Ante Ostium : contextualizing boundaries in the houses of Pompeii and Herculaneum
Since large-scale excavations began in the mid-19th century, scholarly studies of houses in Pompeii and Herculaneum have emphasized the âsocialâ nature of their design. Most Campanian domĆ"s are viewed as spaces with high levels of transparency and permeability to which non-residents were afforded a certain degree of unregulated access. This theoretical paradigm has developed, however, without consideration for doors, partitions, and other closure systems that controlled visual and physical contact between various parts of the residence. That these structures have largely been ignored by students of Campanian archaeology is surprising, given that boundaries were an incredibly influential element in the ancient cultural landscape, delimiting the social, political, and spatial domains that comprised the Roman world. Indeed, the Latin literary sources reveal that boundaries, both inside the house and out, were often afforded special statusâthey were attended by their own deities and were regularly the focus of ceremonies and rituals. This thesis addresses this oversight by presenting the results of the Doors of Pompeii and Herculaneum Project, a survey of closure systems and their archaeological vestiges
Lauritsen, Michael Taylor
Roman archaeology ; domestic architecture ; Pompeii ; Herculaneum
Ante Ostium : contextualizing boundaries in the houses of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Since large-scale excavations began in the mid-19th century, scholarly studies of houses in Pompeii and Herculaneum have emphasized the âsocialâ nature of their design. Most Campanian domĆ"s are viewed as spaces with high levels of transparency and permeability to which non-residents were afforded a certain degree of unregulated access. This theoretical paradigm has developed, however, without consideration for doors, partitions, and other closure systems that controlled visual and physical contact between various parts of the residence. That these structures have largely been ignored by students of Campanian archaeology is surprising, given that boundaries were an incredibly influential element in the ancient cultural landscape, delimiting the social, political, and spatial domains that comprised the Roman world. Indeed, the Latin literary sources reveal that boundaries, both inside the house and out, were often afforded special statusâthey were attended by their own deities and were regularly the focus of ceremonies and rituals. This thesis addresses this oversight by presenting the results of the Doors of Pompeii and Herculaneum Project, a survey of closure systems and their archaeological vestiges
contextualizing boundary house pompeii since large_scale excavation begin scholarly study house pompeii emphasize social nature design campanian view space high_level transparency non afford certain_degree access theoretical paradigm develop however without consideration door partition closure system control visual physical contact various part residence structure largely_ignored student campanian archaeology surprising give boundary influential element ancient cultural_landscape delimit social_political spatial domain comprise roman_world indeed latin literary_source reveal boundary inside house often afford special status attend deity regularly focus ceremony ritual address oversight present pompeii project survey closure system archaeological