Field Campaign 2001
Prof Anne-Marie Leander Touati, SU: project director
Dr Phil Margareta Staub Gierow, SU, stationed at Archäologisches Institut, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg: field director
Doc Arja Karivieri, SU: field director
FK Henrik Boman, GU: archaeologist
FK Monica Nilsson, GU: archaeologist
FK Renée Forsell, LU: archaeologist
FK Ezequiel Pinto-Guillaume: architectural drawings, ceramics specialist and chief finds illustrator
Agneta Freccero, conservator: plaster analysis
Carin Pettersson, conservator: plaster analysis, assistant
Richard Holmgren, UU: draughtsperson
FK Emanuel Savini, SU: total station survey
FK Maria Johansson, GU: total station survey
FM Thomas Staub, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg: logistics
Dr Phil Kurt Wallat, consultant specialist on Pompeiian masonry
Michel Hagedorn, GU: assistant
Daniel Högberg, UU: assistant
Berit Kaussel, GU: assistant
Lena Kristensson, GU: trainee
Ann Johansson, volunteer
Henrik Prohászka, volunteer
Åke von Matérn, volunteer: architect
Abstract:
Work continued in Casa degli Epigrammi greci (V 1,18) and the Annex of Casa di Caecilius Iucundus (V 1,23) under the direction of Margareta Staub Gierow and Arja Karivieri respectively. New undertakings this year were the study of Building complex V 1,21-22 by Henrik Boman and Monica Nilsson, the documentation of Casa di Caecilius Iucundus (V 1,26) under the responsibility of Arja Karivieri, and an elevation map of the whole insula and its buildings by Maria Johansson. The project has now attracted the attention of Swedish media and reporters were received on site.
Work in Casa degli Epigrammi greci (V 1,18)
Staub Gierow continued her study of masonry and decorations in the western part of the building and in the northern and western porticoes of the peristyle. The room complex in the eastern part, i.e. rooms s, t, z, u, v and x (kitchen, latrina, storage space and rooms of yet unknown function) were cleaned, mostly by the help of Boman, Högberg and Staub, and then photographed. It would appear that parts of these economy quarters were never completely excavated down to the level of AD 79 nor were they well documented; numerous unknown details were revealed and will no doubt contribute to the understanding of the building history. Earlier research has stated that Casa degli Epigrammi greci originally constituted two separate houses, although neither convincing arguments nor a suggested date for the merger have been put forward. What rooms belonged to each household and what function they had have not been identified, but an evaluation of this year’s fieldwork may shed light on these matters. Small finds of different types, including toys and utensils, were found during cleaning. Also, remains of what appear to be a vaulted ceiling supported on a bed of reed, "a cannuccia", lay under a layer of pumice and its decoration was partly well preserved.
Freccero, assisted by Pettersson, completed the plaster analyses of Casa degli Epigrammi greci. The work included a review of last year’s results in cooperation with Staub Gierow which led to some corrections of the systems for cataloguing and dating.
Pinto-Guillaume supplemented last year’s architectural drawings, carried out remaining measurements and also worked on the plans and section drawings of the eastern part of the building. Högberg, Kaussel and Prohászka assisted with both manual work and drawing. When floors and thresholds were cleaned for documentation, the occasional small find was discovered, like a coin, a glass bead and a counter, but they all came from contexts that have been excavated earlier and they were probably not found in situ.
Work in Building complex V 1,20-21
Building complex V 1,20-21 was thoroughly studied by Boman and Nilsson. The ancient floor level in all rooms was identified and documented, at least partly for the first time, and a pumice-filled cesspit, "pozzo nero", in room d was discovered and partly excavated. The cistern in the same room was emptied of pumice two metres down and thereby exposing possibly as many as six inlets on two different levels. The room that, among other things, served as kitchen also had a water drain at floor level running from the threshold of room f and continuing through rooms c and a out to the street. The use of room f also included water: the walls were dressed with hydraulic plaster and on the floor is a small channel that runs along the walls. Architecture and water installations suggest that the building was a business establishment of sorts; Boman and Nilsson therefore tried to find architectural parallels of similar industries in other parts of Pompeii and this study will continue next season.
Architectural measurements were taken and plans were drawn by Pinto-Guillaume and Kaussel whereas all walls and floors were documented photographically by the archaeologists.
Work in the Annex of Casa di Caecilius Iucundus (V 1,23)
Karivieri started this campaign with an inspection of last year’s work in House V 1,23. The plans and section drawings executed by Pinto-Guillaume were scrutinized and complemented, and a thorough study, in part supervised by Wallat, of the masonry in all rooms yielded important information on the history of the building. The floors of rooms f and h were partly cleaned after earlier excavation dumps had been removed and the finds – mainly numerous fragments of ceramics and plaster from both floors and walls – were cleaned and described. The finds from last year’s excavations were also processed and organic material, including seeds and small bones, from the cesspit in the backstreet had been retrieved through floatation. Mainly Forsell and Johansson assisted in the retrieval and documentation of finds.
Work in Casa di Caecilius Iucundus (V 1,26)
Architect von Matérn worked with measurements and drawings for autocad with the intention of presenting a threedimensional model of Casa di Caecilius Iucundus. The work is still in progress. In the triclinium and on the northern side of the peristyle, wall decorations are still preserved; Holmgren and Kaussel made 1:1 copies on plastic film to document them in detail.
Other activities
One aspect of the project is to study the insula as an entity and not to simply look at the buildings separately. The first step was to compile an elevation map of all buildings and streets of the insula, an assignment carried out with total station by Johansson under the supervision of Savini and Pinto-Guillaume. After consulting the Soprintendenza and other ongoing archaeological projects in Pompeii, established fix points were chosen for the measurements to proceed from.
Wallat, expert on Pompeiian masonry, lectured on several occasions on ancient masonry techniques and dating criteria while showing examples from all around Pompeii. He was also available as consultant for the project and thoroughly discussed the questions and problems that arose in connection with the work in the insula.
This year there were frequent visits to the insula. Prof. D. Corlàita Scagliarini and Dr A. Coralini of Bologna University, who are working in Casa del Centenario, brought their team for a guided tour of the ongoing work, encouraging a much appreciated discussion between the two teams. A reception was arranged in the insula in connection with the 75th anniversary of the Swedish Institute in Rome. Guests were, among others, Swedish Minister of Education Thomas Östros, Swedish Ambassador to Italy Göran Berg and representatives of both the Board and the Friends of the Swedish Institute in Rome and the Soprintendenza of Pompeii. The editor in chief of the periodical Populär Arkeologi, Birgitta Gustafsson arrived with six volunteers and stayed for two weeks. The result was a four-page article in Populär Arkeologi 19:3, 2001. Sveriges Radio, the Swedish national broadcasting company, sent two reporters who compiled a radio feature with interviews for Vetenskapsradion. Finally, Swedish national television producer Ann Victorin arrived with a cameraman to document most aspects of the fieldwork. Originally intended as a short feature, the result became a programme of its own.
Report: Margareta Staub Gierow
Edited and translated into English by Monica Nilsson