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Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales
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Roman intaglio (Capricorn and clasped hands)
Two-thirds only of setting survives. At the top is a capricorn facing right, its upper half lost; below are two clasped hands, from which springs a central poppy-fruit flanked by two ears of corn. A little wear around the edges and with a single large flaw on the rear of the stone.
This is one of 88 engraved gemstones retrieved in 1979, mostly from the filling of a large drain beneath the cold hall of the fortress baths. The gemstones would originally have been set in finger-rings, and served as signets and charms or talismans for their owners. They were products of extremely skilled craftsman who worked on a minute scale without the aid of magnification. The gems are engraved with a wide range of deities, personification and symbols.
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Site Name: Caerleon Fortress Baths, Caerleon
Notes: from the site of the frigidarium at the baths
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