Casa della Regina Carolina (CRC) Project, Pompeii

Location: 80045 Pompei, Metropolitan City of Naples, Italy

Season: June 8, 2020 to July 24, 2020

Session Dates: June–July 2020, precise dates to be announced. (At present, the dates listed above are just approximate placeholders.)

Deadline Type: Rolling

Website: http://blogs.cornell.edu/crcpompeii

Program Type:
Volunteer, Staff Position

RPA Certified:
No

Affiliation:
Cornell University and University of Reading

Project Director:
Kathryn Gleason (Cornell University), Caitlín Barrett (Cornell University), and Annalisa Marzano (University of Reading)

Project Description:

COVID-19 UPDATE – 2020 FIELD SEASON CANCELED:

As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, the Casa della Regina Carolina Project at Pompeii is canceled for the 2020 season. We hope to hold our next field season in summer 2021, and we look forward to receiving new applications in the 2020-2021 academic year. In the meantime, we send best wishes to all our team members past, present, and future, and we hope you are all staying safe and well! 

 

This excavation and survey of a large house at Pompeii investigates relationships between domestic material culture, social performance, and historical change. A new study of Pompeian household space provides an opportunity to reexamine traditional, top-down narratives about the relationship between “macro-scale” history (e.g., political or military developments) and the “micro-scale” of daily domestic experience.

The site of Pompeii is central to any account of Roman households and daily life, as well as to the history of household archaeology more broadly. However, much of the archaeological record at Pompeii results from early excavations conducted before modern field methods and recording practices. This study focuses on the so-called Casa della Regina Carolina (VIII 3.14), a house originally excavated in the early 19th century. However, only the volcanic ash was removed, leaving the floors and garden unexcavated below the 79 CE ground level. Furthermore, and partly because of the early date of the initial excavations, the house has seen very little systematic academic study. Aside from a few brief mentions in specialist publications, little detailed discussion of the house as a whole has appeared since the 19th century. Additionally, the house’s pre-79 CE phases remain entirely unstudied.

The present project aims to survey the house and excavate the garden area, where our 2018–2019 season discovered evidence of an earlier Hellenistic (Samnite or Republican) occupation phase. The initial field season involved ground-penetrating radar, LiDAR recording of standing architecture, a vegetation survey, and some preliminary excavation. That excavation confirmed the presence of intact stratigraphy and identified earlier Samnite or Republican domestic structures beneath the 79 CE stratum. Excavation in 2020 will focus on further uncovering the pre-79 CE domestic structures identified in the 2018-2019 excavations, as well as continuing to explore the 79 CE garden.

Period(s) of Occupation: Hellenistic (Samnite, Republican), Roman Imperial

Notes:
In 2020, we are especially interested in filling positions on (1) our digging team, (2) our finds processing team, (3) our drafting and architecture team, and (4) our archaeobotany team. Applicants should send the following materials to reginacarolinapompeii@gmail.com: (1) a current CV, (2) a 2-page statement of interest, and (3) for current students or recent postgraduates: a recent academic transcript.

Project Size: 25-49 participants

Minimum Length of Stay for Volunteers: Preference will be given to applicants who can commit to at least 6 weeks.

Minimum Age: 18

Experience Required: Preference will be given to applicants with (1) at least one season of prior field experience or field school training and (2) prior coursework in Archaeology, Classics, Anthropology, and/or Art History.

Room and Board Arrangements:
Team members are required to stay in collective housing arranged by the project. At present, we anticipate that housing may be at the Vesuvian Institute in Castellamare di Stabia. The Vesuvian Institute provides full board (breakfast, bag lunch, and dinner). Participants should be prepared to pay for their own travel, room, and board expenses. In 2019, room and board expenses were approximately €45/day per person.

Academic Credit:
N/A