Caupona of Amarantus Pompeianus (I.ix.11)

Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Location

Sublocation

Region I

Insula

Insula ix

House

House 11

Garden

I.ix.11

Keywords

Garden Description

The peristyle of this house was built before the earthquake of 62 BC. When the lapilli was removed, excavators found the courtyard filled with amphorae, although its original use as a garden was noted by Jashemski. The British School in Rome returned in the early 1990s to undertake strategraphic excavation of the garden, in tandem with systematic environmental retrieval methods. This investigation revealed that the site was terraced. Fertile soils were then brought in from alluvial areas for cultivation. Marks in the soil profile indicated small scale spade horticulture. Archaeobotanical remains revealed burnt waste from crop cleaning and mineralized latrine contents, both of which are characteristic of fertilizer. However, assemblages of burnt bones and plants indicated small deposits of votive offerings buried in the garden, a significant new finding that may be associated with the lararia found in the houses and gardens. Many of the plant species are those seen in the garden paintings, and, overall, the excavators were able to see in the archaeobotanical record a shift from arable cultivation in the pre-Roman levels to the cultivation of olives, vines and fruit trees.

At the time of the eruption, trees and shrubs grew in the garden, as excavators found root cavities. However, pollen evidence of bracken and weeds suggests that the garden was either overgrown or abandoned, at least from its original purposes.

Plans

Fig. 1: Plan of Pompeii with Region I highlighted, plan in Jashemski, Gardens, p.21

Fig. 2: Plan of Region I, insula ix, plan in Jashemski, *Gardens*, plan 12, p. 44

Dates

Built before 62 BCE

Excavation Date

Early 1990s

Bibliography

Jashemski, Gardens, vol. II, p. 45. (worldcat)
J. Berry, "The Conditions of Domestic Life in Pompeii in AD 79: A Case Study of Houses 11 and 12, Insula 9, Region I." in Papers of the British School at Rome, Vol 65 (1997) pp. 103-125. (worldcat)
M. Fulford, A. Wallace-Hadrill, G. Clark, A. Clarke, H. Eckardt, A. Locker, A. Powell, M. Rendeli, D. Richards, J. Robinson, M.Robinson, J. Timby, "Towards a History of Pre-Roman Pompeii: Excavation beneath the House of Amaranthus" Papers of the British School at Rome 67 (1999): 37-144.
M.A. Robinson, "Wet-sieving and flotation for biological remains" in M. Fulfor and A. Wallace-Hadrill, The House of Amaranthus at Pompeii (1.9.11-12); and interim report on survey and excavation in 1995-6. Rivista di Studi Pompeiani 7 (1995-96): 108-110.
CIL IV.10345 (for amphoras found in the garden February, 1953).
DeVos, "Scavi nuovi sconoscuti (1.9.13)," Meded 38 (1976), pl. 35 (plan).

Gardens of the Roman Empire