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

237 suggests that the upper part of the cupboard may have been a makeshift shrine, but is
uncomfortable with the juxtaposition of ritual and utilitarian material (pots, pans, and a hoe).
Whether this statuette had any ritual significance for the residents of this house remains unclear.
Synthesis
The assemblages of artifacts in the cupboards and chests in the atrium attest to the
occupancy of this house (while undergoing restoration) in A.D. 79. The lack of decoration and
finds in DR◊(11) is puzzling; either the room was in the course of restoration, as Maiuri believed,
or it had ceased being used for dining. DR•(15) and DR◊(11) are of identical width; any dining
furniture that once occupied the latter would have fit perfectly in the former without
modification. It is possible then that DR•(15) was meant to replace DR◊(11) as the primary
dining area in the house during its last period of occupation. However, Maiuri (NSc 1929, 414)
declared that the peristyle area was in a state of ruin and abandonment; whether this fact implies
that DR•(15) was neither in use at the time of the eruption is unclear. The cooking and dining
facilities in this house are simply and effectively designed. KI (8) is tucked away in a space
central in the house, out of sensory range but convenient for serving meals either to rooms
around the atrium (a possible early dining room (n)), or to the two dining areas off the garden.
DR◊(11) has a prominent but protected southerly aspect onto the decorated garden, and is the
largest room in the house. The finely decorated DR•(15) was oriented for cool summer dining. If
the two dining areas were ever in synchronous operation, they would have formed an interesting
pendant comprised of two comparably sized well-lit and airy dining spaces offering different
settings. However, the state of the dining areas in A.D. 79 (i.e. undecorated or not fully furnished
rooms) implies that dining took place in disrupted conditions.
23. I.6.12, Taberna del faber ferrarius Iunianus, (work)shop (Figs. 2.4, 5.3, 5.17)
Synopsis
This two-room shop complex at the NW corner of the insula was originally part of the
house I.6.11; traces of 1st style decoration on the facade and a blocked-up passage to fauces (a) of
the house demonstrate the connection, which was severed at some point prior to the earthquake
of A.D. 62. Against the exterior of the shop, just W of the entrance onto the Via del Abbondanza,
is the podium of an ara compitalis, dedicated to the Lares who watch over the crossroads (Fig.
5.17). At the SW corner of room (m') is the base for a stair to an upper story or loft. Immured in
the corner itself is a pipe for draining fluids from that upper floor, a "condotto di scarico dei
servizi di cucina ed latrina" that drains into the street, although no evidence for a kitchen or
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