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

The building is described as a shop and a habitation by a Maiuri, and a possible caupona
by Della Corte. On the basis of electoral inscriptions flanking the entrance of the shop and a large
rough inscription on the sales counter, Della Corte ascribes the building to one Masculus, whose
name also appears next door in I.7.16 (2), celebrating his winning 200 sesterces at a contest.
References
PPM I, 728-729; PPP I, 70, CTP IIIA, 12-13; Schefold 1957, 34; Della Corte 1954, 265-266, #649;
Maiuri 1938, 1, 34-35.
Data
A) Total area: 110.4 Nodes: 51.0 Connectors: 4.8 Static spaces: 58.4
B) Total # spaces: 8 # Nodes: 2 # Connectors: 1 # Static spaces: 5
C) Area, HE• in (3): 2.5 Area, DR•(4): 16.5 Length, DR•(4): 4.42 Width, DR•(4): 3.74
Area, KI◊(6): 5.0
D) Entry prox., HE• in (3): 5.9 Entry prox., DR•(4): 10.3 Prox, HE• in (3)-DR•(4): 4.9
Entry prox., KI◊(6): 13.5 Prox, KI◊(6):-DR•(4): 5.3
Note: for the purpose of these data, the door at #14 is considered the main entrance (i.e. for
customers) and #13 the subsidiary or working entrance to the building.
E) Entry access., HE• in (3): 3 Entry access., KI◊(6): 5
Entry access., DR•(4): 4 Access, HE• in (3)-DR•(4): 2 Access, KI◊(6):-DR•(4): 2
F)Sight perc., HE• in (3)-DR•(4): N
Sound perc., HE• in (3)-DR•(4): T Smell perc., HE• in (3)-DR•(4): T
Sight perc., KI◊(6)-DR•(4): N Sound perc., KI◊(6)-DR•(4): T Smell perc., KI◊(6)-DR•(4): T
G) Environmental amenities, DR•(4): This room faces directly onto the covered court (3) (which
was probably lit by a sky light). A window in the NE corner lets onto KI◊(6).
H) Installation amenities, cooking areas: In the SE corner of the covered court (3), next to
entrance #13, is a semi-circular HE• of sub-type (1) (ca. d. 0.75-0.90, h. 0.30 m.). The HE• has a
plastered surface, which is irregular but not unknown for a cooking appliance (Fig. 5.93). It is
also possible that the installation is merely a bench or low shelf. Water was available from a
cistern head underneath the stairs to the upper floor in (3); a latrine at the W end of room (7)
provided drainage, although the street was probably more convenient for the disposal of waste
water. Light and ventilation were available via the door at #13 and perhaps via a skylight in the
roof of the covered court. A proper kitchen may have lain elsewhere in the house, but due to the
debris still covering the floors of rooms (5-7), only Maiuri's plan can provide clues to the location
and nature of other kitchen installations. It is unclear whether the N end of the sales counter in
(1) contained a built-in HE, because that end is in complete ruin; one vessel and perhaps another
container were immured in the top of the N end of the counter according to his plan (Figs. 5.92-
266