South Wall

A. Karivieri & R. Forsell

Located between room s and r.

DESCRIPTION

The wall was built in opus incertum and consists of Sarno limestone, cruma, lava, grey tufa, bricks and terracotta, lots of spolia of cocciopesto; one similar semicircular cocciopesto-lavapesta piece of half column drum as in W wall of room t; one piece of red cocciopesto floor with white tesserae in curving line, and a couple of pieces of grey metamorphous stones. The E part has been reconstructed from the height of 1.80 m to ca 3.55 m and there is reinforcement in the lower part of the wall.

There is a door opening in the W corner where the E doorpost is built in opus quadratum, with grey tufa blocks alternating with bricks in the upper part and two round limestone column drums in the lowermost part. Wall-plaster covers the lower part of the wall. Parts of the dado are preserved and visible in the E part and in the centre. The plaster declines towards the west, it has slipped towards the floor, 40 cm in the SE corner and 46 cm in the centre of the wall. In the SE corner it has also moved towards N and covers the S edge of the wall-plaster on the E wall.

The E part of the S door opening is inclining towards west and the door lintel has moved downwards. The E part of the wall was repaired already in antiquity, but no plaster is visible. It seems that reparation of the wall had not been started, since the old plaster was not cut or prepared for a new Unterputz layer.

Wall-plaster
In the E part, parts of the decoration can be discerned; the plaster decoration is badly preserved. The red dado has remains of yellow band at the upper border.
In the centre of the wall, small remains of the red dado can be seen at the floor level, and above it, in the main zone, a dark red line small colour remains of a yellow band and a broader red band marking the panel with a candelabrum can be discerned. A red vertical band frames the main zone in the E corner.

State of preservation
The wall shows heavy damage from the earthquake of AD 62 with declining plaster behind a new pavement.

DOOR OPENING

DESCRIPTION
The E doorpost is built in opus quadratum mixtum with grey tufa and limestone blocks alternating with bricks in the upper part, in the lower part there are two limestone column drums. Some tufa blocks have diagonal cutting on the surface. W doorpost consists of opus incertum wall with limestone, bricks, and mostly spolia in the upper parts.  Wall-plaster: there are only remains of Unterputz left at the doorposts.

E doorpost seems to have had a frame, ca 20 cm wide. W doorpost had a frame in the W wall, ca 37-38 cm wide. There are no remains of a threshold; instead, the lavapesta floor continues to room r. The S wall  with the S doorpost shrunk through the floor ca 33-35 cm because of the earthquake AD 62 and now the floor at the door opening is covered by a lavapesto floor.

State of preservation
The upper part is reconstructed to support the modern roof and the wooden lintel was replaced after 2004.

MEASUREMENTS
Height: 1.62 m. Width: 72 cm - lower part 85 cm. Depth:  ca 30 cm.
The upper column drum in the E doorpost: 20 cm high and ca 30 cm diameter.