Whatzit?

[chuck]

Could be.

I kept looking for something of religious significance but there isn't much in the image to go on. It looks like stone but even that is speculation based on the apparent texture.

Like you said, we need to see a wee bit more.

[rogruth]

The "holes" look like the are keyed to support something. It looks like maybe a grating or some grid work? The notches extend into the "tank" below. Something like a storm sewer grate.

Maybe it's where the grate fits over the pit where Murph keeps the bears?

Or where the bears might keep Murph if they catch him.

[webenda]

Could be.

I kept looking for something of religious significance but there isn't much in the image to go on. It looks like stone but even that is speculation based on the apparent texture.

Aha! Is it an ancient baptismal pool?

[MurphOnMillerAve]

The "holes" look like the are keyed to support something. It looks like maybe a grating or some grid work? The notches extend into the "tank" below. Something like a storm sewer grate.

Support of something is definitely indicated.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Could be.

I kept looking for something of religious significance but there isn't much in the image to go on. It looks like stone but even that is speculation based on the apparent texture.

Aha! Is it an ancient baptismal pool?

"Ancient" is good. And close, considering that water is involved...
And, Chuck, here is a wee bit more...

[webenda]

Could be.

I kept looking for something of religious significance but there isn't much in the image to go on. It looks like stone but even that is speculation based on the apparent texture.

Aha! Is it an ancient baptismal pool?

"Ancient" is good. And close, considering that water is involved...
And, Chuck, here is a wee bit more...

Roman Baths?

[chuck]

Roman outhouse, Don't know about the bath house part.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Roman outhouse, Don't know about the bath house part.

Both of you are correct. Many "restrooms" (my word for them) were part of Roman bath-complexes. The one I featured was part of "Trajan's Terme Taurine" near Via Civitavecchia.
Here are some other pertinent views of what I presented for our Whatzit? and of related photos, including the baths part of such a complex.

[webenda]

I thought I showed a picture of a bathing pool... it was a latrine associated with a bathhouse.

And that trough in the floor? Used to clean your corn cob?



Roman loos are fascinating places to excavate as their drains often contain astonishing artefacts. Let’s face it, if you drop something down a Roman latrine you are unlikely to attempt to fish it out unless you are pretty brave or foolhardy.”

[webenda]

Oops! Those are not corn cobs. According to Wikipedia, "It is commonly believed the Romans used sea sponges on a stick."

The xylospongium (greek) or tersorium (roman), also known as sponge on a stick, was a hygienic utensil used by ancient Romans to wipe their anus after defecating, consisting of a wooden stick (Greek: ξύλον, Xylon) with a sea sponge (Greek: Σπόγγος, Spongos) fixed at one end.

The tersorium was shared by people using public latrines. To clean the sponge, they simply washed it with water.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Or, you could meditate and make it go away,

[robert.]

It is commonly believed the Romans used sea sponges on a stick." Wayne. People of lesser wealth got the sheet end of the stick.

[HONDO74]

Geez, MTJ is an amusing forum. Awhile back we had a lesson in recycled toilet paper and then we moved back in history with outhouses and corncobs and now we are back to the Roman area with community toilets and sticks with sponges. Whats next the cave dwellers and what they used.

Since the Romans didn't have internet apparently this is where they gathered to talk about politics.

Sponges birth control
A sponge soaked in lemon juice and inserted into the vagina (Medieval Europe)

[rogruth]

Did "common" people have access to lemons in medienal Europe?

[HONDO74]

Did "common" people have access to lemons in medienal Europe?

Medieval Fruit
http://www.medieval-life-and-times.info ... -fruit.htm

Medieval Fruit
The wealthy nobles of the Middle Ages ate little fresh fruit - unprepared food of this variety was viewed with some suspicion. Fruit was usually served in pies or was preserved in honey. Fresh fruit was traditionally eaten by the poor. Little was known about nutrition and the Medieval diet of the rich Nobles lacked Vitamin C and fibre. This led to an assortment of health problems including bad teeth, skin diseases, scurvy and rickets!

This is probably where the term SOURPUSS came from.