Chimneys in Antiquity (and the Middle Ages)

[Eleatic Guest]

Did the Romans or Greeks already have the chimney for their houses or kilns?

When did the chimney become widespread and what advantages and disadvantages does it have in comparison with other forms to draw smoke away?

[Carlton Bach]

There were vent arrangements in bakeries and such, and of course the hollow tiles up the walls in hypocausts, but I have yet to see evidence of a 'regular' chimney from Greek or Roman times. Not that it would surprise me - they understood the principle It just seems that they didn't usually care enough in domestic applications. Kitchens in Pompeii and Herculaneum have only windows to let the smoke out.

Chimneys as we know them make their appearance in Central and Northern Europe in the eleventh century. I suspect muxch earlier antecedents somewhere civilised, but my knowledge of medieval Mediterranean archeology is woeful. Interestingly, their first appearance is linked to ovens, not open fireplaces, so it's quite possibly a direct descendant of a 'mini-hypocaust'. As late as the seventeenth century, entire towns in Germany had not a single chimmney, though. It seems that it wasn't felt necessary by all.

[Tarbicus]

As it happens, I stumbled across a rather sizeable 3D model of Pompeii, made by the University of Zurich as part of a city generator program they're working on. I've no idea where they're getting their basis for chimneys from, but I dare say they took plenty of advice on the subject as this is a super serious project.
http://www.vision.ee.ethz.ch/~pmueller/ ... elsPompeii

I've checked out a fair portion of the buildings, and I'd say two thirds have chimneys, mostly the smaller houses and buildings without an atrium.

[Jeroen Pelgrom]

i also didn't see any chimney's in Ostia Antica, even in the bakery's

[Paullus Scipio]

That reconstruction seems to be fairly unique, Tarbicus. I can't find any others of Pompeii that show chimneys.
The one you've posted also has the disclaimer' not archaeolgically accurate '
A quick look through various sources for reconstructions of Roman buildings doesn't show any chimneys either.............

[Tarbicus]

True, it seems there were no chimneys that are known of as seen in the 3D model. Hypocausts and kilns needed venting, though:
http://www.canterburytrust.co.uk/school ... sfig07.htm

"Looking closely at the reconstruction, you will see that there are no chimneys on the tile roofs. This is because we have no conclusive evidence for them being used. Certainly the use of charcoal in the home for heating and cooking would reduce the need for them. Where they may have existed, it is likely that standard building materials were used to construct them. Four flat tiles or stone slabs could be built into a roof, or a hole may be left in an outside wall with a curved imbrex 'hood' projecting out from it.
Amongst the rubble that we tend to find as evidence for a building's structure it would be almost impossible to distinguish any such materials and say they were specifically used as chimneys. There are rare examples of purpose built Roman tile chimneys from Italian sites. These are cylindrical with a small double-pitched 'roof' of pyramid shape. This style of chimney is still in use in Italy today. "
http://www.canterburytrust.co.uk/school ... ascr05.htm

"This hollow tile was part of a Roman chimney. Tiles were placed on top of each other, along the walls of rooms, under the plaster. Hot air from under the floor moved up through the box flue tiles to the roof."
http://www.romansinsussex.co.uk/level1/ ... age_id=184

There were chimneys, but not as seen today in most of the western world, and not for the venting of smoke from ordinary fireplaces. The question is how were poorer houses heated in rural settlements during winter? I'd imagine they had fireplaces and used the type of chimney still used today in Italy, as quoted above.

Digging around it seems that there's an ironic twist in the tale; the patron saint of chimney sweeps is Saint Florian, a 3rd Century Roman soldier. :roll: And it's still a fantastic 3D model :wink:

Stop press: Again, not for use for venting a fireplace, but still very interesting;
http://cka.moon-demon.co.uk/KAR027/KAR027_lamp.htm
'More Roman 'Lamp-Chimneys' from Kent.' by John Parsons
http://cka.moon-demon.co.uk/KAR026/KAR026_Ash.htm
'Lamp Chimney found at New Ash Green.' by Roger Walsh.

ADDED:
http://www.archaeologicalplanningconsul ... d_rom.html
"The range now includes, roof tile and brick (including a total of four 9th legion stamps), floor tile, hypocaust tile, flue tile, opus signinum, and chimney pot. These suggest the nearby buildings may have been relatively sophisticated, supplied by the military market and included tegulated roofing systems, plaster and tile floors, and Roman heating systems. The assemblage is broadly dated to the 1st to 4th century."

And then there's this quote from the College of New Jersey Art Gallery:
http://www.tcnj.edu/~anchouse/kitchen.html
"In Roman houses, kitchens usually had a chimney and can be identified because no other rooms had a permanent heating apparatus."

More reading:
Lowther, A. W. G. 1976.
'Romano-British chimney-pots and finials'. The Antiquaries Journal 56, 35-48.
http://www.amazon.com/chimney-pots-para ... B0008CLVJY

[Tarbicus]

Oh, maybe the 3D model ain't so bad. Not Pompeii, but neighbouring Herculaneum:


http://www.lcps.k12.nm.us/departments/A ... ntryID=309

[Paullus Scipio]

Interesting, Jim - and quite a conundrum, but one assumes the archaeologists had good reason to reconstruct a chimney when restoring that particular house in Herculaneum. Ergo, chimneys were around, even if few existed ?