8. Conclusion

This identification and typology for the Pompeian food and drink outlets represents a considerable departure from more conventional approaches, both in the methodology used to identify them and in the results of their analyses. By taking the identification of Pompeian food and drink outlets as a case study, I hope to have demonstrated the value of returning to the site's actual primary archaeological record, and of a more rigorous approach to the use of its 'legacy data'. Other statistical and spatial studies of the Pompeian retail industry have used invalid listings of building types, built largely from imagination as their legacy data. Having scoured the ancient texts for any mention of the physical characteristics that might have differentiated one labelled retail outlet from another in antiquity, I have found that a simplistic marriage between ancient terms for such establishments and their remains in the archaeological record is untenable. The importance of focusing an investigation of Pompeii - and in this case, its retail outlets - on the available archaeological record can hardly be overstated, yet so many studies and interpretations of the city have failed to carry out such research but have rather been based on erroneous interpretations as if they were part of the 'primary' record.

This return to the available archaeological data - drawn from on-site surveys and integrated with the legacy dataset extracted from the excavation records - has enabled a more secure and thorough identification and typology to be derived. The resulting large dataset facilitated statistical analyses that revealed valuable information about the use of retail outlets in antiquity. The results from this study also present a departure from the traditional reading of Pompeii's bars, revealing them as central and important participants in the urban community rather than as mere haunts of moral bankruptcy. From this revised perspective, it becomes apparent that non-elites played an active role in the shaping of an ancient city.

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