Emptor e mercator. Spazi e rappresentazioni del commercio romano - convegno di Chieti - 18-19 aprile

A conference about shops, mainly in  Italy, will be held in the University of Chieti next 18th and 19th April 2013.

At least two papers about Pompeii:

• R. Helg , F. Poppi (Università di Bologna)- Le scene di vendita nella pittura di Pompei.
• F. Fagioli (Università di Bologna) - Le abitazioni dei pistores a Pompei: autorappresentazione di un ceto commerciale.

And many others... Complete program available here.

Junk food and bling-bling: the British Museum exhibition for the readers of the Sun

Probably most of you already came across some of the latests articles by Mary Beard on the "Pompeii and Herculaneum" exhibition, this one was published by the Sun just a few days ago (23rd of March):

Wide boys, brothels and lager louts, it's... rompy Pompeii!

I reckon this piece as one further example of Beard's great communicative skills and, having a little experience myself on outreach and public archaeology, I think it successfully makes the wide audience interested in the ancient world (and makes us all talk about it as well!).

I was wondering though, whether the same result could be achieved for the same kind of public with less shiny lure baits or reducing the comparisons with the present cultures. Indeed the most interesting object mentioned in the article is, in my opinion, the statue of Pan making love to a goat. Parallels with that are hard to find these days, but probably they tell more about the ancient world. Can that aspect be explained in an engaging way to a broad public without underselling it? If you have any examples or experience to share, I would be grateful.

Davvero! La Pompei di fine '800 nella pittura di Luigi Bazzani

A new exhibition on Pompeii will open in Bologna in 29 March 2013.

"La Fondazione del Monte presenta, in collaborazione con l'Università di Bologna - Dipartimento di Storia Culture Civiltà, Sezione di Archeologia, un inedito progetto espositivo dedicato alla straordinaria figura dello scenografo e vedutista bolognese Luigi Bazzani (Bologna 1836 - Roma 1927), le cui opere sono conservate in molte prestigiose gallerie in Italia e all'estero: nel Museo Archeologico Nazionale e nella Galleria di Capodimonte a Napoli, nella Galleria di Arte Moderna a Roma, ma anche nel Victoria and Albert Museum di Londra, che acquistò dall’artista oltre cento acquerelli.

La mostra, realizzata con il contributo dell'Istituto Banco di Napoli - Fondazione e con la collaborazione della Soprintendenza dei beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei, sarà ospitata presso la sede bolognese della Fondazione del Monte dal 29 marzo al 26 maggio 2013." ...

Read more here.

BBC Documentaries on Pompeii and Herculaneum

To coincide with the British Museum’s Life and death: Pompeii and Herculaneum exhibition, which opens this week, the BBC is showing two documentaries. The first entitled ‘Pompeii: The Mystery of the People Frozen in Time’ airs on BBC1 this evening at 21:00 is presented by Dr Margaret Mountford and offers a fresh look at the Pompeian victims of the AD79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius.  In the second programme, entitled ‘The Other Pompeii: Life and Death in Herculaneum’ (airing next Monday at 21:10), Prof. Andrew Wallace-Hadrill tells the story of Herculaneum’s victims and also provides an insight into the recent work at the site carried out by the Herculaneum Conservation Project.  Further details can be found on the links below.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rn6c2

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rrld8
 

Book: Mourir à Pompéi : fouille d’un quartier funéraire de la nécropole romaine de Porta Nocera (2003-2007)

L’Ecole française de Rome has the pleasure to inform you of the forthcoming publication of:

Mourir à Pompéi : fouille d’un quartier funéraire de la nécropole romaine de Porta Nocera (2003-2007)
W. Van Andringa, H. Duday, S. Lepetz et al.

Collection de l'École française de Rome, n.468, 2 vol., 1451 p.
ill., depl. b/n e col., ISBN 978-2-7283-0913-9

By using this form, you can order the two volumes at 280 € including shipping (instead of 540 € from 15th May 2013).

Conference: Alberi plurisecolari, il clima, la storia

Seminario Scientifico sul tema 

 

Alberi plurisecolari, il clima, la storia.

La ricerca dendrocronologica applicata in area campana. Esiti recenti, metodologie, nuovi spazi d'indagine. 

