Roman Urinal (by sarah)
The work men have been sorting out the water falls tunnel which they have been putting metal joist things in to keep it from collapsing. The two guys doing the waterfall look remarkably like they belong in either the RSM or the caving club or as is often the case both!
I asked them if I could come down and take photos - they put a step ladder in the dry water fall for me but I didn't realise (yes I know its a large thing not too notice but then this is me) and clambered down the actual waterfall - when I say dry I mean that there isn't the normal cascade of water flowing down it however most people would consider it actually quiet damp still.
Here are my photos of the tunnel.
The tunnel is at least 400 yrs old and is basically dry stone walls with stone slabs on the top - one of these ceiling stones appears to be a urinal - or so I am informed and is probably Roman in age (or though that is quiet along time period in the UK). Most roman sites in the area where canabilised for other local structures so this seems quiet likely. I actually went straight past the slab as it is in the ceiling and even when they first pointed it out to me without saying why the rock was special I got side tracked by calcified worm casts on its side :/
I did however then see that the rock was cut and the interesting funnelly bit i spotted by myself!
I am quiet excited by this as its sort of like having Time Team in my back garden, but it is a bit laughable that the one really old thing we have (thats of human origin before any of you remind me about all the fossils we have in the garden!) just so happens to be something that men relieved themselves on about 2000 yrs ago :/
I had to take a photo of these nobely calcite deposites 🙂 There where also lots of the little coral type growths that I orinial mistook for teeth when I did the work in the anthropology lab in paleo! (I can not spell the word so it is staying abbreviated but its the place with the fossils at the Natural History Mesuem).
Also I just had to take a photo of this being a geologist. The urinal pics where all taken in a cramped space with me having to lay down on my back so apologies if they are wonky angles!
I really really enjoyed this as I got to where my hard hat for the first time since Kin Loc Leven! But it did unfortunatly cause my pelvis to remobalise for three days :/
Building Maintenance, Jean | sarah | 
Wed 16th Jan 2008 10:54 pm
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