Cramond Lioness
The Cramond lioness is a Roman-era sculpture recovered in 1997 from the mouth of the River Almond at Cramond in Midlothian, Scotland.
It depicts a bound male prisoner being killed by a lioness. The upper torso and head of the prisoner are shown, with the giant lioness behind him, sinking her teeth into his skull.
The work is interpreted as a Roman sculpture imported to Scotland to serve as part of the tomb of a Roman military commander or dignitary, and connected to the nearby Cramond Roman Fort. The location of such a tomb, and how the sculpture reached its location in the river are unknown.[1]
The sculpture is housed at the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. In 2003, plans were unveiled for the lioness to be housed in a new archaeological centre at the Roman Fort in Cramond,[2] although this proposal was still at the initial planning stage in 2008.[3]
References
- ↑ "Cramond Ferry". CANMORE. Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.
- ↑ "Lion to take pride of place at Roman ruins". The Scotsman. 21 August 2003. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- ↑ "Roman fort will be centrepiece of new tourist attraction". The Scotsman. 29 August 2008. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
External links
- Cramond Lioness, National Museum of Scotland
- Cramond Roman Fort, AOC Archaeology
- Images of the front (showing prisoner clearly), and right side of the sculpture, DK Images