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.
Roman carved stone fountainhead
Contributed by The Hunterian
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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
View more objects from people in Glasgow and West of Scotland.

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