Tiles

There are similar tiles, also in the depot of Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, where this brick is stored (Figs. 1-3).

During the Roman era, the Netherlands got its first heated floor system. The heated floor system was called hypocaustum (Figs. 4-5). It consisted of a stone cellar, with a heating room on the outside. A fire was made in the heating room, allowing the hot air to spread through the cellar. In the cellar were pillars made of square or circle-shaped brick tiles, so-called bessales, which, in turn, carried larger tiles (lateres), on which a concrete floor was poured. The hot air of the fire then circulated beneath the floor, heating it in the process.

The heat could escape through hollow brick tubes (tubuli) (Fig. 6) in the walls, so Romans could even heat their walls. The method was applied in residential homes on a small scale, but also, on a larger scale, in bathhouses. The bathhouses often had an additional lead water tank on top of the heating space, supplying direct war water for the baths. Out of all the brick parts of the hypocaustum, several have been found – even a few intact ones.

In some cases, the tiles have been equipped with stamps, such as stamps of an army unit, to indicate the purpose of the tile. This tile is mostly similar in exterior to a bessalis, so a tile for carrying floors.

But does the tile truly date from the Roman era?