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The contribution of the archaeologist
to restoration work on the
Insula Orientalis I at Herculaneum
by Domenico Camardo
The archaeologist’s contribution to planning conservation
work for the Insula Orientalis I at Herculaneum
has been fundamental in order to better define and
understand the monumental complex to be restored.
This insula of the ancient city comprises the House of the
Telephus Relief, the House of the Gem and the House of M.
Pilius Primigenius Granianus. These three buildings stretch
over an area of more than 2,700 square metres, and consist
of around 100 rooms. The insula was excavated by Maiuri between
1934 and 1935; excavations were completed in 1940-41.
Archival research
The first phase of our research was devoted to reconstructing
the excavations through a study of the excavation
and work diaries held at Herculaneum’s Ufficio Scavi. 8 Thanks
to these primary sources, we have been able to reconstruct
the daily progress of excavation and restoration work on
these three houses. Further information was provided by
the documentation relating to work and restoration carried
out in the insula in the Archivio Storico, Archivio Tecnico
and Archivio Corrente belonging to the Soprintendenza Archeologica
di Napoli e Caserta and the Soprintendenza Archeologica
di Pompei. To complete our study, we compiled
a bibliography on the three houses and the objects found
inside them.
This study was accompanied by an exhaustive search
of the Archivio Disegni and Archivio Fotografico belonging
to the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei. Here we
found numerous ground plans and early photographs; combined
with the information provided by the excavation diaries
these allowed us to reconstruct the different phases of
Maiuri’s work.
A good example of this can be seen if we compare the
official plan of the House of the Telephus Relief with a 1930s
ground plan held at the Archivio Disegni at the Soprintendenza
di Pompei. 9
The comparison shows that there are a number of differences
between the two, such as the presence on the current
plan of a door and a step (A on the plan) linking room 35 to
stable 34, both absent in the early plan. Closer examination
revealed that these are later additions, probably intended
to ease visitor access to the “hortus” of this house. The entrance
is simply a breach in the wall, while the step—a simple
8 I would like to thank Prof. Pietro Giovanni Guzzo, Archaeological
Superintendent of Pompeii, who allowed this research to be carried
out, and Dott.ssa Maria Paola Guidobaldi, Director of Excavations at
Herculaneum, for her invaluable advice and support.
9 SAP inventory no. P. 629b.
10 SAP inventory no. C2746 from 1937.
italiano
tuff block unconnected to the building—could not have been
in this position in antiquity. It would have prevented free access
to the stable for the cart housed here, as can easily be
seen from the cart tracks on the threshold where the block
is currently placed.
Herculaneum excavations: plan of the House of the Telephus
Relief (Ins. Or. I. 2-3).
Even more significant is the presence on the old plan of
a wall closing off the eastern edge of the houseís peristyle.
This no longer appears on the current plan, but confirmation
of its existence can be found in an archive photograph of
the peristyle area, 10 where we can clearly see the east opus
reticulatum wall. Through the section of a Bourbon tunnel
we can even make out the eastern perimeter wall of room 12,
which does not appear on either of the two plans.
Photograph of the peristyle of the House of the Telephus Relief
(Ins. Or. I.2-3) during work to repair the tiled floor in 1937 (SAP
Archive ñ C 2746)