The continuation of excavation in building VI.2.18-19 revealed the remains of a wall faced with polygonal tufa blocks bonded with a type of clay for which no parallels have been found at Pompeii at the present time. The wall has been dated to the mid-Samnite period on the basis of the stratigraphic sequence, however further investigations should provide a more accurate chronology. (Francesco Panzetti)

The excavation of the central courtyard of the _stabulum_, created after 62 A.D. within the “House of the Exedra” identified the building’s ancient _atrium_. The _opus signinum impluvium_ was perfectly conserved and four building phases were identified dating to between the mid 2nd century B.C. and the _post_ -earthquake period. A particular aspect of the structure is constituted by _atrium_ ’s floor level which, until the mid Imperial period, remained notably lower (c. -0,90 m) than that of the surrounding rooms. The excavation also documented a series of previously unknown interventions dating to the time of the 19th century excavations. (Francesco Panzetti)

Constructed between the third and last quarter of the 2nd century B.C. this building was richly decorated ( _opus signinum_ pavements with geometric motifs, First Style wall-paintings), and was arranged around an _atrium_ with an _opus signinum impluvium_. The reception rooms were on the south side, with a large distyle exedra and an _uiridarium_ or portico at the back. In the 1st century B.C., probably following Sulla’s siege of the town, the _domus_ ceded the three spaces mentioned above to the adjoining property and the _atrium_ was transformed into a tetrastyle with reused columns. In the post-earthquake period the eastern and western sectors of the building were divided and the _atrium_ was transformed – as were the adjoining rooms – into a _stabulum_. The earthquakes immediately preceding the eruption of 79 A.D. must have been responsible for the substantial damage noted during the excavation: The cisterns surrounding the central one and extending below the entire _atrium_ came away from the surrounding walls. The central cistern itself and the _impluvium_ above it, which must have formed a large solid structure, collapsed and the vaults of the cisterns gave way causing the floor to slope downwards, provoking fractures all around. The area was affected by the activities of the recuperatores, and began to be excavated from 1811 onwards. The _atrium_ was subsequently covered over to threshold level (a depth of over 1 m of earth). In fact, the _impluvium_, was noted by the excavators and marked on Bibent’s plan of 1827, and then copied onto that of Sorgente for Giuseppe Fiorelli’s famous work. However, it later “disappeared” from most of the documentation and was no longer visible. During its last phase of use various structures for watering animals were built; a small channel was created which carried rain water from the street into the impluvium which had perhaps been transformed into a manure-pit.