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

ground floor in KI (8). The bronze basin of the bath in room (5) was fitted with both a water
intake and a drain, but Maiuri does not reveal how the drain leads out of the house (see
Sutherland, 151). That large bronze basin, set above a masonry podium at the W end of the
narrow room, had its water heated by a small masonry furnace (l. 0.73, w. 0.63, internal circular
d. = 0.40 m.) through the back wall in the SE corner of court (6) (PPM I, 637, #29-30, Fig. 5.21).
The heat and water utilities are clustered in the NW part of the house.
KI (8) has clear evidence for being in use at the time of the eruption. Against the N wall of the
narrow room was a HE of sub-type (2); only two narrow masonry supports (each ca. l. 0.35, w.
0.22, and separated by 0.75 m.) are depicted on Maiuri's plans, and these have since disintegrated.
Maiuri (NSc 1927, 40) confirms that these supports once held some kind of (probably tile-topped)
cooking surface: "Piccolo stanziono adibito ad uso di cucina come mostra l'alto e stretto podio in
muratura con sovrapposto treppiede e la varia suppellettile in bronzo ed in terracotta che si
rinvenne nel vano." The tripod found on top of the HE suggests it was in use. Other vessels
found here included a large decorated bronze amphora (see Maiuri NSc 1929, 74, Fig. 41), three
bronze casseruole and one skillet. 63 Because the casseruole in this kitchen are associated with a
well-decorated amphora, Allison assumes they were not used for cooking, and that therefore KI
(8) was not actually being used as a kitchen. Cooking and serving vessels were absolutely
segregated, however; cooked food or warmed liquids required transfer to serving vessels in the
kitchen. These vessels and the tripod in situ on the HE support the conclusion that KI (8) was in
use. Numerous table and serving vessels were stored in Rooms (13-14), but no cooking
implements were found there. Allison mentions only fragments of iron grills "of uncertain use"
in (14); it is unclear if these grills were used for cooking or for barring windows. At the E end of
KI (8) is a LT, offering convenient drainage. Water was available from cistern-heads in atria (A',
A"). The room was lit and ventilated from either end -- the door to the atrium, and a window
onto the street over the latrine, where an entrance to the house used to be, before the room was
converted into a kitchen.
The third kitchen is located next to the entrance at #12. KI (21) has a well-preserved upright ST of
sub-type (3) (l. 1.51, w. 0.88, h. 0.80 m.). The masonry body of the ST is held up by a large stone
slab acting as a lintel over two large ashlar supports (h. 0.33 m.), leaving a small space for storing
fuel beneath the stove (Figs. 2.23, 5.90). Its tile-topped surface is bordered on the S by an upward
extension of the masonry body of the stove (w. 0.21, h. 0.23 m.). A lip formed of upright tiles
seals the back edge of the stove against the wall, and a rounded lip of imbrices marks the front
edge. No finds were recorded from this kitchen; unless it was cleaned out during the eruption,
63 Maiuri NSc 1927, 74: "Grande e belle anfore in bronzo a corpo ovoidale...n. 3 casseruole in br. di tipo
ordinario, di egual forma, e due di esse di egual misura....padella emispherica, con manico robusto..."
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