Pompeii Health, Water Supply And Sanitation

"The human skeletal remains from the sites destroyed by Mt Vesuvius appear to reflect a random sample of normally distributed population. This means that the sample of victims is not skewed towards any particular sector of the population."Estelle Lazer: Victims of the cataclysmFrom this we can conclude:

• That Estelle Lazer did not investigate the skeletal material carefully enough

• That Estelle Lazer believes that unlike earlier theories it was not just the very young, the old and the sick who died in the eruption

• That Estelle Lazer supports the early theories that it was the healthy who escaped and the old and sick died in the eruption

• That more people died in Pompeii than Herculaneum

In Pompeii water was supplied to:

• 42 public fountains, latrines, the baths and private homes

• 142 public fountains, latrines, the baths and private homes

• Only to public fountains

• Only to public fountains and latrines, bath houses and private homes always had to provide their own water.

Bisel "...concluded that most people in the Herculaeum sample had not relied on mammals or birds for their main protein source. Instead they probably relied on vegetables, seafood or a combination of the two"Estelle Lazer: Victims of the cataclysmFrom this evidence we can conclude that:

• The inhabitants of Herculaeum did not have access to mammals and birds

• The inhabitants of Herculaeum mainly ate bread

• The inhabitants of Herculaneum did not have a healthy and varied diet

• The inhabitants of Herculaneum had a healthy and varied diet

Toilets were

• Provided in every private house

• An area of great privacy with public toilets having separate cubicles

• Often located near or in the kitchen in houses

• Cleaned by the woman of the house

The best description of how water was provided to the inhabitants of Pompeii is:

• Water came in from an aqueduct, it was then siphoned off into three main pipes into different parts of Pompeii and then flowed into the water tower near the Vesuvian gate

• Water came in from an aqueduct, then flowed into a water tower near the Vesuvian gate and it was then siphoned off into three main pipes into different parts of Pompeii

• Water flowed into a water tower near the Vesuvian gate , it then flowed into an aqueduct, it was then siphoned off into three main pipes into different parts of Pompeii

• Water was only provided by wells and cisterns in houses

Source B What does Source B reveal about the existence of town planning in Pompeii?   3 marks