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

and atria elsewhere in the house. Immediately behind (E) of the masonry staircase in (38b) is a
circular construction (d. 0.65) which was probably a pit for waste; traces of a narrow channel cut
in the floor leading to this construction are still visible on its NW edge. A small plastered sink
was also fit in a corner just S of the E end of the ST (Fig. 5.28). In the NW corner of the kitchen, a
latrine adjacent to the W end of the stove was closed off from the rest of the room by partition
walls; it was entered via a doorway on its S side (Figs. 5.9, 5.27). The arrangement of upper floor
rooms gained by the staircase in (38b) is unclear; perhaps they were living quarters for the
servants or storage space. The small room (m) (which may have once served as a cistern) at the E
end of corridor (38b), was lit only by a small oculus in its vaulted ceiling; the walls and floor are
well-plastered. It was probably used for cool storage.
KI (64) contains a low HE of sub-type (1) in the SW corner (l. 1.90; w. 0.96; h. 0.37); traces of the
tiled surface survive (Fig. 5.30). Water must have come from the cistern-heads in peristyle (56)
and the large storage or work room(55), paved in opus signinum. No accommodations for
drainage are visible today in KI (64); perhaps a drain ran out to the street under the E wall. A
window in the E wall admits light and provides some ventilation; two other windows were
installed in the same wall along the connected corridor and storage area to the S. The E wall of
(64), part of the corridor running to the S, has a series of seven square holes set at irregular
intervals at 1.50 m. above the floor. These holes presumably held small wooden beams or
brackets for shelving along the wall. Rooms (62, 63) may also have served for storage.
The find of a BZ in court (21), taken as an indication of cult activity (see below), may also be
evidence for small scale cooking in an open area adjacent to the light, air and water of peristyles
(17, 32) and the storage and work areas around court (26) (Fig. 5.22). Many household objects
such as furniture feet (for couches?), a candelabrum, glassware, and a jewelry collection were
found in rooms (22-24), suggesting to Dwyer (1982, 101-103) that the main living quarters of the
house were located there. This area was located adjacent to the stables, and may have become
the quarters of the household staff in the last period of the house's use.
Installation amenities, dining areas: In DH•(35) were found bone inlays, a pommel and
pieces of bronze, all of which Minervini (1853, 117) believed belonged to a piece of furniture,
probably a couch appropriate for dining. No direct evidence for furniture or finds associated
with dining are reported from any other dining areas.
I) Decorative amenities, cooking areas: KI (42) has a floor of opus signinum and patches of faded
plaster on the wall, especially in the area of latrine. The latrine also has a worn stone threshold
and a tiled floor that slopes down towards the cesspit on the N. Rudimentary rough white
plaster also survives in patches on the walls of KI (64).
Decorative amenities, dining areas: Much of the pictorial decoration from this house was
removed to the Naples Museum after its excavation. The floor of DH•(18) had a B&W mosaic
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