Musical instrument, panpipes

These are the only Roman wooden panpipes (syrinx) to be found in Britain. Archaeologists discovered them in the remains of the Roman river foreshore, which had been preserved at the Thames Exchange Buildings in the city. The panpipes were made by a skilled craftsperson from a single piece of wooden plank or log (boxwood, Buxus sempervirens), who drilled holes of different lengths (pipes) to create various musical notes. On the bottom edge of the instrument, the maker drilled a hole for a suspension cord, which would have allowed the player to wear the instrument around their neck. The back of the instrument is smooth and the front is decorated with lines and circles, this type of decoration can be seen on other panpipes found in the empire. Unfortunately, the instrument is broken, leaving only four longer pipes. Panpipes were popular and often played with other musical pipes or instruments, and feature in Roman mosaics, paintings and sculptures.