Archaeometric analysis was impractical, since we were dealing with over 4,000 pieces of white ples from the counter at VI
Footnote 8
A total of 8,135 panels of stone was documented during the course of this project, 6,047 at Pompeii and 2,088 at Herculaneum. Overall, 50% of these panels were white stones, mostly marble, 20% were grey and 27% polychrome (marble here being defined, as in antiquity, as any stone athletique of taking per polish).
Different varieties of white or grey marbles generally were not distinguished between, except when it was possible preciso do so confidently, as for Mese lunare bardiglio or greco nota. 17.3–4 were analysed using paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy by Donato Attanasio sopra 2005. Footnote 7 All were chosen because they did not look like Satellite marble, which seems onesto be the most common material used at both Pompeii and Herculaneum. The results showed that three were durante fact Mese lunare, while the other two were Pentelic. Analyses performed on marble objects in several Pompeian houses esibizione that a range of white marbles was imported prezzo datehookup into Pompeii, but that, for uses of any substantial testo, Mese lunare was the default material.
Polychrome marbles, mediante contrast, can be identified by eye and the most attested on the caffe counters are cipollino (9% of the total), ambiguita precedente (5%), africano and portasanta (each 4%). Verso range of other imported materials is found durante much smaller quantities, including breccia di Settebasi and pavonazzetto, various alabasters, rossiccio accaduto, pietrisco corallina, ghiaia di Aleppo and fior di pesco. None of these materials could be considered particularly unusual for central Italy per the first century ad . However, several genuinely rare materials are also found on the counters. Eight fragments of Egyptian granites, of which two appear sicuro be of Bekhen stone from Wadi Hammamat, were built into the mescita at V.9–10 con Herculaneum (below, 13). At Pompeii, per large rectangular panel of green-grey granito della sedia di San Lorenzo from Wadi Umm Wikala, was used sopra the face of the bar at VI.10.1/19 (below, 10), and per disc of the black variety of Aswan granite (matita syenites or Thebaicus) was used in the same way at VII.15.5 (below, 12). Footnote 9 These granites are unusual even at Rome per this period, and are absent from domestic contexts per the Vesuvian cities. The scarcity and exoticism of these materials was understood and, as will be demonstrated, they were displayed prominently.
While the range of lithotypes recorded at both Pompeii and Herculaneum is broadly similar, there are noticeable differences in their quantities at the two sites. There is verso striking discrepancy, sopra particular, in the ratio of white, grey and polychrome ple size at the two sites differs, we should be careful not onesto read too much into this, but the extant mescita counters at Herculaneum clearly employed verso far higher proportion of polychrome marbles than is normal at Pompeii. Other slight differences can be noted per terms of the actual marbles attested ( 7). The culmine four polychrome marbles at both sites are cipollino, africano, giallo trascorso and portasanta; but while cipollino dominates at Pompeii, roughly equal quantities of these materials are found at Herculaneum. Mediante actual quantities, the eight caffe counters examined at Herculaneum employ almost the same number of astrusita anteriore pieces as the 49 at Pompeii (212 compared onesto 228), more pietrisco di Settebasi (66 pieces onesto 52) and more alabaster (37 sicuro 21).
Fig
Differences in the quantities and range of materials used can be noted also between individual premises. Most bars use relatively few polychrome panels: on 41 of the 57 bars (72%) they account for less than 30% of all the materials used; and on 31 of these (56% of all the bars) this total was less than 20%. None of these bars had more than 48 pieces of polychrome marble on their counters and most had less than twenty. However, a much smaller number of bars makes considerable use of polychrome marbles. On eight bars (14% of the total), polychrome marbles accounted for over 40% of the materials used (below, 16a). Footnote 10 Six bars, durante fact, four of them at Herculaneum, had more than 100 pieces of polychrome marble on them. Footnote 11