Puteal

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Roman marble puteal with a Bacchic procession, late first century CE (National Archaeological Museum of Spain, Madrid)
Roman marble puteal with a Bacchic procession, late first century CE (National Archaeological Museum of Spain, Madrid)

A puteal was a classical wellhead, round or sometimes square, set round a well opening to keep people from falling in. Such well heads (putealia) might be of marble, enriched with bas-reliefs. Famous examples include the Puteal Scribonianum.

The word is also used of circular classical remains recycled as well-heads after antiquity, such as the Guildford Puteal at the British Museum.

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