Roman Baths Jewelry

Down a drain beneath the murky waters of an ancient Roman bathhouse in Carlisle, England, near Hadrian's Wall, archaeologists have discovered a trove of gemstones lost by bathers 2,000 years ago. Down the drain In the Roman Empire era, baths proliferated all over Europe for both military and civilian use. Many were quite ornate, with huge colonnades, decorative mosaics and pools ranging in.

Ever go swimming with rings on your fingers or hoops in your ears only to find your jewelry had vanished after your dip? If so, you've got something in common with ancient Romans. A new study of objects lost down the drains in the bathhouses from the Roman Empire reveals that people got up to all. Archaeologists found 30 2,000-year-old ornately carved gems were discovered in the drain of an ancient Roman bathhouse in Carlisle, England near Hadrian's Wall, The Guardian reported this week.

A recent study of objects lost down the drains in the bathhouses of the Roman Empire reveals that the lavish pools were a rollicking center of social interaction and ladies of the era couldn't resist wearing their finery in the water. Among the items discovered in the drains were decorative hairpins, beads, brooches, pendants and intaglios (engraved gems). The gold jewelry discovered in the baths illustrates the wealth of the city and its established trade relations with other parts of the Roman Empire.

Women in what is now Bulgaria wore the same fashionable accessories as women in Roman Egypt and Italy. Ancient Romans lost these gemstones. In the steamy environment, the Roman elite may have emerged from their leisurely baths unadorned.

The stones were likely flushed into the drains when the pools and saunas were cleaned. I love how jewelry turns up in the most unexpected places, like this cache of Roman intaglio stones found in the drain of an ancient Roman bath in Carlisle, England. Roman women were extremely over the top with their jewellery; so much so that a law was passed limiting the amount of gold one person could.