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Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales
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Roman intaglio (Minerva)
Complete. Minerva stands facing right holding a spear vertically in her left hand and carrying a drape over her right arm. She wears a plumed helmet and her shield lies at her feet. With some slight chipping to the edges of the face, which is also heavily scratched.
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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