Archaeology Magazine — March-April 2018

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E

vidence continues to reveal much about the quality of life

of the residents of ancient Pompeii. The city created an

intricate and robust system for the local production of food

and wine. Researchers have long been aware of frescoes, found

in many surviving houses and villas, depicting plants and the

pleasure of eating and drinking. Remains of triclinia, or dining

rooms, and of food stalls, bakeries, and shops selling the fish

sauce garum are abundant.

Garden archaeology as a discipline was pioneered in Pompeii

in the 1950 s when archaeologist Wilhelmina Jashemski began to

excavate areas between the remaining structures. She discovered

that homeowners planted flowers, dietary staples, and even

small vineyards. “From the oldest type of domestic vegetable

garden, the hortus, to ornate temple gardens,” explains Betty Jo

Mayeske, director of the Pompeii Food and Wine Project, “you

see evidence of cultivation in nearly every available space in

Pompeii.” It appears that both grain and grapes were grown in

small, local contexts. “There was a bakery on practically every

single corner and the mills were there too, as well as a counter

room and large ovens,” she says. “The whole production process

took place there, and there are also several similar examples of

small-scale vineyards.” One of Jashemski’s innovations was to

apply the practice of making molds of the dead, known since

the 1860 s, to making molds of individual plants. “Casting had

been done in cement and plaster on human remains for years,”

Mayeske says, “but Jashemski used that technology to cast the

plants’ roots, which helped definitively identify all of these

gardens and vineyards.” —Marley brown n

FOOD AND WINE GARDENS

Pompeii, Italy

Fresco, House of the Centaur, Pompeii, 1st century a.d.

Rake, 1st century a.d.

Carbonized bread, 1st century a.d.