House of the Surgeon, Pompeii

Excavations in the Casa del Chirurgo (VI 1, 9-10.23)

Michael Anderson, Damian Robinson, Michael Anderson, Damian Robinson

• Publisher: Oxbow Books
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781785707292
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Archaeology
• Index: Social Sciences

The House of the Surgeon represents the first major publication of an important series of excavations undertaken by the Anglo-American Project in Pompeii (1994-2006) at the ancient city of Pompeii in a city block known as Insula VI 1. This is one of the largest, most comprehensive, and most important sub-surface, pre-79 AD excavations ever to have been undertaken at Pompeii. The methodology employed to the systematic examination of an entire city block, involving extensive artefact and ecofact recovery, using the latest scientific methods, has generated one of the single largest bodies of archaeological data ever produced on the development of ancient Pompeii, from the earliest traces of human habitation until its destruction. The first major section of this data is now made available in form of a study of the most famous and prominent of the houses on the block. The Casa del Chirurgo (House of the Surgeon) has been one of the most frequently cited houses in the ancient city since its discovery in 1771. The results of the exhaustive study of the house within its urban context not only challenge many of the conclusions of previous research, but also make it possible at last for this important property to contribute information to the full history of Pompeii's urban development, illuminating the chronology of urban change, the processes involved in ancient domestic construction, aspects of the ancient environment, and changing socio-political and economic conditions within Italy throughout the middle to late Republic and early Empire.The House of the Surgeon represents the first major publication of an important series of excavations undertaken by the Anglo-American Project in Pompeii (1994-2006) at Pompeii in a city block known as Insula VI 1. This is one of the largest, most comprehensive, and most important sub-surface, pre-79 AD excavations ever to have been undertaken at Pompeii. The methodology employed has generated one of the single largest bodies of archaeological data ever produced on the development of ancient Pompeii, from the earliest traces of human habitation until its destruction. The first major section of this data is now made available in form of a study of the most famous and prominent of the houses on the block. The results of the exhaustive study of the Casa del Chirurgo (House of the Surgeon) within its urban context not only challenge many of the conclusions of previous research, but also make it possible to contribute information to the history of Pompeii's urban development, illuminating the chronology of urban change, the processes involved in domestic construction, aspects of the environment, and changing socio-political and economic conditions within Italy throughout the middle to late Republic and early Empire.

1

POMPEII’S INSULA VI 1 AND THE CASA DEL CHIRURGO

Michael A. Anderson and Damian Robinson

Introduction

This volume was planned as one of a series to present the results of the archaeological excavations and architectural surveys conducted at Pompeii (Fig. 1.1) in a city block known as Insula VI 1, which took place over a period of 13 years from 1994 to 2006. The triangular-shaped insula lies in the north-west sector of the city immediately inside the Porta Ercolano (Fig. 1.2). Its north-western edge is formed by the city wall and its eastern alignment coordinated with the roughly orthogonal layout of Regio VI. On the south-west it is bounded by a main road – the Via Consolare – onto which most of the properties had their primary entrances in AD 79. On the east of the block, the narrower Vicolo di Narciso provided access to the rear of the properties, and in combination with the direction of the primary street, produced the insula’s distinctive triangular shape (Fig. 1.3).

This is one of the highest points of elevation in Pompeii. The road from Herculaneum, here called the Via dei Sepolcri, climbs an incline from the Villa dei Misteri, past the tombs and villas that cluster on each side of the Porta Ercolano. It thereafter descends towards the centre of the town (Fig. 1.2) and past Insula VI 1 as the Via Consolare.

Figure 1.1. Location of Pompeii on the Bay of Naples, Italy, indicating approximate location of ancient roads and hypothetical centuriation, after Talbert 2000.

Figure 1.2. Overview of the town of Pompeii (© Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei). Insula VI 1 is indicated in dark grey.

Insula VI 1, like the Villa di Diomede, the Villa di Cicerone, and the Porta Ercolano itself, was one of the earliest areas of the city to be excavated. The suburban villas, tombs, and city gate formed one of the two major foci of early Bourbon investigations in Pompeii, which otherwise concentrated on the area of the Temple of Isis and the so-called Theatre district in the south-west of the city.1 Unlike most previous explorations, during these excavations the areas cleared were generally left exposed rather than being backfilled after their finds had been removed. The insula has thus been exposed since the 1760–70s and has consequently experienced more than a quarter of a millennium of dilapidations caused by the early excavators, the weather, tourists, and bombs dropped by the Allies in 1943.2 Though now it attracts little attention from visitors walking past it en route to see the tombs and the Villa dei Misteri, for early visitors it was an important destination, made all the more impressive since this was one of the first urban blocks to be encountered after entering the site from the old entrance at the base of the Via dei Sepolcri. The Marquis de Sade, for instance, visiting in the first half of 1776 noted approvingly of the area,

‘Là, s’offrent jusqu’à la hauteur des premiers étages, plusiers maisons de particuliers, singulièrement bien conservées et dans lesquelles se voient des fresques dont la fraîcheur étonne.’3

At the time of the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, the properties that occupied the insula served a variety of purposes, including an inn, bars, shops, a shrine, and two houses. One of the largest houses in Pompeii, the Casa delle Vestali, occupies much of the northern area. The smaller Casa del Chirurgo lies to the south. As the latter has played an important role in scholarly discussions of the chronology of the city and its urban development and a central role in the history of the so-called ‘Roman atrium house,’ it has been chosen as the subject of this first report to present the detailed results of the excavations in Insula VI 1.

