This excavation’s main objective is to gain a better understanding of the structures associated with the productions in the workshops situated at the south-eastern corner of Insula VI 16, in order to use the new evidence to improve the overall understanding of the production system in Pompeii. Fullonica VI 16, 6 was hastily excavated in 1903 and the description published by Sogliani was superficial. Firstly, this excavation showed that about 80% of the surface was destroyed by the installation of a cistern necessary to get the fountains in the House of the Golden Cupids working again.

Despite this, this season’s excavations produced some results. Between the beginning of occupation in Pompeii and the 2nd century B.C., the entire area underwent substantial alterations. The eruptive levels were documented at a very high level (35.61 m a.s.l.) compared to the general level of the workshop in the imperial period (35.75 m a.s.l.)

Between the end of the 2nd century B.C. and the early 1st century B.C., a ritual pit was excavated for the deposition of all the furnishings and faunal remains from a probable banquet on top of a “construction” built of several elements relating to a house, from stones to tiles, and wall plaster. The whole thing was then sealed by a layer of clay. This was probably a ritual relating to the (re)construction of the house, perhaps dating to the deduction of the colony of Pompeii.

It is very difficult to bring together the subsequent series alterations to form an overall picture due to the destruction caused by the building of the modern cistern. A drainage channel built leading to a cistern was documented together with a drainage system formed by at least two overlapping amphora fragments.

The fullonica does not seem to have been built prior to the 62/63 A.D. earthquake. The only elements that support Sogliano’s proposal are the two vats in which the cloth was pounded. Contrary to the other Pompeian fullonicae, although masonry-built, these vats were not lined with waterproof mortar but with wood. Moreover, they were installed at a lower level than the floor surface in use at the time.

Just before the eruption, the fullonica was dismantled.