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

Chronology
Pompeii did not perfectly preserve a frozen moment in the domestic lives of the
inhabitants. The A.D. 62 earthquake (with subsequent tremors, repairs and abandonment), the
A.D. 79 eruption (with items saved, salvaged or stolen during or after the eruption), and the
incomplete recording of the excavations combine to provide a flawed and partial body of
evidence. 24 Yet this evidence is still more vivid and more complete than at any other site -- the
amount of information about cooking and dining areas is unparalleled. I will consider the
problems of preservation for each building in the sample individually (see the Gazetteer), and
use only the evidence that seems secure in building up data to analyze in chapter three. In
general, it seems that the great majority of buildings in the study sample were being used in A.D.
79.
Pompeii was the result of centuries of urban development, and consequently, many
alterations in the form of the insulae, buildings and streets had been carried out. 25 To date, a
limited number of sondages have been made below the preserved floor levels. 26 Studies of the
building history of Pompeii have instead relied upon studies of wall painting styles, manners of
construction, and sequences of wall phasing. I will consider the Baugeschichte of individual
buildings in the Gazetteer when it elucidates the arrangement and understanding of cooking and
dining areas. Otherwise, this study is a 'synchronic' view of Pompeii in its last years, between the
major earthquake of A.D. 62 and the final eruption of A.D. 79.
Terminology and typology: cooking areas
Literary sources provide a number of references to kitchens or cooking areas, but rarely
describe their physical attributes in any detail. Fortunately, it is relatively easy to identify
kitchens on the ground. The presence of braziers, cooking stands, hearths, stoves or ovens,
especially with evidence of burning, confirm that cooking took place or was intended to take
place in an area. Cooking pots or utensils in association with kitchen appliances also reinforce
the identification. The literary sources tend to be vague and the archaeological sources are
specific, yet a reconciliation of the two will be attempted in the archaeological typology.
Literary sources for cooking areas and installations
Several words in Latin describe the place of a cooking fire, but only one (culina) applies to
a discrete room in which cooking was the primary activity. Various terms for a cooking area or
24Allison 1992b, 8-12, 86-97.
25See Laurence 1994, Nappo 1994, Parslow 1990, Zanker 1987, Hoffman 1979, Lauter 1975, and Eschebach
1970.
26For this study's sample only the House of Menander sondages are relevant (Ling 1983); but see also
Laurence 1994, 4; Richardson 1991, 1988; Sogliano 1937; Maiuri 1973.
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