Archaeologists Find Engraved Semi-Precious Gemstones Clogging a 2000-Yr-Old Roman Bathhouse, Astounded by the Workmanship

In 2023, archaeologists uncovered several gemstones near Hadrian's Wall in Carlisle, England. These gemstones were found clogged in the drain of a structure that has been identified as a Roman bathhouse by experts, stated Live Science. Researchers located 30 engraved, semi-precious stones at the site in total. Their designs helped experts to determine that they were intaglios. The team speculated that these gemstones likely fell out of the rings of second and third-century bathers.

Intaglios were first produced 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, according to Smithsonian Magazine. They were specific designs created by people on stones to press into clay or wax, which were then in turn used for authentication. "Their material, size, and color would reflect the wealth and taste of the patron," said G. Max Bernheimer, Christie’s international head of antiquities

All the 30 stones were tiny in size, according to Live Science. The smallest one measured around 0.2 inch (5 millimeters) while the largest was about 0.6 inch (16 mm) in diameter. Researchers were astounded by the techniques employed to make such minuscule gems. Examinations revealed that the intaglios were 2,000 years old. Researchers think that these gemstones were attached to the ring apparatus with vegetable glue, which became weak in water.

"It's incredible," Frank Giecco, the archaeologist who led the excavation explained. "It's caught everyone's imagination. They were just falling out of people's rings who were using the baths. They were set with a vegetable glue and, in the hot and sweaty bathhouse, they fell out of the ring settings."

Professor Martin Henig, an expert on Roman art at the University of Oxford, agreed with Giecco's assertion, according to The Guardian. "Metal expands. If the stone is not properly secured, it can fall out, as it can today with people bathing. I imagine that the gems recovered from the drain were accumulated over time, and we must remember that a lot of people used those baths," he added.

The excavations unveiled an amethyst that featured the design of the Roman goddess Venus holding a flower or mirror along with a jasper that had Satyr stretching himself on a bed of rocks, according to Live Science. Experts analyzed all the gemstones and concluded they were expensive. This made them claim that the bathhouse was primarily used by the elite section of society. "You don't find such gems [at] low-status Roman sites," Giecco said. "So, they're not something that would have been worn by the poor."

Giecco believes that the owners of the gemstones possibly did not have any clue that they had lost these stones, till they reached home. Even after finding out about the loss, experts think they must have suspected theft. Therefore, so many stones accumulated in the drain, as there was no awareness in the community about gems being lost in this manner. Other intaglios were dedicated to gods of fertility, luck, war, and the sun, stated Smithsonian Magazine. Archaeologists also found 40 women’s hairpins and 35 glass beads, with the gemstones from the drain. As per experts, the site is not unique as archaeologists in the past have unearthed gemstones from bathhouse drains.