|
Date: |
|
Description: | Incomplete cast lead steelyard weight, circular in plan and cross-section and conical in profile, with a rounded base and missing parts of the upper edge where it tapers to only 1 mm thick. The weight is decorated with incised linear cross-hatching, which runs horizontally around the circumference of the weight and vertically up its length, creating the effect of netting or textile. There is a central circular cylindrical perforation that runs longitudinally through the weight which is 7 mm in diameter and 26 mm long. The shaft, which was probably made of iron, would have had an attachment loop at the upper tapering end of the weight to suspend it from a steelyard or balance. The weight weighs 37.3 g which is equivalent to about 1.4 Roman ounces, so it was probably meant to be used as a weight for one and a half ounces when it was complete. A Roman sescuncia was equivalent to 41g which was an eighth of a Roman libra, so it may have also been used for this unit originally.Crummy (1983) illustrates a larger Roman conical lead weight with an iron shaft still intact, that is 9 mm in diameter, running longitudinally throught the weight, on page 101, fig.105, no.2510, which is dated from c.AD 49-150.Bailey (2011) illustrates a similar Roman conical steelyard weight with the remains of an iron loop on page 110, fig.3.Then only comparable weight of a similar form, with incised linear markings and a cylindrical perforation, on the database is recorded in WMID-2F35E4 which is dated from the Roman to the Medieval period.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/ | Go to resource |
|
More Like this...
-
WEIGHT
Cast lead conical free-standing steelyard…
-
WEIGHT
Cast lead free-standing weight, circular…
-
WEIGHT
A heavily corroded lead steelyard…
-
Weight
A heavily corroded lead steelyard…
-
WEIGHT
A heavily corroded lead steelyard…
-
WEIGHT
A lead Roman bi-conical weight…
-
-
-
Weight
Lead Roman steelyard weight. The…
-
WEIGHT
Lead Roman steelyard weight. The…
|