Albion Revisited

A series of articles on Ancient British Christianity

 

28th  November  2006

 

Part 7. Lead

Lead is mined in various places in the world, and because of the radioactive origin of lead, it is possible to determine the origin of “finds”, almost as though it has its own “fingerprints.”  It comes about as follows. Elements in the periodic table higher than lead at Atomic Number 82, are known to be unstable, or “radioactive.” In the process of time these higher elements disintegrate, falling down the periodic table by steps until they reach lead. Lead therefore has quite a number of stable isotopes, but the exact assay varies according to the locality in which it is mined. Physicists are therefore able to determine percentages of each of the stable isotopes, and use the information as a means of identifying the origin of lead, found in ancient archaeological sites.

 Frederick Soddy, (1877 – 1966) was the English chemist who proposed the Isotope Theory of the Elements. He also determined how radioactive elements break down. As a result, he won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1921. His research work in 1910 revealed three naturally occurring radioactive series, as follows:-

 Uranium 238/92 which falls through about 13 steps to finish at Lead 206/82

  1. Uranium 235/92 which falls through about 11 steps to finish at Lead 207/82
  2. Thorium 232/90 which falls through about 9 steps to finish at Lead 208/82

 The first of these numbers (e.g. 238) is known as the Atomic Mass Number A, which is the total number of particles in the Element’s Nucleus. Hence it represents the sum total of Protons and Neutrons in the Nucleus.  The second number (e.g.92) is known as the Atomic Number Z, which is the number of Protons in the Nucleus (or the number of Electrons in orbit round the Nucleus.)

 It will be seen therefore that naturally occurring lead comes in three stable forms, having respectively 206, 207, and 208 Atomic Mass units. The approximate abundance of these Isotopes is as follows:-    206  23.6%,  207  22.6%, and 208  52.3%. (Another isotope, of Atomic Mass 204 is also present, at about 1.5%, but does not concern us in this study.) But in practice the percentages vary slightly according to the location where the Lead is found. This comes as a result of the varying amounts of Uranium and Thorium originally present in the Earth’s rocks, which eventually gave rise to the Lead we mine today.

 The individual mineral deposits which are the source of commercial lead are comparatively small, and do not occur in huge concentrated bodies such as those from which iron is mined. However, the minerals containing lead are found scattered in nearly all parts of the world. The chief mineral is known as Galena, which is Lead Sulphide, consisting of 86.6% lead and 13.4% sulphur. Other lead minerals of commercial importance are Cerussite (Lead Carbonate) which is 77.5% lead, and Anglesite (Lead Sulphate), 68.3% lead.

 The world’s largest source of lead is in America in south-eastern Missouri. Others, in order of importance are Broken Hill, in Australia, north Mexico, and British Columbia in Canada. However, our interest lies, not in modern mining, but in that which was being practised in Roman times, and early Biblical times.

 Just as Cornwall was rich in tin, so Somerset was rich in lead, especially in the region of the Mendip Hills. One of the oldest lead workings in Somerset is in the vicinity of Priddy, Green Ore, and Charterhouse. One may still walk over the remains of these workings, and perceive the shape of the mounds of slag left after smelting. It is possible to pick up black glass-like lumps of slag left over from the region where the Romans worked. My wife and I were able to do this in the summer of 2005, when accompanied by Paul Boyd-Lee, who was knowledgeable about the ancient mining of the Mendips, and it proved to be a most instructive day.

 One does not find such a rich heritage of literature mentioning lead, as there was for tin. But this is balanced by the finding of artefacts which, on isotope analysis, tell us about the origin of the lead.

 Whether or not lead was exported from Mendip in Roman times, lead appears to have been sent vast distances in pre-Roman times. Metallurgists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have analysed the lead conduits in the remains of the Temple in Jerusalem (built 1014 BC) and concluded that they were made from Mendip lead. (Taken from The Story of Priddy, by Alan Thomas, 1989. Page 23)

Sir Edward Creasy, in his “History of England” wrote, “The British Mines mainly supplied the glorious adornment of Solomon’s Temple.” 

