The Making of Roman Lead Ingots. Their Casting by Experiment and the Archaeological Evidence

Abstract

Casting experiments in Brilon-Hoppecke (North Rhine-Westfalia, Germany) in 2011 and 2012 as well as in 2015 aimed to reconstruct  the production of Roman lead ingots with the help of archaeological experiments on the one hand; on the other hand, traces of the  moulding process on the Roman lead ingots themselves and the epigraphic evidence were examined to provide further information on the production process. The results of this research, suggest that most of the lead ingots were very likely cast in clay sand moulds  which almost completely disintegrated after the ingots had been removed. In a few cases, wood could be verified as the material for the moulds. Finally, all known artefacts associated with the casting of lead ingots have been critically examined and reinterpreted.