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

I.4, the southwest corner of insula IX.11 (across the Via dell'Abbondanza from the northeast
corner of I.6), the northwest corner of insula I.9, the northwest corner of insula I.16 (diagonal to
the southeast corner of I.9) and the northeast corner of insula I.10 (Fig. 2.2). No (work)shop was
further than 140 meters from a public source of water. Drainage in most cases must have been
achieved by simply tossing or channeling the waste into the street. Some of the larger
(work)shops had special facilities for holding and draining water. Those that cleaned and
processed textiles required water for their industrial processes; traces of fixed basins appear in
I.4.7, I.4.26, and I.10.5-6. Two of the largest (work)shops have separate latrines (I.4.26, I.6.1).
I.6.12 preserves a down-pipe that once drained a latrine or sink on the upper floor.
(Work)shop-houses All (work)shop-houses have their own cisterns or water basins
(including impluvia). 79 These points of water collection are fed by runoff from the roofs around
open areas, and are usually accessed by cistern heads capped by stone or terracotta puteals.
Additional water was always available from public fountains; the fountain at the northeast corner
of insula I.10 rests at the nexus of three (work)shop-houses. 80 Because the cooking areas in
(work)shop-houses are so closely connected to open areas, a water source is always at hand. 81
Efficient use of heating and water installations was paramount; formal reception in two buildings
(I.8.13, I.7.5) would have been compromised by the latrines immediately inside the front door.
Latrines are present in nine of the eleven (work)shop-houses. 82 In six, the latrine is
immediately adjacent to the kitchen. 83 In the other three cases, a latrine is located across a node
from the cooking area. 84 Latrines were the principal point of drainage; cooking areas were
usually closer to latrines than they were to the street. Latrines have rarely been excavated, so it is
difficult to know how many were simple cesspits and how many drained into the city sewer
system. Three latrines are located adjacent to streets under which they probably drained; one has
visible evidence for street drainage. 85
79 I.9.9 and I.9.10 share a cistern head that is placed on the property line between them, in a gap of the
common wall; I.9.10 has an auxilliary water basin at the W edge of court (1).
80 I.7.16, I.7.18, I.10.1.
81 Only the stove in kitchen I.9.10 (2) is out of sight from its water sources, one space removed.
82 No latrines can be found in I.8.12, a stable without a cooking area, and I.9.9, for which the street was
probably used for drainage.
83 I.6.7 (kitchen (m) and latrine (l)); I.7.18 (kitchen (e), latrine (f)); I.8.10 (kitchen and latrine in (9)); I.8.13
(stove adjacent to latrine at the SW corner of court (1); I.9.10 (kitchen and latrine in (2); I.10.1 (kitchen and
latrine off court (5).
84 I.7.5 (stove on E side of court (c), latrine off NW corner of the court); I.7.16 (stove/hearth in NE corner,
latrine in SW corner of court (2)); I.6.8-9 (stoves in (c, i), latrine off garden (i) in (e')).
85 The drain for the latrine in the NE corner of kitchen I.8.10 (9) clearly extends under the street to the E.
Latrines in I.8.13 and I.9.10 also have street frontage.
137