Area 3, viewed from the interior.

Key characteristics

Viewed from the interior, area 3 shows the common characteristics of an out-of-plane failure. The seam between repair and original wall is very clear, and the shape of the repair is roughly symmetric, with the common scooping form. Note that there is a clear horizontal seam in the repair area. This seam may indicate stages in a chronologically continuous repair process, or two chronologically distinct repair phases. Area 1 shows a similar horizontal seam, as does the south wall of the SGA.

Viewed from the exterior, the various construction types and seams between them are less clear, but still discernable. A notable feature of the exterior side of the repair area is the nature of the bond scars with W17.16 and W16.15 in the various strata of the main wall. W17.16 shows a clear scar in the lower stratum of the repair, but the scar shows a much more erratic pattern in the upper stratum. W16.15, on the other hand shows no scar in the lower stratum of the repair, and very little sign of a scar in the upper stratum of the repair.

Selected Photographs

Overall view of the north-east corner.

Space 17. Note the darker strata of black lava at the bottom of the wall, which probably indicates the level of retained earth behind the wall, with the border between light and dark corresponding to the ground plane inside the building.

Note the bond scar of W17.16 to the right.

Detail of bond scar for W17.16 The bottom portion of the scar includes many fine stones. The bottom of the lowermost large stone aligns with the seam between the upper and lower strata of the repair area.

Space 16. Although much less clear than when viewed from the front, this view of W16.30 shows the same four horizontal strata from top to bottom: black lava, opus incertum, a lower stratum of repair topped with a clean horizontal seam, and a top stratum of repair.

Note the bond scar of W16.15 to the right.

Detail of bond scar for W16.15 The lower stratum of the repair shows no signs of a bond scar. The bottom of the large stone aligns with the seam between the upper and lower stratum of the repair.

Space 15.

Pipes

Pipe at W17.16. Note the portion of clay pipe visible to the right of the juncture.

Pipe at W15.14. Note the portion of clay pipe visible to the right of the juncture. This pipe is not necessarily significant, since this shop wall aligns with the opus vitatum W14.30, which could act as a buttress regardless of the shop wall. The pipe is significant in that it may have served a residence above space 15, helping explain the absence of evidence of a pipe in W16.5.

W15.16 shows no signs of a pipe, although the damage indicates that the wall was not effective as a buttress. Either the pipe is embedded in the wall but not visible, or was rebuilt after 62 without a pipe. The residences adjacent the wall could have been served by the pipes in w15-14 and w 16-17.