51
I.8.17+11 (14) [ls] 1.11 2.52 IX.1.22 (r) [lm] 1.00 2.25
I.8.18 (6) [lm] 1.06 2.62 IX.1.22 (i') [lm] 1.29 2.33
Means:
Ranges:
1.23
1.00-1.47
2.44
2.20-2.78
Standard Deviations:
(n=22):
0.14 0.18
Table 2.1: Lengths and widths of couches in study sample dining areas as reconstructed from the
measurements of their couch niches (in meters). Square brackets contain the identity of the couch
niches that were preserved and that allow the reconstruction:
ls = lectus summus; lm = lectus medius; li = lectus imus
The dimensions fall into two broad groups of about equal numbers, which show up clearly on
both a scatterplot and a cluster analysis (Fig. 2.43). Group 'A' includes couches shorter than ca.
2.40 m. in length, and highly variable in width (ca. 1.00-1.50 m.). Group 'B' includes couches
longer than ca. 2.50 m., and more tightly defined in width (ca. 1.05-1.30 m). The division into two
groups of couches does not correlate to either dining room size or house size. Perhaps these
groups are the result of different standards for furniture construction, i.e. different 'types' of
dining couches. A survey that takes into account the heights of the couch niches as well as their
particular shapes (i.e. impressions for couch legs, head-boards and foot-boards) will be needed to
address the question of what determines the groupings.
The widest dining area that contained couch niches was I.7.1 (16), at 4.22 m. wide. 259
The smallest dining room containing niches was IX.1.22 (r), at 3.25 m. wide (including the extra
width that the niches provide). These numbers could be used as upper and lower limits for the
size of a 'dining room', but the definitive parameters must take into account the smallest and
largest possible combinations of dining-couch sizes. A dining couch can be as small as 1.00 m.
wide and 2.20 m. long, and as large as 1.47 m. wide and 2.78 m. long. Combining the minimum
259 One set of couch niches was excluded from the list in Table 2.1. Room I.7.10-12 (17), a 'dining hall' of 5.39
m. in width, contained two particularly long couch niches: 4.36 m. long along the west wall from the north
end, and 3.95 m. long along the north wall from the west end. After a 'gap' in the north wall of 0.39 m.
where no recess exists, an additional short niche of 1.05 m. is cut in the east end of the north wall. The
niches and the mosaic pattern of the floor both suggest the placement of three couches ca. 1.05 m. wide and
3.31 m. long around a central mosaic emblema. These are couches of exceptional size, so this room is treated
as a special case; see the gazetteer.
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