Upcoming Talks

Just a quick note for interested parties: I will be giving a pair of talks summarizing the results of the Doors of Pompeii and Herculaneum Project over the course of next month. The first, entitled "Crossing the Threshold: Patterns of Movement in Roman Houses," will be delivered at the Public and Private in the Roman House Conference, which is being held in Helsinki at the end of next week. Full conference details (including a schedule of papers) are available here. 

The second paper will be given on May 7th at the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne as part of the School of History, Classics and Archaeology's seminar series. It is called "Rebuilding Boundaries in the Pompeian House: Towards a Functional Interpretation of Domestic Space." Full details, including time and location will be forthcoming on the school website.

Panoramas and Publications

As it's been nearly 10 months since I last posted to the blog, a quick update seems a bit overdue. Most of the time since last March has been spent writing, an activity that is, as it turns out, not particularly conducive to producing exciting project-related events. I am approaching the end of this process, however, and there are a few developments that I would like to pass on to those who might be interested.

The first involves the production of Quicktime and Flash VR panorama images of a number of Pompeian houses. Virtual reality panoramas are an effective way of representing/describing space in classroom and lecture situations and I have often used them in my teaching. Though a number of houses and other structures at Herculaneum have been photographed in this manner by the University of Auckland (see Herculaneum Panoramas), Pompeian dwellings have received less attention. I have only completed a few panoramas so far (taken primarily in the houses that I am currently working on), but I hope to produce a more substantial catalogue when time allows. Below you will find two images from this preliminary set. These are produced in cylindrical format, so they distort towards the top and the bottom. To move the panorama, simply click anywhere on the image and drag the mouse; zoom in and out by rolling the trackball.

Casa di Fabio Amandio (I.7.3)

Casa di Ercole (VI.7.6)

There are also a couple of publication-related updates that I would like to pass along. The Privata Luxuria volume (ed. A. Anguissola), which includes my paper The Form and Function of Boundaries in the Campanian House, will be published at the beginning of February. It will be available for purchase here.

In addition, I have recently written a review of the excellent Pompeii: Art, Industry, and Infrastructure, edited by E. Poehler, M. Flohr and K. Cole. This was published in the European Journal of Archaeology in December (EJA 15.3, pp. 555-559) and will be made available on my Academia.edu page in the near future, pending copyright allowance.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention another boundary-related publication on the horizon, this being my friend Evan Proudfoot's study of entranceway doors in Pompeian houses, which is due to be published this spring in the proceedings volume for TRAC 2012.

Modeling Menander: Reconstructing Boundaries in the Casa del Menandro at Pompeii

Additional materials for the poster that I am presenting at RAC/TRAC 2012 can be found below, including a much improved video of the Casa del Menandro boundary model. Since the model was originally completed in October, I have added some important architectural features, most noticeably the second storey of the main dining room (this is the facade looming above the peristyle's eastern, or left, ambulatory). I have also increased the resolution significantly and included the boundaries in this version, creating a fly-through that more closely represents the appearance of the house in antiquity (albeit still missing a number of crucial elements). A PDF of the poster itself is available for download here; additional comparative images of the house are also included below.

Atrium and peristyle from fauces

 Atrium, northeast corner

 Peristyle, eastern range

New Year's News and Notes

After another work-filled few months, I think that I've got enough news to justify a blog update. Things that are happening at the moment: 

1. TRAC 2012 Poster: I'm putting together a poster summarizing my work on the Casa del Menandro model for TRAC 2012 in Frankfurt. The poster will focus on the techniques used to construct the model as well as the results of this process; particular attention will be given to role that boundaries played in negotiating the relationship between "public" and "private" space within the house.

 2. Classical Urbanism: I am, once again, teaching a course on ancient cities through the University of Edinburgh's Open Studies program. The course begins on January 16th, and registration is open through the 14th. More information is available here.

3. The Form and Function of Boundaries in the Campanian House: This paper, which synthesizes some of the data from the DOPAHP's second phase, will be included in the forthcoming book Privata Luxuria: Towards an Archaeology of Intimacy, edited by Anna Anguissola. The volume should be available in the spring/early summer. 

As work on the dissertation continues, I suspect that there will be less need to update the blog (unless readers show a strong desire to proof my chapters). However, I'll do my best to provide relevant information as it becomes available. And to my friends and colleagues heading to the AIA Conference this weekend – I'll see you in Philadelphia!