 

Amalfi, Biblioteca Comunale, 22 marzo 2013, ore 10.00

Amalfi, Biblioteca Comunale, 22 marzo 2013
PROGRAMMA:
I sessione, ore 10,00 - La dendrocronologia: metodi e risultati

Presiede
Giuseppe GARGANO, Codirettore del Comitato Scientifico del Centro di Cultura e Storia Amalfitana - Consigliere Politico del Presidente della Provincia di Salerno per la Cultura

Interventi:
Giuseppe COBALTO, Presidente del Centro di Cultura e Storia Amalfitana
Indirizzi di saluto ai convenuti

Flavio RUSSO, Consulente Ufficio Storico dell'E.I.
Una società di legno

Erhard PRESSLER, Dendrocronologo e Storico dell'Architettura
La Dendrocronologia, una chiave per la datazione dei beni culturali, descrizione dettagliata di una scienza affascinante.
L' analisi dei 'ceppi lignei' dell'Arsenale della Repubblica di Amalfi

Volker GLÄNDTZER, Dottore di Ricerca in Etnologia Europea
Dendrocronologia e conservazione dei beni culturali: carpenteria lignea nelle chiese romaniche rurali della Frisia orientale

Elda RUSSO ERMOLLI, Palinologa dell'Università "Federico II" di Napoli
Nuovi dati sulla storia della vegetazione in Campania durante l'Olocene

Dibattito


II sessione, ore 16,00 - Studi e progetti dendrocronologici in Europa ed in Campania

Presiede
Aldo CINQUE - Geo-Archeologo, Membro del Comitato Scientifico del Centro di Cultura e Storia Amalfitana

Interventi:
Erhard PRESSLER, Dendrocronologo e Storico dell'Architettura
Analisi dendrocronologiche delle strutture lignee dei grandi fienili nella Francia settentrionale (Granges, Tithe-Barns) e il loro influsso sulla genesi di una tipologia di casa contadina (Gulfhaus) nei Paesi Bassi e in Germania settentrionale

Pia KASTENMEIER, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut Berlin
Le ricerche dendrocronologiche dell'Istituto Archeologico Germanico in Campania e nell'area vesuviana

Domenico CAMARDO, Capo Archeologo Herculaneum Conservation Project
La scoperta e lo studio del tetto in legno della Casa del rilievo di Telefo di Ercolano

Dibattito conclusivo - Proposte programmatiche

Lectures at the BM

For those of you who have not seen it yet--The British Museum is hosting a number of lectures/events related to the Pompeii and Herc exhibit.

http://www.britishmuseumshoponline.org/tickets/lectures/icat/lectures/

http://www.britishmuseumshoponline.org/tickets/films/icat/films/

http://www.britishmuseumshoponline.org/tickets/special-events/icat/specialevents/



Enjoy!

Incontri di archeologia - marzo 2013

Here's a list of the forthcoming events as the Museum of Naples:

Servizio Educativo

INCONTRI DI ARCHEOLOGIA

Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli

Marzo 2013

                                                                   Giovedì 14 marzo 2013 ore 15

                                                                  Vivere nella Pompei sannitica

di Fabrizio Pesando

Giovedì 21 marzo 2013 ore 15

Le antichità nell’editoria napoletana fra Sette e Ottocento

di Vincenzo Trombetta

Giovedì 28 marzo 2013 ore 15

Gli affreschi dalla Villa dei Papiri di Ercolano

di Fiorenza Proto

(Per info e prenotazioni obbligatorie tel. 081 4422273 e 081 4422270)

New on pompeiiinpictures: February 2013

Old photographs of Regions I.1, I.2, I.3, I.5, VI.9.1, Porta Stabia, and the Tombs in front of Porta Stabia have been added from the Tatiana Warscher volumes held in the DAI Rome:-

1936. Codex Topographicus Pompeianus: Regio I.1, I.5, Porta Stabia and Tombs in front of Porta Stabia

1935. Codex Topographicus Pompeianus: Regio I.2.

1935. Codex Topographicus Pompeianus: Regio I.3.

1938. Codex Topographicus Pompeianus: VI.9 Pars Prima.

 

We would like to thank the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut Röm and Dr. Thomas Fröhlich for their kind assistance in making this possible and Michael Binns for his time spent in Rome digitising the books.
      See:      I.1      I.2      I.3      I.5      Porta Stabia      Porta Stabia Tombs

