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XXI.—The Early Metallurgy of Silver and Lead: Part I., Lead

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 November 2011

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Extract

The sources whence our knowledge of the early metallurgy of silver and lead, as of the other metals known to antiquity, is derived are two, distinct in character and differing greatly in the value and amount of their contributions. The first, and by far the most important, is the débris and other remains of the operations of the ancient metal workers which, from time to time, have been unearthed in many localities in Europe and "Western Asia, and in Egypt. The second lies in the records, more or less fanciful, given by classical authors of the technological processes and products of their times. It is needless to say that the information afforded by neither source is always definite in character or free from obscurity. As regards the remains, they are unfortunately too often fragmentary and incomplete, whilst the records are those of men not conversant with technical processes, and hence are full of errors of observation. The remains are, however, as a rule, more to be trusted than the records, and although no single find may admit of complete interpretation, yet, when several are collated the difficulties which they present individually disappear and their meaning is evident. They present us, moreover, with concrete evidence about which there can be no dispute, although there may be differences of opinion as to the deductions to be drawn from it.

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Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1901

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References

page 361 note a Galena when pure consists of 86·61 per cent, of lead and 13·39 per cent, of sulphur.

page 361 note b Dr. John Percy, The Metallurgy of Lead, 213.

page 361 note c Lucretius, De Rerum Natura, v. 1251–56:

“Quidquid id est, quaquomque ex caussa flammeus ardor

Horribili sonitu sylvas exederat altis

Ab radicibus, et terrain percoxerat igni;

Manabat venis ferventibus, in loca terræ

Concava conveniens, argenti rivus, et auri;

Æris item, et plumbi.”

Strabo, Geographica, iii. 2. 9. “Oὐ γὰρ ἀπιστɛῖν τῷ μύθῳ φησὶν, ὅτι τῶν δρυμῶν ποτɛ ἐμπρησθέντων ἡ γῆ τακɛῖσα, ἅτɛ ἀργυρῖτις καὶ χρυσῖτις, ɛἰς τὴν ἐπιφάνɛιαν ἐξέζɛσɛ διὰ τὸ πᾶν ὄρος καὶ πάντα βουνὸν ῦλην ɛἶναι νομίςματος ὑπό τινος ἀφθόνου τὐχης σɛσωρɛυμἐνην”

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page 369 note g Dr. W. May, ‘Die Bergbaulischen Verhältnisse in der Turkei,” Oestr. Zeitschrift fur Berg-und-Hüttenwesen (1896, May), 223, et seq.

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page 371 note a Ibid. 383 et seq.

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page 371 note f Herodotus, Historia, i. 186. “τοῦτο δἐ κατὰ μέσην κου μάλιστα τὴν πόλιν τοῖσι λίθοισι τοὺς ὠρύξατο οἰκοδόμɛɛ γέφυραν, δέουσα τοὺς λίθους σιδήρῳ τɛ καὶ μολίβδῳ.”

page 372 note a Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica, ii. 10. “Τὸ δʼ ἐπὶ ταῖς δοκοῖς ὀρόϕωμα πρῡῑῶτον μὲν εἶχεν ὐπεστρωμένον κάλαμον μετὰ πολλῆς ἀσϕάλτου, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πλίνθον ὀπτὴν δτπλῆν ἐν γύϕῳ δεδεμένην, τρίτην δʼ ἐπτβολὴν ἐπεδέχετο μολιβᾶς στέγας πὸς τὸ μὴ διικνεῖσθαι κατὰ βάθος τὴν ἑκ τοῦ χώματς νοτίδα.”

page 372 note b Petrie and Quibell, Naqada and Ballas, plate LX. fig. 14, and p. 46.

page 372 note c De Morgan, J., Fouilles à Dahchour, 157.Google Scholar

page 372 note d Ibid. 144.

