Research stay at Cambridge, January-March 2026. The research project: Reconstructing Roman Gardens in Pompeii

Yukiko Kawamoto

In this seminar, I discussed the project conducted when I was in Cambridge as a researcher’s exchange programme between Nagoya and Cambridge.
My journal article entitled ‘Reconstructing Roman Gardens. The Casa dei Vettii and the first Gardens in Pompeii’ will be published by the Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Institut, Römische Abteilung in December 2026. This article is related to the TranSEHA, as it discusses archaeological discoveries (including plant remains) in Pompeian gardens through textual and archaeological evidence. The study on Pompeian gardens developed especially after Wilhelmina F. Jashemski started excavating gardens in Pompeii in the 1960s. She later collaborated with natural scientists and revealed types of plants that have existed on site by analysing carbonated remains or pollen. In addition, animal bones and shells from gardens were studied. More recently, a research method has emerged that extracts pollen from the plaster on the walls, revealing the vegetation that was airborne at the time the plaster was applied.
     While garden archaeology is developing in recent decades, the earlier phase of excavation in Pompeian gardens lack archaeological evidence we have in modern excavation.  I discussed the excavation of the garden at the House of the Vettii in Pompeii, the house inspired other garden reconstructions in Pompeii in the late 19th century. My analysis drew not only on on-site fieldwork but also on photographs, sketches, archaeological reports, contemporary journal articles, and official correspondence. Through the analyses, I discussed how the excavation and subsequent restoration proceeded without careful assessment of what had been found on site.