Outer walls
Description
Henrik Boman & Monika Nilsson
Of the outer wall in front of room V 1,14i only the northern end is preserved. In the photo from PPM, there seems to be no standing remains in the southern part (situated above the installation which leads into the cesspit under the sidewalk).
In the listatum wall, there are two bands of brick, alternating with one band of cut stone - tufa in the lower region, but limestone dominating in the upper part of the wall. The bricks are of different sizes, presumably constituting reused material.
The limestone façade of V 1,13 is built of four larger limestone blocks, which to some extent continue into the dividing wall between V 1,14 and V 1,13. The preserved plaster layer on the façade extends over both of these areas so the plaster postdates the construction of the opus listatum wall.
The opus listatum wall projects slightly (c. 0.1 m) over the lava threshold (part IV). This is not taken as an argument for predating the threshold - the listatum wall and the threshold are most likely from the same rebuilding phase. Notable though, is the lack of any cuttings in the threshold for a wooden sill, such as we found at the southern end where the west wall is completely missing.
The plaster still in situ is red to a level of 1.64 m from the pavement, and above this, white (or light grey), i.e. the same colour arrangement as we have seen on the facade of V 1,16. The joint of the two plasters is profiled, with the lower of the two protruding a bit, and the transition smoothed with an angled surface towards the upper white plaster.
The fact that the opus vittatum listatum wall extends over the threshold is, for the moment, the only dating criteria for the threshold, which can be connected to the same phase as the wall. The technique has generally been dated to post-AD 62, though recent studies have brought to light that the use of this technique appeared earlier. We do not connect the rearrangements of the doors to the earthquake in AD 62 and the situation following this event.
We can on a functional basis assume that the installations in the floor along the threshold are connected.
