zondag 29 juni 2014

Sunday stamps: archeology: Roman traces

Today's Sunday stamps' theme is 'Archaeology/anthropology'. There are several interesting archaelogic / anthropologic sites in the Netherlands, like the Hunebeds and Roman excavations, but to my surprise postage stamps on this theme are very hard to find.

Besides some 'personal stamps' (issued unofficially for/by companies or private persons) I didn't find any stamp on the hunebeds. These are the oldest preserved buildings in the Netherlands. Over 5000 years ago they have been built, in the east of the Netherlands. Today you can find hunebeds mainly in the province of Drenthe.



After some more research, I discovered that this stamp, which I already have for years, is part of a serie of four, issued in 1977, themed 'archaeology', that is, Roman excavations in the Netherlands.

First I thought it to be just the wall of a canal. But it appears to be part of a Roman bathhouse, of the thermae in Heerlen, in the south of the Netherlands.
There's a design of it on this website, and a photo of the original archaeologic location you can see here.

The other stamps from this serie are:
a face helmet/mask (also to be viewed here),
the goddess Nehalennia,
and the ship of Zwammerdam.

On the internet I found this FDC:



5 opmerkingen:

  1. I like the design of this stamp. However, I hadn't guessed it shows Roman baths without your explanation. I thought of a tunnel (?) and DH of an oven... :)

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  2. An interesting series and designs looking very much like those of the 1970s. Thanks for the explanation, I wouldn't have known from the stamp itself.

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  3. I was thinking of aqueduct arches, but a bath is cool too. thank you for joining us this week.

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  4. it's cool to see a Roman bath...here we have mainly Turkish baths, called hammams

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen
  5. I've never thought about the Romans in the Netherlands before and what they left behind, I like the drawing. Its interesting how the bath houses seem to survive, there is one near where I live in remarkably good condition considering the centuries that have passed.

    BeantwoordenVerwijderen