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

weather by closing off the window with shutters; the open cenaculum DH◊{k} was probably used
in summer, when, because of its SE orientation, it would have kept cool in the afternoon.
H) Installation amenities, cooking areas: The ST (c') is of sub-type three, a tile-topped masonry
surface resting on wooden beams laid across two supports (l. 1.38, w. 0.97, h. 0.86 m.); the
wooden beams have been replaced by modern iron bars (Fig. 5.59). The W support is constructed
of bricks, the E of masonry. On the W edge of the stove-top is a rounded masonry curb; two
short brick and masonry walls once extended W from the wall on the E edge of the ST, forming a
‘burner’ across which spits, grills and pots might have been placed; only the S half of the ‘burner’
survives today. Plenty of light and ventilation were available in the atrium, although the flight of
stairs to the second floor above the ST must have caught some of the cooking smoke. Water
could be retrieved from the cistern heads in the atrium or garden peristyle (i). Drainage is
problematic; the street was probably more convenient than the possible latrine in (e'). Ample
storage was afforded by the two dolia built into the pavement just to the W (Fig. 5.58), and by the
five whole and two fragmentary amphorae found near the stove, which were the only finds
published from this cooking area because they carried inscriptions (Maiuri NSc 1929, 398).
Allison notes that most of the finds reported from the atrium were pieces of dolia and amphorae;
the atrium had considerable storage capacity.
The structure at the SE corner of garden (i), which I identify as a ST•, is built over a portion of the
rain gutter that collects water off the peristyle roof (Fig. 5.60). A tile-topped masonry surface is
supported on two sides (once with wood or large tiles, but today with iron bars) over the parapet
wall that joins the columns of the peristyle on the E, and over a brick and masonry support on the
W (l. 1.60, w. 1.22, h. 0.85 m.). Maiuri (NSc 1929) and subsequent commentators have identified
this structure as a ‘dog-house’. Maiuri imagined that a dog guarded this unoccupied property for
the owner in (I.6.11), from burglary via the ruined house (I.6.13) to the S. Allison first challenged
this hypothesis, suggesting that the form of this feature was similar to hearths in the gardens of
other houses in Pompeii. In fact, both construction and dimensions are notably similar to ST (c')
in the atrium. No remains of a dog were found in either this house or (I.6.11). If the structure
was a dog-house, the poor animal's home would have been subject to flooding from the water
channel that ran through it. All indications suggest therefore that this construction was an
outdoor ST, amply ventilated and lit, and conveniently watered and drained by garden (i). Six
dolia found at the W end of the N portico of the garden peristyle may have served in part for
kitchen storage, and a possible latrine was nearby in (e'). No finds were specifically reported
from the vicinity of the ST• in (i).
Installation amenities, dining areas: Within DH•(d) were found four bronze feet and a runner
for a bed/couch with reconstructed measurements of l. 2.20, w. 1.25, h. 0.55 m. The physical
evidence for dining at the time of the eruption is suggestive. No finds are reported from the
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