The bakeries and related properties at V.1.14, V.1.15 and V.1.16 and VII.1.36 and VII.1.37 have been updated. Our thanks to Jared Benton for allowing us to use his photographs.
      See      V.1.14      V.1.15      V.1.16      VII.1.36      VII.1.37

Fondo Azzolini Necropolis and Fondo Santilli Necropolis have been added to the tombs. The pages for these are currently very basic and are work in progress, which we hope to update soon. 
      See      Fondo Azzolini Necropolis      Fondo Santilli Necropolis

New categories have been added for Baths, Temples and Villas (which includes the Villa San Marco at Stabiae).
      See      Baths      Temples     Villas      Villa San Marco at Stabiae

The site has new drop down menus that expand automatically to show further links. Long time users will notice the return of the previous, next, up and home buttons in all versions of the site.


all the best
Jackie and Bob at pompeiiinpictures 

Intervista con gli autori di Ercolano, colori da una città sepolta

See this link for an interview in Italian with the authors of "Ercolano, colori da una città sepolta".

Vedete qui per un intervista con gli autori della pubblicazione "Ercolano, colori da una città sepolta".

Book presentation: Ercolano, colori da una città sepolta

Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli

Venerdì 15 marzo 2013 ore 17

Presentazione del volume e inaugurazione della mostra fotografica

ERCOLANO

Colori da una città sepolta

Maria Paola Guidobaldi e Domenico  Esposito

Fotografie

 Luciano Pedicini

Intervengono, introdotti dal Soprintendente Teresa Elena Cinquantaquattro,

Valeria Sampaolo e Fausto Zevi

 

SANP Press release

Press release from the SANP:

SCAVI DI POMPEI

UNESCO. SECONDO INCONTRO DI ESPERTI

PRESENTATA LA BOZZA DEL PIANO GESTIONE PER I SITI DI POMPEI, ERCOLANO E TORRE ANNUNZIATA

Martedì 5 marzo 2013 si è tenuto a Pompei il secondo workshop previsto dall’accordo tra Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali e UNESCO per l’individuazione di un sistema di gestione efficace per la tutela e la valorizzazione dei beni archeologici.

Nell’incontro odierno è stata presentata la bozza del piano di gestione per le aree archeologiche di Pompei, Ercolano e Torre Annunziata in cui sono definiti gli obiettivi strategici e i metodi di attuazione attraverso una serie di azioni specifiche che comprendono la mitigazione dei rischi, l’elaborazione delle linee guida per la conservazione e il restauro, il coinvolgimento delle comunità nella costruzione di un rapporto condiviso ai fini di uno sviluppo sostenibile.

Al workshop sono intervenuti il Direttore Generale per le Antichità Luigi Malnati, il Direttore Regionale per i Beni Culturali e Paesaggistici della Campania, Gregorio Angelini; il Soprintendente Archeologo di Pompei Teresa Elena Cinquantaquattro, il Direttore Generale dell’ICCROM Stefano De Caro, i rappresentanti UNESCO, il presidente ICOMOS Italia Maurizio de Stefano, i sindaci di Pompei, Ercolano e Torre Annunziata, i rappresentanti delle istituzioni laiche e religiose del territorio e dell’associazionismo locale; il direttore dell’Herculaneum Conservation Project Andrew Wallace Hadrill, Stefano Baia Curioni del Dipartimento di Analisi delle Politiche e Management Pubblico dell’Università Bocconi, Paolo di Nola di INVITALIA, il direttore dell’International Centre of Studies on the Tourist Economy Mara Manente, il direttore di FONDACA Emma Amiconi, Alessio Re dell’Istituto Superiore su Sistemi Territoriali per l’innovazione.

UFFICIO STAMPA

Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei

Via Villa dei Misteri, 2

80045 Pompei NA

Tel. 081.8575327

www.pompeiisites.org

Life and Death in Pompeii: The Telegraph news coverage

A round-up of the most recent Telegraph news stories in advance of the upcoming British Museum exhibition Life and Death in Pompeii as well as a free iBook!