Since this was intended to be the first volume in a series, the first part of the book contains introductory matter relevant to the whole insula. The rest of this chapter deals with general matters such as the divisions within the insula and the early work that has taken place in it. Chapter 2 provides a history of the excavations undertaken by the University of Bradford and the philosophy that underpinned them. The introductory matter about the Casa del Chirurgo itself and an overview of its long history of scholarship will be found in Chapter 3. This is followed by a synthetic narrative presenting the complete archaeological history of the property, from the earliest human activities through the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD and down to the present day in Chapter 4. Detailed room-by-room stratigraphic data for each excavated area are to be found in Chapter 5. Following this are a series of chapters presenting specialist studies of the excavated material, each written by the specialists responsible for the primary analysis of this material. Chapter 6 (Hilary Cool) considers glass vessels and small finds, which is an accompaniment to her full insula catalogue published elsewhere.4 Chapter 7 (Richard Hobbs) examines the coins from the Casa del Chirurgo, in light of his published analysis of the complete coin assemblage from the insula.5 Chapter 8 (Helen White) presents the results of the study of plaster fragments from the AD 79 decoration recovered in a collapsed cistern in the atrium of the house, and Chapter 9 (Will Wootton) presents the study and analysis of the house’s preserved pavements. Following this are a series of short chapters dedicated to the analysis of the ecofactual remains recovered. Chapter 10 (Jane Richardson), examines the animal bone, and is followed by chapters on the macrobotanical remains (Chapter 11, Charlene Murphy), and the charcoal remains as indicators of ancient fuel use and economy (Chapter 12, Robyn Veal). These are followed by synthesis and general conclusions regarding the Campanian environment (Chapter 13, Robyn Veal and Charlene Murphy). Overall conclusions follow in Chapter 14 (Anderson).

Figure 1.3. The area of Insula VI 1, with major properties and streets labelled.

Figure 1.4. Plan of Insula VI 1 indicating Fiorelli’s door numbers and AAPP Plot numbers referenced throughout the text.

Though it would normally be expected, unfortunately it has not been possible to include an analysis of the pottery from the Casa del Chirurgo in the present volume. The full report on this material, by David Griffiths and Gary Forster, is in progress and will follow. The chronological sequence presented here has been secured through dating from coins, the presence of datable glass finds, and with reference to the preliminary spot-dates and working dates assigned to some strata during fieldwork and during the early stages of the post-excavation publication, which will be cited in the footnotes where available.

The layout of the insula

Our excavations have demonstrated that the use of the space within the insula continually changed over time, but it will be appropriate at the outset to summarise the standing remains as they survived from AD 79 and in the terms with wh...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• CONTENTS
• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• Foreword: The Old Certainties are Crumbling: Rick Jones
• 1. Pompeii’s Insula VI 1 and the Casa del Chirurgo: Michael A. Anderson and Damian Robinson
• 2. The Anglo-American Project in Pompeii: Damian Robinson, Michael A. Anderson, H.E.M. Cool, Robyn Veal, and Charlene Murphy
• 3. Digging the Casa del Chirurgo: Michael A. Anderson and Damian Robinson
• 4. The Stratigraphic and Structural Sequence of the Casa del Chirurgo: Michael A. Anderson and Damian Robinson
• 5. Room by Room Discussion of Stratigraphy and Architecture: Michael A. Anderson and Damian Robinson
• 6. Glass Vessels and Small Finds: H. E. M. Cool
• 7. Report on the Coinage Recovered from the AAPP Excavations in the Casa del Chirurgo: Richard Hobbs
• 8. Plaster Fragments from the Cisterns of the Casa del Chirurgo: a window onto the house’s lost decoration: Helen White
• 9. Pavements of Mortar, Mosaic and Marble Inlay: Will Wootton
• 10. The Faunal Remains: Jane Richardson
• 11. Archaeobotanical Remains: Charlene Murphy
• 12. Fuel and Timber in the Casa del Chirurgo: Robyn Veal
• 13. The Ancient Campanian Environment and Results from the Casa del Chirurgo: Robyn Veal and Charlene Murphy
• 14 Conclusions: Michael A. Anderson
• Appendix I: Stratigraphic Unit Listing and Chapter 5 Concordance
• Appendix II: Harris Matrices for Areas Excavated
• Bibliography