Around the Watering Hole: An In-Depth Analysis of Pompeii’s Fountains

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Drinkable water and the strategies used to get it are at the heart of every sustainable society, and Roman Pompeii is no exception. Pompeii’s remarkable water distribution system shapes the very character of the city from its network of water towers to its overflowing fountains. By the 1st century CE the Aqua Augusta, or Serino Aqueduct as it is known today, dramatically altered the urban development of Pompeii and served to provide water to many poorer citizens who, prior to this, would have had little to no access to potable water. In the summer of 2018, the authors conducted fieldwork in order to investigate the fountain and water tower system found at Pompeii. Results include updated and more accurate measurements pertaining to the overall volume and construction of the fountains, detailed accounts of the wear patterns found on the fountain surfaces and proposed explanations for their presence, and layouts of the stone "supports" that surround many of the basins.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 26093