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

The categories of numeric and descriptive data are presented in the following order, and
according to the following definitions.
A. Building areas 5
Total area The total ground area encompassed by the property lines of the building, not
including upper-floor rooms or underground built spaces such as cryptoporticus. 6
Nodes 7 The total ground areas of nodes. Nodes are defined as centers of activity and
circulation, including atria, peristyles, gardens and courts usually open to the sky and normally
allowing access to at least three other spaces. A peristyle or garden node includes the central
open space and any associated porticos. A node may also be the front or main room of a shop or
shop-house complex (see Figs. 5.2-5.7 for plans showing nodes, connectors and static spaces).
Connectors The total ground area of entryways, corridors, and stairways (not including
steps traversing a small change in the local topography).
Static spaces The total ground area of individual rooms that access no more than three
other spaces, and usually include such closed spaces as tablina, dining rooms, bedrooms,
living/sitting rooms, kitchens, latrines, baths and storerooms.
B. Building complexity
Total # spaces The total number of distinct spaces in the building on the ground floor.
Each portico around a peristyle or gardens counts as an additional space in the total. 8
# Nodes The number of nodes on the ground floor of the building. A peristyle or garden
node includes the central open space plus any associated porticos.
# Connectors The number of connectors on the ground floor of the building.
# Static spaces The number of static spaces on the ground floor of the building.
5The 1:1000 RICA maps of Pompeii in CTP III were scanned into a Macintosh® PowerBook 145 with an
Apple Scanner, providing scaled plans of the sampled insulae and their buildings which were then
adapted, labelled and coded in Canvas 3.5. For points of detail, the plans for Regio I were checked against
the 1:500 maps of CTP IIIA and plans in the published reports for each building; the plans for Regiones VII
and IX were checked against Tascone's maps in Fiorelli 1873. The map of Eschebach 1970 was consulted
rarely, due to its several errors. Consult CTP V for an history and assessment of mapmaking at Pompeii. In
order to calculate ground areas of a building, the author traced a building's perimeter along the split
thickness of its outer wall in Canvas 3.5 with the 'polygon tool'. That tool automatically calculated the
enclosed area in square meters represented by the polygon. All measurements in this study are in meters.
6Because any space under a connector stairway is distinct from the stairway itself, but both occupy the same
'ground area', the total sum area of nodes, connectors and static spaces may slightly exceed the total ground
area of the building.
7See chapter one pp. 38-39 for a discussion of nodes, connectors and static spaces, based on Watts 1987, 124-
131.
8Because a garden or peristyle and its associated porticos counts as one node, the sum of nodes, connectors
and static spaces may not equal the total number of distinct spaces.
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