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Roman carved stone fountainhead

Contributed by The Hunterian

Roman carved stone fountainhead

This Roman carved stone fountainhead was found at Bearsden Roman fort, Strathclyde Region, Scotland, and was picked by Shauna Joy, second year student at the University of Glasgow (Single Honours Archaeology). Shauna writes - Fountains from the Roman Empire were decorative but also functional, for people collecting water to wash, to drink, etc. Fountains and fountainheads are great examples of Roman ingenuity, creating height and force in water through cisterns which would have, in this case, sprayed through the mouth of the fountainhead. An ingenious system of aqueducts in the Roman Empire provided them with water for irrigation, drinking and bathing. They spent a lot of time designing and planning these beautiful fountains and really were masters of it. The fountainhead is a good example of Roman ingenuity and design even in the most ubiquitous structures of life, such as the bath-house, which is why I think that it is such a beautiful and interesting object.

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About this object

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Location

Bearsden Roman fort

Culture
Period

second century AD

Theme
Size
H:
27cm
W:
24cm
D:
29cm
Colour
Material

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