 The following information is of great value to us in the present study. It was obtained from David Bromwich, Somerset Studies Librarian. He wrote as follows –

 “You are quite right about the survival of a number of “pigs” of lead from the Mendip mines, including at least three with inscriptions which indicate dates in the times of Claudius and Nero. There is a detailed chronological list in The Roman Inscriptions of Britain, and I am photocopying the first few pages for you, and adding a list of articles which provide further information on the subject.” (Letter dated 30th March 2005.)

 Artefact 2404.1  Lead pig found a few years before 1544 at Wookey Hole, Mendip Hills, Somerset, and called by Leland, oblonga plumbi tabula. The inscription on it was TI.CLAUD.CAESAR.AVG.P.M.TR.P.VIIII.IMP.XVI.DE BRITAN. These were abbreviations from Ti(berius) Claud(ius) Caesar Aug(ustus) p(ontifex) m(aximus) tr(ibuniciae) p(otestatis) VIIII imp(erator) XVI de Britan(nicis). Translated, this becomes, “Tiberius Caesar Augustus, pontifex Maximus, in his 9th year of tribunician power, 16 times acclaimed Imperator, from the British (mines).”

 Artefact 2404.2. Found in 1853 in ploughing near Blagdon, Somerset. Lead pig, measures 52 X 7 cm (face), and 61 X 14.6 cm (base), weighing 161 lb. Inscription  BRITANNIC MAUG LE II, abbreviation for Britannic(u)m Aug(usta) le(gio) (secunda). Translation – “British lead: the second legion Augusta.”

  Artefact 2404.4  Found at Charterhouse in the Mendips. Lead pig 50.2 X 8.3 cm. (face), 59.7 X 14 cm. (base). Weight 171 lb. Inscription – IMP.VESPASIAN.AUG    BRIT.EX.ARG.VEB  abbreviation for Imp(eratoris) Vespasian(i) Aug(usti)   Brit(annicum) ex arg(entariis) Veb(. . .) Translation – (Property) of the Emperor Vespasian Augustus,  British (lead) from the Veb(. . .) lead-silver works.

 These three artefacts give clear evidence of the Roman involvement in British lead mining in the Mendips in the days of the Emperors Tiberius, Nero, and Vespasian. Lead must have been shipped to other places in the Roman Empire. Raymond Capt  says that “About 1950 an ancient Roman drain-pipe, bonded with lead, was found at Ostia, the sea port of Rome. Analysis showed that the lead had been mined in the Mendips.” (The Traditions of Glastonbury, page 35)   Rev. L.S.Lewis, referring to the same find, (Glastonbury, her Saints. Page 3, note 1)  says that “the drain-pipe from beneath the chariot road, was a particularly good specimen, and Professor Russell Forbes cut off a section and sent it home to England for analysis. The verdict was that the metal came from the Mendips.”  (This conclusion was derived from isotopic analysis)

 According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Romans manufactured lead water pipes in ten-foot lengths, and as many as fifteen different standard diameters. Many of these have been recovered in Rome and England.

 From the Biblical record, we find in Ezekiel 27:12 that lead, along with brass, iron, and tin, was an article of commerce brought from Tarshish to Tyre. It would be reasonable therefore to conclude that the ancient tin trade, so frequently mentioned in history, was accompanied by a trade in lead. The more precious tin was focused in historical writings, but lead must have accompanied it, as the artefact evidence clearly shows.

 In conclusion, the data obtained from lead studies clearly shows how lead was transported from the Mendips Hills of Somerset to various places in the Mediterranean, as far back as the time of Solomon, in other words about 1,000 B.C.  This suggests that Israelite families travelled to far places in the world in order to obtain raw materials for their needs. There is considerable evidence for Jewish colonies in Cornwall in the time of Christ, as many place names bear witness. This provides yet another backcloth to our study, enabling us to patch together the many strands of evidence, which each single strand could never do in itself.

 

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