This insula, in which are found an abundance of artisan and commercial spaces, is known principally for the paintings known as the panettiere and the anonymous magistrate of the eponymous house VII, 3, 30, although the domus of M. Spurius Mesor (VII, 3, 29) is hardly less relevant, above all for its facade in opus quadratum of limestone and Nocera tufo: the houses of the infant Herculese (VII, 3, 11-12) or the taberna ‘of the knight’ (VII, 3, 14-15) are also important, the latter known from a stucco relief of a galloping knight.

The location of this insula at the crossroads formed by the major roads of the Via Fortuna and the Via Stabiana on the northeast, and the smaller alleys of the Vicolo Storto and Panettiere to the south west, makes it a priori an interesting site for the study of the city plan of pre-imperial Pompeii, both Archaic, Samnite and Republican, the aim of our project. The stratigraphic excavations carried out between 2005 and 2009 have provided important information on the two chronological extremes of the 600-year life of the city, its origins, represented by archaic-period foundations in pappamonte, and it s traumatic end, provoked by the famous eruption of AD 79.
We are carrying out a global and interdisciplinary study (archaeological, archeometric, topographic, architectonic) on the buildings mentioned above, as well as on VII, 3, 6 (5-7), in which is found a network of hydraulic channels of the Republican period. The atrium of house VII, 3, 13 was under post-seismic restauration when it was buried by the lapilli of the eruption: this is shown by a dozen amphorae, cut in half to hold lime, along with other tools.

At the other end of the chronological spectrum we find the pappamonte foundations of the archaic or pre-samnite period, reused in the entrance and atrium of house VII, 3, 12. A similar interpretation applies to the entrance to house VII, 3, 38, where we find the remains of the edge of the earlier street, a line of blocks of tufo, which is used as a foundation for the limestone opus quadratum of the later walls. In any case the orientation coincides with that of the vicolo Storto whose projected alignment is followed by this foundation, suggesting the hypothetical trace of the earlier street. This led us to carry out a control sounding in the southwest corner of the insula (VII, 3, 33-34). The situation was partially compromised by a spectacular late-republican cistern, rich in materials, particularly amphorae and lamps, but we also discovered a portion of the paving of the street, in beaten earth, within which were found fragments of bucchero nero belonging to a hypothetical street of the archaic period, whose stratigraphic position and character make it join the number of the few streets known from this period