Plumbata

[Robert Vermaat]

The former number of plumbatae from Serbia (30) is recently increased with another specimen discovered in the riverbed of Sava near Sremska Mitrovica (Sirmium). It is treasured in the Museum of Srem in Sremska Mitrovica.
Salve
Miroslav

Thanks Miroslav!

[Robert Vermaat]

The former number of plumbatae from Serbia (30) is recently increased with another specimen discovered in the riverbed of Sava near Sremska Mitrovica (Sirmium). It is treasured in the Museum of Srem in Sremska Mitrovica.
Salve
Miroslav

Thanks Miroslav! Which means that the total of published plumbatae now stands at 161, including unpublished finds and (no doubt some) fakes the toll has risen to 217:

31 from Serbia (up from 30)
28 from Britain
15 from Austria
14 from France
14 from Slovenia
9 from Hungary
8 from Croatia
8 from Italy
7 from Germany
7 from Switzerland
5 from Georgia/Abchasia
3 from Rumania
3 from Bulgaria
3 from Greece
2 from Liechtenstein
2 from The Netherlands
1 from Belgium
1 from Slovakia
56 from doubtful or unprovenanced origins (up from 53)

[Robert Vermaat]

There's a hot new entry from the UK - found near Ancaster, Lincolnshire last August: http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/634123

A nice addition to the already impressive UK numbers:

[attachment=10754]Ancestersmall.jpg[/attachment]

Which means that the total of published plumbatae now stands at 162, including unpublished finds and (no doubt some) fakes the toll has risen to 218:

31 from Serbia
29 from Britain (up from 28)
15 from Austria
14 from France
14 from Slovenia
9 from Hungary
8 from Croatia
8 from Italy
7 from Germany
7 from Switzerland
5 from Georgia/Abchasia
3 from Rumania
3 from Bulgaria
3 from Greece
2 from Liechtenstein
2 from The Netherlands
1 from Belgium
1 from Slovakia
56 from doubtful or unprovenanced origins

And of course an updated finds map:

[attachment=10797]plumbataemap2014-09-18s.jpg[/attachment]

[brennivs - tony drake]

Thanks again Robert The right hand image that looks like to me the iron runs through till it is in line with the end of the lead, I thought there was a good portion of metal put into the wooden shaft. Also as we have found during our demonstrations that if the shaft is to break it breaks just behind the lead, That is with the iron shaft well into the wood. Great Stuff :lol:
Regards Brennivs :lol:

[Robert Vermaat]

The right hand image that looks like to me the iron runs through till it is in line with the end of the lead, I thought there was a good portion of metal put into the wooden shaft. Also as we have found during our demonstrations that if the shaft is to break it breaks just behind the lead, That is with the iron shaft well into the wood. Great Stuff

The more plumbatae I see, the more I get the impression that plumbatae were fast and dirty weapons. Sometimes crude heads, no clear typology, all sorts of shapes in lead weights. The modern reconstructions are of course meant to last as long as possible, but I doubt that this was the case at the time. A bit like shoes. they probably got new ones several times a year, ours are meant to last years because they are much more expensive.

[John Melfordicus]

Hello all



Just to advise I am the proud new owner of this "Ancaster" Plumbata, to go with my 5 others, Regards John

[Robert Vermaat]

There's a nice short piece on British lead and plumbatae on vimeo:
British Lead in Roman Plumbata - An exploration of the role that British lead played in arming the Roman military, with specific reference to plumbata. Heather Armstead, UCL, 2014: http://vimeo.com/92617908
Yes, they get the plural wrong and I'm not sure I'd poor the lead in that same fashion (seems a bit wasteful), but still very instructive.

[attachment=11291]vimeo.jpg[/attachment]

Also, there's a nice new plumbata - unfortunately on a bidding site so apart from the length (84mm) no information on origins, weight, dating or context.

[attachment=11290]84mm_1s.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=11288]84mm_4small.jpg[/attachment]

[Flavivs Aetivs]

Plumbata is 1st Declension right? I always assumed it was (hence Plumbatae as plural).

[Renatus]

Plumbata is 1st Declension right? I always assumed it was (hence Plumbatae as plural).

That's right.

[John Melfordicus]

A couple more Plumbata from my collection.


[attachment=11735]RomanPlumbataThisplumbatawasfoundbetweentheriversMarcalandRabainHungarynearthevillagerpasandMarcali.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=11736]Plumbatahead.jpg[/attachment]

[John Melfordicus]

Three more Plumbata of mine



[attachment=11737]Plumbatahead.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=11738]RomanPlumbataThisplumbatawasfoundbetweentheriversMarcalandRabainHungarynearthevillagerpasandMarcali.jpg[/attachment]

[John Melfordicus]

Three more Plumbata of mine



[attachment=11739]Plumbatahead.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=11740]RomanPlumbataThisplumbatawasfoundbetweentheriversMarcalandRabainHungarynearthevillagerpasandMarcali.jpg[/attachment]

[John Melfordicus]

Another one of my Plumbata


[attachment=11810]139.7mm399.7grHungary.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=11741]RomanPlumbataThisplumbatawasfoundbetweentheriversMarcalandRabainHungarynearthevillagerpasandMarcali.jpg[/attachment]

[John Melfordicus]

And another one

[John Melfordicus]

And another of my Plumbata