page 372 note e Petrie, , Kahun, Gurob, and Hawara, 22.Google Scholar

page 373 note a Petrie, , The Art of Ancient Egypt, Catalogue of the exhibition of the Burlington Fine Art Club, 1895, p. 29.Google Scholar

page 373 note b Petrie, , Kahun, Gurob, and Hawara, plate XVIII. fig. 18, and p. 34.Google Scholar

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page 373 note d Petrie, , Tanis, pt. ii. plate XXII. figs. 6, 10, and 11, and p. 55.Google Scholar

page 373 note e Petrie, Ibid. p. 14 et seq.

page 373 note f Von Bibra, , Die Bronzen und Kupferlegirungen, 94.Google Scholar

page 374 note a Homer, , Ilias, xi. 237, and xxiv. 80Google Scholar.

page 374 note b Lethaby, W. R., Leadwork, 8.Google Scholar

page 375 note a For a detailed account of these mines, see Cordella, A., Le Laurion, Marseille, 1869Google Scholar, and Ardaillon, E., Les Mines du Laurion dans l'Antiquité, Paris, 1897.Google Scholar

page 375 note b Helmhacker, R., “The Useful Minerals of Turkey,” Engineering and Mining Journal (New York, November, 1898), 635.Google Scholar

page 375 note c Berg-und Hüttenmännische Zeitung, 1876, 95.

page 375 note d Berg-und Hüttenmännische Zeitung, 1880, 452.

page 375 note e Berg-und Hüttenmännische Zeitung, 1880, 452.

page 375 note f Berg-und Hüttenmännische Zeitung, 1876, 95.

page 375 note g Paton and Myres, “Karian Sites and Inscriptions,” Journal of Hellenic Studies, xvi. 204.Google ScholarPubMed

page 375 note h Sayce, , “Notes from a Journey in the Troad and Lydia,” Journal of Hellenic Studies, i. 91.Google Scholar

page 375 note i Gumush, silver; Dagh, mountain.

page 375 note k May, “Die Bergbaulischen Verhältnisse in der Turkei,” Oestr. Zeitschrift für Berg-und Hüttenwesen (May, 1896), 223 et seq.

page 375 note i de Tchihatcheff, P., Asie Mineure, part 4, Géologie, 32.Google Scholar

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page 376 note b Maden, mine; Gumush maden, silver mine.

page 377 note a Kerl, , Handbuch der Metallurgischen Hüttenkunde, ii. 274, 275.Google Scholar

page 377 note b Percy, , The Metallurgy of Lead, 418.Google Scholar

page 377 note c Kerl, , Handbuch der Metallurgischen Hüttenkunde, ii. 275Google Scholar, and Berg-und Hüttenmännische Zeitung, 1862, 62.

page 377 note d Revue Archéologique, nouvelle série, xvii. 299.

page 378 note a Berg-und Hüttenmännische Zeitung, 1880, 452.

page 378 note b Hofmann, , Das Blei, 10.Google Scholar

page 378 note c Pliny, , Nat. Hist., xxxiv. 49.Google Scholar

page 379 note a Haverfield, F., “Roman Inscriptions in Britain,” Archæological Journal, xlvii. 258.Google Scholar

page 379 note b Corpus Inscriptionum, xiii. No. 2612.

page 379 note c Ibid. xiii. No. 3222.

page 379 note d Daubrée in Revue Archéologique, nouvelle série, xvii. 300 et seq.

page 380 note a Revue Archéologique, nouvelle série, xli. 261 et seq.

page 380 note b Franz, , Berg-und Hüttenmännische Zeitung, 1880, 452.Google Scholar

page 381 note a Revue Archéologique, nouvelle série, xvii. 303.

page 381 note b Archæological Journal, xxiii. 289. The blocks for Figs. 2 and 3 have been kindly lent by the Royal Archæological Institute.

page 381 note c This confirms the statement of Pliny: “Nigro plumbo ad fistulas laminasque utimur, laboriosius in Hispania eruto, totasque per Gallias: sed in Britannia summo terræ corio adeo large, ut lex ultro dicatur, ne plus certo modo fiat.” Nat. Hist., xxxiv. 49.

