In the summer of 2023, I traveled to Italy to work with Dr. Jordan Rogers on the archaeological project Pompeii 1.14. The project’s title refers to our dig location, an unprepossessing block of shops – block number fourteen – in Pompeii’s Regio 1. Far from the opulent private homes and grand public spaces that have made Pompeii so famous, 1.14 occupied a space in a crowded commercial neighborhood near the south gate of the city. For our team, this is an exciting chance to uncover the story of the non-elite people in Pompeii: shop workers, cooks, travelers, who are so often overlooked.
Run by Dr. Allison Emerson of Tulane University, the Pompeii 1.14 project is both an excavation of the early history of Pompeii and a laboratory for new methods of digital archaeology. We excavated far below the latest phase of the city’s life to find how people lived for 500 years before Vesuvius’ famous eruption. Although it is possibly the most famous archaeological site in the world, only 5% of Pompeii has been excavated below the surface. There is a whole world there waiting to be discovered! As we excavated, we made 3D models of the excavation at every step, recording in digital form the exact appearance, size, and location of the archaeological material. This will allow future researchers to recreate our excavation and ask questions of the data in ways we had not considered.
What was 1.14? A restaurant! At least, that’s how it looked in 79 AD, the last phase of the site’s existence. Multiple large, decorated dining rooms surround a garden area, with adjacent buildings featuring a large kitchen (private homes in Pompeii rarely had their own kitchens) and fast-food counter for serving food to-go. Our excavation work this year expanded that story and deepened it by uncovering the earlier history of the building. Particularly exciting was a large sewage tank uncovered in the suite of rooms adjoining the kitchen, which was full and in-use at the time of the eruption. Our team also discovered the remains of what seem to be basket- and mat-weaving structures; 1.14 was a multi-use space!
Every day on an archaeological site was a new adventure. For, the thrilling thing about archaeology is that you never know just what you are going to find. The material always has ways of surprising you, and then you get to figure out what’s going on. I’ll never forget this summer of hot days, complicated archaeology, and good friends.