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Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales
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Roman intaglio (modius and scales)
Bottom right-hand corner alone survives of the setting; With the base of a modius on its tripod base, with a single scale pan suspended to its right. Worn heavily on the edges and face of the front panel.
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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