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A reexamination of Pompeii’s
network of urban streets in Regio VI during the 2003 and 2004 field
seasons has revealed a greater degree of complexity in the evidence
for the direction of traffic than previously recognized. The directional
flow of traffic in this area was outlined in a paper presented at
the 102nd Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America
(“Directionality of Pompeii’s Urban Streets,” 2001). Continued research
in Regio VI, while supporting the preliminary findings, has revealed
changes in the flow of traffic over time. The crucial east-west
thoroughfare, Vico di Mercurio, is still seen to carry westbound
traffic in the latest phases, but significant evidence indicates
that an earlier phase allowed a large volume of eastbound carts.
Previously unrecognized forms of wearing, such as the marks worn
into street features (especially curbstones and stepping-stones)
from cart wheels continually overriding them, as well as a greater
sensitivity towards the evidence aided the detection of the reversal.
While the 2003 study identified the pattern, further research during
the 2004 field season concentrated on finding the cause/s of this
reversal of direction on Vico di Mercurio. Two hypotheses, one local
and one city-wide in scope, were advanced and tested. The first
examined the effects of street repair in Regio VI, especially the
unfinished repaving program surrounding the Casa del Fauno. The
second hypothesis concerned the Central Bath’s construction, which
suppressed Vico di Tesmo in the north, reversed its direction in
the south, and caused similar effects to radiate across the city.
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