Pompeii exhibition: 50 shades of Pompeii?
Pompeii exhibition: a timeline of Pompeii and Herculaneum
New today: Pompeii exhibition: Mary Beard on life in Pompeii and Herculaneum
The FREE iBook (possibly only in the UK, but give it a go): The Treasures of Pompeii & Herculaneum
by Mary Beard, Alastair Smart, Joanne Berry, Alex Butterworth, Ray Laurence, Bee Wilson, Tim Auld & Andrew Wallace-Hadrill

Conference at the BSR - Fuel and Fire in the Ancient Roman World

Next weekend, March 8th-9th, the British School at Rome will host the international conference "Fuel and Fire in the Ancient Roman World", organised by Robyn Veal and Victoria Leitch.

Please find below the complete program and the abstracts of the three talks on fuel in Pompeii.

Fuel and Fire in the Ancient Roman World

DAY 1 (Friday, 8^th March, BSR) Sainsbury lecture theatre

9.00-9.10 Welcome and opening remarks: Joanna Kostylo, Asst Director, BSR, introduces RV

SESSION 1:  SCIENCE and HISTORY OF FUEL

Chair: Robyn Veal

9.15-9.55 Robyn Veal (University of Cambridge) The history and science of fire and fuel in the Roman Empire.

9.55-10.35 Hilary Cool, (Barbican Research Associates, UK) Glass and Fuel.

10.35-11.00  Coffee break

11.00-11.40 Laura Banducci (University of Michigan, USA) Burning and flaking? Using fire damage on Roman cooking pots to assess cooking methods.

11.40-12.20 Tony Rook (Independent researcher) The problems in estimating the fuel consumption of buildings, especially ones heated by hypocausts.

12.30-14.00 LUNCH 

SESSION 2: FUEL USE in KILN TECHNOLOGIES 

Chairs: Archer Martin, American Academy in Rome and Victoria Leitch

14.00-14.40 Victoria Leitch (University of Leicester, Research Associate) Fuelling Roman pottery kilns in Britain and Norht Africa: climatic, economic and traditional strategies. 

14.40- 15.40 Archer Martin and Heike Möeller: Fueling Kilns in a Wood-Poor Environment. A combined paper on traditional workshops in the Egyptian Delta (Martin) and the Marmarica Survey in NW Egypt  (Möeller).  

15.40 – 16.10 Coffee break

16.10-16.50 Mohamed Kenawi (University of Alexandria).  Continuity of production: Fine ware kilns in Fayoum and the rebirth of ancient forms/techniques (an ethnographic approach)

16.50-17.30 Girolamo Fiorentini (jointly with Primavera M., Stellati A): (Professor of Archaeobotany, University of Salento, Lecce) Fuel for work: metal and lime kilns in ancient southern Italy 

17.30-18.30  Open discussion chaired by Jim Ball.  Major discussants: William Harris (Columbia), Andrew Wilson (Oxford) and Archer Martin (American Academy in Rome)

19.00 Rinfresco all participants and visitors Cortile, BSR

20.00 Dinner BSR (including non-resident participants) Partners welcome (included in BSR tariff if resident)

DAY 2 (Saturday 9^th March) VILLA LANTE, Finnish Institute of Rome, Gianicolo

9.20 Opening remarks Day 2: Direttrice Villa Lante, Katariina Mustakallio 

9.30 SESSION 4: FUEL and the URBAN ECONOMY

Chair: William Harris  (Introduced by KM)

9.30-10.10 Ferdinando de Simone (University of Oxford). The fuel supply as a key component of complex economic systems. 

10.10-10.50 David Griffiths (Leicester) Commercialisation of the night in ancient Pompeii.

10.50-11.20 Coffee break

11.20-12.00  Sylvie Coubray (INRAP/ MNHN, UMR 7209 AASPE), Véronique Zech-Matterne (CNRS/MNHN UMR 7209 AASPE), Nicolas Monteix (Université de Rouen)

Of olives and wood. Baking bread in Pompeii.  

12.00-13.00 Discussion, synthesis, and concluding remarks: Jim Ball (Commonwealth Forestry Association) and Prof Andrew Wilson (Oxford) 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fuel supply as a key component of complex economic systems

GirolamoFerdinando De Simone

This paper aims to provide some insights on the role played by fuel (both wood and agricultural waste) in the economy of Roman cities and their countryside. In particular, it investigates whether villas and cities of ancient southern Campania were self-sufficient in the provision of fuel required for their daily needs.

