Archeological Remains Flashcards
where are they in P and H? what do they provide?
Pompeii: unearthed below 4m of pumice, ash and other volcanic debris at
Herculaneum: under 20m of solidified volcanic material
provide insight/evidence for life in these Vesuvian towns during the 1st century D.
Quote to provide evidence of lack of documentation of artfeacts?
Andrew Wallace Hadrill - “ Each gen. discovers with horror the extent which info has been ignored, neglected, destroyed and left unreported and unpublished”
Public and Private Architectural Structures and Spaces
- survived the AD 79 eruption
- public buildings: walls/gates, fountains, temples, the forum, bathhouses, latrines, ampitheatre and paleastra
- private buildings: town houses, villas, shops, tavern/inns, workshops: brothels, tombs
Formal Inscriptions on?
stone, marble, bronze
what types of formal inscriptions are there?
- civic charters/regulations on bronze plates fixed to walls of public buildings.
- dedications by wealthy citizens, social duty to provide buildings and festivals, support imperial cult.
- > commemorative plaques found in prominent positions within city: public buildings, temples and pedestals for statues around forum e.g. Marcus Porcius who paid for ampitheatre - funery inscriptions found on tombs lining both sides of road outside H Gate in Pompeii.
What can historians learn form the formal inscriptions?
who prominent fam were in various periods, structure of gov., main political players, when buildings constructed/renovated, economic/social/political transformations in society, esp. in AD 1st C.
What do Public notices and graffiti refer to?
activities and events in years immediately preceding the eruption of AD79.
Public Notices: how written?
brush in red/black on whitewashed walls outside house or on buildings at person’s disposal
painted themselves or hired professional scribers at night
Public Notices: 3 types?
- Electoral posters (progammata) - urged citizens to vote for partic. politcal candidate. -> signed by fam, friends, clients, women,
- Programs announce shows coming to ampitheatre (edicta munerum) (important as electoral posters) local magistrates - editores munerum - responsible for paying gladiatorial shows/spectacles= popularity boost
- notices for property sales and rentals, also painted on city walls, e.g. Julia Felix before eruption advertised part of her property for rent.
Graffiti: what is it?
inscriptions/drawings scratched into surface of any avail. walls.
Graffiti: P dedicated to Venus?
graffiti concerning love, devotion, jealousy, bitterness, sexual frustration scattered across city.
Graffiti: what is the most common type?
greatest amt related to gladiators, adored by Pompeian women, and gladiatorial spectacles = concentrated near ampitheatre.
Graffiti: most explicit found in?
brothels, baths and public latrines
Graffiti: What was it used for?
- businesses promote their services, with customers not hesitating to responding/expressing their opinion.
- comments about drinking and gambling
- random declarations offering political opinions everywhere, angrier ones concentrated around basilica in P where justice, trials and business activities carried out. e.g. ‘Samius to Cornelius: go hang yourself’
- express deepest opinions, feelings, gossip, threaten enemy, advertise.
Graffiti: What did ppl at time think of them?
writing on wall widespread. Ppl at time believed it to be ‘trash’/nonsense but today, invaluable source of info bout inhabitant of roman towns.
Wax Tablets and rolls of Papyri: What has been found at Pompeii?
2 bundles of wooden tablets coated with wax excavated at P, revealing business transactions of banker, Caecilius Jucundus and 2 merchants.
Wax Tablets and rolls of Papyri: what do H ones reveal?
H tablets reveal legal status of freedmen, rel/ships between neighbours, family structure, quarrels over salves and between land owners.
Wax Tablets and rolls of Papyri: What was found at Villa of Papyri?
just outside H, found 1800 fragile rolls of carbonised papyri, a library of writings of Epicurean philosophy. greek Philodemus believed to have written most it.
Due to charred condition, international Philodemus Project allowed it to be read. Multi-spectral imaging and digital tech, possibly to isolate writing form charred background.
Frescoes: where is it found?
at all levels of society = elaborate mythological paintings in wealthy houses to simple thin lines of colour/geometric patterns in houses of lower social status.
areas isolated form public views, e.g. kitchen, had not paintings.
on walls, columns, nymphaeum, vaulted roofs of baths
Frescoes: feature of style of painting that some houses/villas had?
megalography (larger than life figures extending all over walls) e.g. found in Villa of Mysteries, just outside P.
Frescoes: what has the study of frescoes lead to?
in past 20yrs, study of them has expanded to reveal more complex and interesting purpose behind use of decoration in Pompeian houses.
evidence of religious beliefs, food and domestic practices
Mosaics: What use to make them?
used thousands of tesserae or tiny chips of coloured glass, stone or pottery.
Mosaics: What can be seen on floors of building in P and H?
geometric shapes and figurative elements (B&W)
Mosaics: what is the most famous coloured one and where?
in House of Faun, featuring copy of Hellenistic composition of Alexander the Great fighting Darius at Battle of Issus.
Decorative Garden and Household Furnishing: what has been found in P and H?
sculptures in bronze and marble found in homes of P and H, copied from Classical and hellenistic prototypes.
Garden displaying gods, such as Bacchus, hermes.
Decorative Garden and Household Furnishing: what was used to show status?
decorations such as silver and fine ceramic ware. Antique pieces partic. sought after, such as silver plate among treasure of house of Meanders -> gold and silver jewellery/coins
Popular Painting: where is it found?
on exterior walls or trade signs, reveal whole range of human activities such as scene of diff phases of production of wools,
Popular Painting: why is ordinariness of objects found important?
valuable to build picture of daily life, e.g. lararium and pot in kitchen
Statues: what is common material used to make them
bronze and marble
Statues: what were all public buildings decorated with? in private homes?
profusion of statues varying artistic value. Some statues commemorative, other depicted illustrious citizens.
private homes depicted gods, copied greek masterpieces, athletes, ladies and busts.
Statues: what was it used for?
garden ornamentation or tomb decoration
Human, animal and plant remains: What has been found?
- human skeletons remains from beach at H
- disarticulated bones, and plaster and resin casts from P
- remains of horses and mules in stables, dogs some still chained at entrance of house, a goat in celler = reveal domestic animal uses
- root cavities of large ornamental trees, vines and fruit trees, carbonised seeds, plants and pollen
Human, animal and plant remains: organic artefacts?
plants, fabrics, wooden furniture and wooden parts of buildings carbonised found at H.
Human, animal and plant remains: skeletons at H on beach and why well preserved?
Before discovery of skeletons on beach at H, fewer bodies found than P with 500 corpses.
found in row of chamber built into retaining wall of harbour.
well preserved due to 20m thick layer of moist volcanic material that accumulated over town.
Human, animal and plant remains: bones and casts from P?
very few intact skeletons as destroyed in early years of excavations, approx. skeletons of both men and women. fewer bones of children
Human, animal and plant remains: what can historians deduce from bones and casts in P?
sex, age, appearance, height, occupation, status, cause of death.
“Unlike the bones, the casts contains evidence of the whole person” - Estelle Lazar
Human, animal and plant remains: plant remains how many identified? what discovered?
184
presence of vineyards and olive trees in P, show diff light on its economy and rel/ship between town and country side.
Human, animal and plant remains: how much of P was used for cultivation of crops?
10%
Human, animal and plant remains: what do study of plant remains contribute to?
clearer pic of produce and ornamental gardens in p, as well as many of timbers used in doors/furnitures.
Able to recreate some of garden in finer residences and large vineyard near ampitheatre.
