Ancient Roman Villa

[Siwi]

I found reference to plastered vats for olive oil in a paper in the Journal of Archaeological Science (sadly full paper is behind a paywall) and it's quite probable that these existed in such a setting as this villa/farm. I would imagine that the advantage of storing oil underground is better temperature control and more space efficiency than having dozens of amphorae sitting around.



As for the underfloor heating, your suggestion of a hypocaust is likely correct. We know the Romans did also light small braziers in rooms. Interestingly although there are not chimneys as such, some Roman furnace heating systems also funnelled heat up through chambers in the walls, and the smoke and heat escaped through openings just below the lintel of the roof.