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page 382 note b Phillips, and Louis, , Ore Deposits, 236.Google Scholar

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page 386 note a Strabo, Geographica, iii. 2. 10. “Tὴν ἀργυρῖτίν φησι κόπτɛσθαι καὶ κοσκίνοις ἐις ὔδωρ διαττᾶσθαι κόπτɛσθαι δὲ πάλιν τὰς ὑποστάσɛις, καὶ πάλιν διηɛουνένας αποχɛοένων τῶν ὑδάτῶν ὑδάτων τῶν ὑδάτων κόπτɛσθαι τὴν δὲ π έμπτην ὑπόστατασιnu; χωνɛυθɛῖσαν.”

page 387 note a Agricola, , op. cit. (1657 Edition), 228.Google Scholar

page 388 note a Strabo, iii. 2. 8.

page 388 note b Archaeologia, lvii. 119.

page 388 note c Speaking of silver, Pliny, writes: “Excoqui non potest, nisi cum plumbo nigro aut cum vena plumbi. Galenam vocant, quæ juxta argenti venas plerumque reperitur.” Nat. Hist., xxxiii. 31.Google Scholar

page 389 note a Percy, , The Metallurgy of Lead, 271273.Google Scholar

page 390 note a The mines of Argyria, l'Argentière, Gumush Dagh, etc.

page 391 note a Gazette Archéologique, 1880, 101 et seq.

page 391 note b Cordella, , Le Laurion (Marseille, 1869), 98Google Scholar.

page 393 note a Composition of slags from Laurion:

A. Cordelia, Le Laurion, 101.

B. The Mining and Metallurgical Production of Laurium (Athens, 1893), 16.

page 394 note a Annales des Mines, xvi. (1889), 434.

page 395 note a Florencourt, , Über die Bergwerke der Alten (Göttingen, 1785), 30Google Scholar and” plate 2.

page 396 note a Artis, , op. cit. plate XXV. fig. 2.Google Scholar

page 396 note b Blümner, , Technologie und Terminologie, iv. 152, and fig. 6.Google Scholar

page 400 note a Hunt, Robert, Descriptive Guide to the Museum of Practical Geology (London, 1857), 172Google Scholar.

page 401 note a Respecting the inscription METALLI LVTVDARES on No. 3, Table III. our Fellow, Mr. Haverfield, expands it to METALLI LVTVDARE(N)S(IS), and reads it “of the mine of Lutudarum.” He says also “Lutudares I take to be, there, short for Lutudarensis; the N being omitted in common fashion and the last syllable dropped “with usual Roman arbitrariness in abbreviation.” 1 The inscription LVT and its other forms is thus satisfactorily explained. It is hence hardly necessary to say that there were no grounds whatever for reading it lutum, and translating it “washed ” as has been frequently done. There is no such thing as “washed ” lead. The term might be applied to the ore, but as all lead ores are everywhere and always “washed,” the inscription if it had had that signification would not have been found only on the Derbyshire lead.

1Proceedings, 2nd S. xv. 187.

page 402 note a “Dr. Thurnam, Crania Britannica, 100, says of No. 17, “often described as a pig, but really an oblong plate, ‘oblong a plwmbi tabula.’”

Besides the pigs enumerated in the Table, three have been found in Saham Wood, Norfolk, one in Dum-bartonshire, and one in Perthshire, but there is no satisfactory evidence to show that any of these were Roman.

An interesting relic, however, of Roman lead-smelting is a small piece of lead measuring only 7 inches by 3½ inches, and bearing the letters BR EX ARG, which was found in the Humber. See Corp. Inscript. vii. No. 1217.

Note.—The pigs to which analyses are appended are in the British Museum.

page 405 note a 1 and 2. Hofman, , The Metallurgy of Lead (New York, 1892), 21Google Scholar.