Buried by two eruptions in AD 79 and 472, the environs of Vesuvius provide high-resolution data – extant remains of ploughing furrows, trees in quincunx formation, and piles of olive pomace – which are here used to create a comprehensive picture of land exploitation. The idea of a self-sufficient villa as promoted by ancient authors is tested against the archaeological record, i.e. the actual size of the estates and the percentage devoted to vineyards, orchards, and wood in them. Furthermore, in order to understand whether the tree species commonly used as fuel were a local or an imported resource, charcoal assemblages are compared with the carbonised leaves found in the volcanic ashes.

In the last part, the paper focuses on the problem of interdependency between city and countryside, Vesuvian plains and the Apennines.

Commercialisation of the Night in Ancient Pompeii

David Griffiths

The uniquely human activity of consuming artificial light has received little attention in studies of pre-industrial societies. The Roman period witnessed significant levels of urbanisation and economic growth, consuming light on a scale never seen before. This paper forms part of a broader study assessing the social and economic significance of the consumption of artificial light, testing the hypothesis that a reliable and affordable supply of fuel and lighting equipment was a major constituent in Roman urban living. In the ancient world, the cost of food (for the majority) as a relative proportion of personal expenditure was substantial; the consumption of foodstuffs for non-dietary requirements had significant social and economic implications.

This paper focuses on the commercialisation of the night at Pompeii, addressing four aspects of the economy directly related to nocturnal activities:

1. The agrarian economy (lamp fuel - olive cultivation, pressing and transportation);
2. the urban economy (specifically nocturnal commercial activities);
3. household consumption (lamp fuel and lighting equipment), and
4. the production of lighting equipment (craft specialisation and high-status objects).

Nocturnal activities are structured by access to artificial light; it changes the lives of people, effecting behaviour and perceptions of objects, space and time. The cultural choice to use food (e.g. olive oil and animal fats) as lamp fuel suggests a desire or necessity to extend the day, influencing architectural proportions, decoration, and the organisation and use of space. The ability to continue human activity, especially in a commercial setting, once the sun has set, depends on access to artificial light. It extends the working day, increasing income potential without the need for structural expansion. The dynamic nature of the ancient city had a significant number of opportunities for financial transactions, providing a focus for local and regional populations to trade and exchange goods and services. Economic activity continued once the sun had set, facilitated by the provision of artificial light through oil lamps, torches, lanterns, and fire baskets. Extension of the day for commercial activity, especially to maximise the financial benefits of market days or religious festivals, must have generated enough income to outweigh the cost of lamp fuel and lighting equipment.

The commercialisation of the night was only possible through an affordable and reliable supply of lamp fuel and lighting equipment, facilitating the desire of the inhabitants of Roman towns to extend the day, whether for domestic, commercial, leisure, or religious activities.

Of olives and wood. Baking bread in Pompeii

Sylvie Coubray, Véronique ZECH-Matterne, Nicolas Monteix

For the last five years, an archaeological research program has been interested in excavating and studying the thirty-seven known bakeries in Pompeii, would they be for a domestic or a commercial production. In three of them (I 12, 1‑2; VII 1, 25.46‑47; IX 3, 19‑20), stratigraphical excavations were performed, allowing to understand the evolution of these productive units. Systematic sampling was carried out in three bakeries, especially in the milling rooms, on soil levels in use while bread was produced, and nearby the ovens, for a total amount of 1.3 tons of sediment. During sieving and sorting, lots of carbonised olive stones (99% of the plant remains) and charcoal fragments were recovered. Heaps of olive stones and stone fragments were also found in rubbish pits, just beneath the ovens, in bakeries I 12, 1‑2 and VII 1, 25-46‑47. Among the wide wood spectrum reconstructed from charcoal analysis, beech (Fagus sylvatica) appears predominant.

The analysis of those fuel remnants allows us to understand and to specify the way that bread ovens were running in the 1^st century CE Pompeii but raises also many questions whose answers should help in revisiting links between an urban centre such as Pompeii and its hinterland. Was the use of olive oil extraction refuses a common way to get cheap and easy-to-obtain fuel for bakeries, or an adaptation to peculiar circumstances (e.g. wood shortage), or even a technical prerequisite? How was the fuel supply organized? Is it possible to trace an evolution in fuel collecting practises or to highlight differences between domestic and public settings in the city of Pompeii?