Sundial. Stone sundial attached to the wall of a building. The sundial has a spike (black, at centre), carved lines which denote the time (at lower centre) and a decorative lion's head. The sundial measures time using a shadow formed by the spike. This shadow moves across the face of the sundial as the Sun moves across the sky. The hour of the day which each line represents as the shadow crosses it have been marked here in Roman numerals. The time shown here is just after four o'clock in the afternoon. An inscription shows that this sundial was made in 1776. Photographed on the Ile de Re in western France.