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4 to 10. Ibid. 493, 494.

page 405 note b Daniel, and Lysons, Samuel, Magna Britannia, V. cxciii.Google Scholar

page 407 note a Pliny, , Nat. Hist., xxxiii. 21.Google Scholar

page 407 note b Pliny, , Nat. Hist., xxxiv. 49.Google Scholar

page 411 note a M. Vitruvii Pollionis, De Architectura, lib. viii. cap. vii. “Fistulæ ne minus longæ pedum denum fundantur: quæ si centenariæ erunt, pondus habeant in singulas pondo MCC, si octogenariæ, pondo DCCCCLX., si quinquagenariæ, pondo DC, quadragenariæ, pondo CCCCLXXX., tricenariæ, pondo CCCLX., vicenariæ, pondo CCXL., quinum denum, pondo CLXXX., denum, pondo CXX., octonum, pondo XCVI., quinariæ, pondo LX. Ex latitudine autem lamnarum, quot digitos habuerint, antequam in rotundationem flectantur, magnitudinum ita nomina concipiunt fistulæ: namque quæ lamna fuerit digitorum quinquaginta, cum fistula perficietur ex ea lamna. vocabitur quinquagenaria, similerterque reliquæ.”

page 411 note b Middleton, , The Remains of Ancient Rome, ii. 330.Google Scholar

page 411 note c Sex. Julii Frontini, De Aquæductibus Urbis Romæ Commentarius, Art. 25 et seq. “Qui Vitruvium et Plumbarios, ab eo quod plumbea lamina plana, quinque digitorum latitudinem habens, circumacta in rotundum, hunc Fistulæ Modulum efficiat. Sed hoc incertum est; quoniam cum circumagitur, sicut interiore parte attranitur, ita per illam, quæ foras spectat, extenditur. Maxime probabile est, Quinariam dictam a diametro quinque quadrantum, quæ ratio in sequentibus quoque Modulis, usque ad Vicenariam durat; diametro per ingulos adjectione singulorum quadrantum crescente: ut in Senaria, quæ sex scilicet quadrantes in diametro habet; et Septenaria, quæ septem; et deinceps simili incremento usque ad Vicenariam,” etc.

page 412 note a A strip of lead 10 pes (116·5 inches) long and 1 digit (728 inch) wide and ¼ inch thick weighs 8·716 pounds avoir., or 12·07 libræ.

page 415 note a Archaeologia, 1. 276.

page 415 note b Archaeologia, lv. 232 et seq.

page 417 note a Pliny, , Nat. Hist., xxxiv. 48.Google Scholar

page 417 note b Report by Mr. Henry Taylor, F.S.A., Local Secretary for Cheshire, Proceedings, 2nd S. xviii. 97, 98.

page 420 note a In Middleton's Remains of Ancient Home, ii. 330 et seq. an excellent account of these inscriptions abstracted from this book will be found.

page 420 note b Middleton, , opus cit. ii. 331, 332.Google Scholar

page 419 note a Reproduced from Journal of the British Archaeological Association, ii. 297.

page 419 note b Blümner and Schorn, Geschichte der Kunstgewrbes, i.. 187. I am indebted to this interesting little book for the illustration.

page 420 note a Archaeologia, xlviii. Plate XII.

page 420 note b This coffin was brought to my notice by our Secretary, Mr. C. H. Read, who kindly permitted the photograph to be made of it.

page 420 note c I am indebted to the courtesy of Dr. A. S. Murray, keeper of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the British Museum, for permission to have the photographs made of which figs. 17 and 21 are copies.

page 421 note a Plautus (second century B.C.) describes a banquet as having been served in vasis stagneis, which were most probably pewter vessels.

page 421 note b Archaeologia, lvi. 13 et seq.

page 422 note a Greek and Roman Collection, British Museum.

page 422 note b Pliny, , Nat. Hist. xiii. 21.Google Scholar

page 422 note c Cesnola, , Salaminia, 65.Google Scholar

page 422 note d Greek and Roman Collection, British Museum.