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The paper analyses three preserved reports, depicting Gerbert of Aurillac (also known as: of Reims, of Ravenna, of Bobbio, and in 999–1003 as Pope Sylvester II) as a clockmaker. The Benedictine monk William of Malmesbury (died around 1143) writes about clocks Gerbert made in Reims in The History of the English Kings and describes them as arte mechanica compositum. The Benedictine Arnold Wion (died around 1610) mentions clocks from Ravenna, where Gerbert allegedly constructed a clepsydra, in The Tree of Life. In his Chronicle, Thietmar of Merseburg (died around 1018) describes a horologium with an observation tube (fistula) from Magdeburg. These three references are analysed from a historical standpoint and especially Williams’s and Thietmar’s short reports are interpreted as possible references to timekeeping devices – the astrolabe and the nocturlabe.

Traditionally considered by European Archaeology as water clocks, clepsydras have a use that is closer to etymological meaning: “water thieves”. In this paper we study and systematize clepsydras found in the Iberian Peninsula, whit the function of capturing and distributing liquids, both for domestic purposes of storing and cooking and in ceremonies at sanctuaries and burials.Tradicionalmente consideradas por la Arqueología Europea como relojes de agua, las clepsidras tienen también una funcionalidad que está directamente relacionada con su etimología: “ladrones de agua”. En el presente trabajo se realiza un estudio y sistematización de las distintas clepsidras documentadas en la Península Ibérica, con la funcionalidad de captar y distribuir líquidos, tanto en el ámbito doméstico para almacenaje o cocina, como en el ceremonial en santuarios y enterramientos.