Plumbata

[Robert Vermaat]

So they had them BC?

You're jumping to conclusions. They are still officially dated to the 6th c. AD, but one archaeologist has remarked that 2 of these dated to the High Archaic period (late 7th to mid-6th c. BC) and 1 from the Late Archaic period (after 550 BC). Which would still leave room for nr. 3, but even if this pans out, it's no news. Take for instance the cestosphendron, a slinging device which fung a weighted dart over large distances, all dating to the ?4th c. BC. Weighted darts were also used in bird-hunting. But indeed, the darts we know as plumbatae date to around the later 3rd c. AD and into the 6th.

I thought these were not found in the earlier period?

If you followed what I've written here over the past 8 years then yes, your conclusion is correct. :wink:

Th other day you dismissed that site which had some interesting finds, because they had plumbata dated to 1st Cent AD?

Indeed, and I still stand firmly behind that conclusion. Internet dealers often date them to the 1st or 2nd c. AD, because a) they are too lazy to read anything or b) because finds from the Principate sell better and for higher prices. ad: Never blindly trust an internet seller of archaeological objects. :evil: