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

Synthesis
The arrangement of cooking and eating is adapted simply to the constraints of space on
this property. The multipurpose court (c) includes cooking, where natural light and ventilation
and water recovery are used to greatest advantage. The ST is placed at the angle to DR (d) where
it would be least visible to guests during the meal, although its presence (and the location of the
latrine) could not have been missed upon entering the house. The sounds and smells of the
cooking were likewise plainly part of the ambiance of the meal. The finest decoration with
adequate light (although a limited view) was bestowed upon DR (d). Guests could be
entertained on the ground floor; visitors would not have to disturb the upper floor rooms in the
house. Even in this small residence, there is a deliberate attempt to present the most favorable
aspects of the home for the context of a meal.
30. I.7.6, Taberna di Primilla, (work)shop (Figs. 2.5, 5.4, 5.20, 5.78)
Synopsis
This one-room shop (24.6 m 2 ) had a stair to an upper loft in the SE corner. A niche in the
center of the S wall served as storage space, but of the finds recorded by Maiuri, none are
relevant to cooking or eating (Fig. 5.78). No decoration is recorded.
References
Gassner 1986, 130; CTP IIIA, 12-13; Maiuri NSc 1927, 18; Della Corte 1927, 31.
Data
A) Total area: 24.6 Nodes: 22.5 Connectors: 3.9 Static spaces: 0.0
B) Total # spaces: 2 # Nodes: 1 # Connectors: 1 # Static spaces: 0
31. I.7.7, Casa del Sacerdos Amandus, casa media (Figs. 2.5, 5.4, 5.20, 5.79-5.82)
Synopsis
In the original state of this structure, rooms (o, p) were part of the shop at (I.7.4), while
the businesses at (I.7.6) and (I.7.8-9) belonged to this house. 58 Early first century B.C. decoration
survives on the W wall of the very long fauces (a, a'), divided into two spaces halfway along by
the imprint of a door found in situ. Nine skeletons were found in (a, a'), evidence of a failed
escape attempt. The rest of the house is decorated with 2nd and 3rd style pavements in
cocciopesto, and a program of late 3rd style wall painting.
58 Sutherland suggests that (o, p) were the limits of the original property line of (I.7.4); V. Sampaolo in PPM
I, 586 suggests alternatively that all of the rooms (m, n, o, p) belonged to the properties at (I.7.4) and (I.7.5),
extending them in their original phase to a depth matching that of the house (I.7.2-3).
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