A Sculptured Relief of the Roman Period at Colinton

Abstract

The stone was built into the wall of a garden and was examined in situ. It is possibly part of the upper half of an altar comprising a very substantial remnant of a dedication to the threefold group of " mother goddesses," whose worship was so popular in certain districts during the earliest centuries of the Christian era. As many as four or five hundred monuments relating to their worship have survived. Some\r\nof these are reliefs; some are inscriptions; many are combinations of the two. It was probably set up by Roman auxiliary troops in the first or second century. There is no other evidence of Roman activity at Colinton so it is likely to have been brought from elsewhere, possibly nearby Cramond.