ancient lead weight?

Having had this hanging on my wall since i found it over one year ago i couldnt help but do some research.
to me it looks very similar to some ancient roman and celtic lead weights that have been found in europe, and other parts of the world.
also apparently one similar has been reported to be found near tin can bay in the 80's, after reading that article it reminded me of the odd weight i found.
the patina on this is very dark and old, and weathered.
ive found musket balls in the region that done come near to the distinct colour this weight has to it. which leads me to believe it could be much much older.
any thoughts?





Now the lead weight i found.








i have emailed finds.org.uk for their opinion

also i just realised the 'wear' grooves at the top near the hole where it use to hang. which is much much thicker than any fishing line ive seen. nor would fishing line wear into lead like that. so i dont think its a fishing weight...

Cool, let us know what they say about them.

Very interesting treasureman, looking very old ! :Y:

silver said:

Very interesting treasureman, looking very old ! :Y:

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yes, the colour/patina is unlike any old lead object ive found, even the musket balls from 1800s (in same soil) are no way near as dark a this.
i find a lot of lead weights from ww2 era in another spot but they are grey and far from gaining a patina. so whats with this ancient weight?

Well when you look at ancient lead slingshot bolts, they were definately purpose made for a job and all made similar, just thought I'd put the link in for lead patina comparison too.
your weight seems to fit in with the pattern of other ancient lead weights, make you wanta go low and slow while detecting hey.
http://www.ancientresource.com/lots/roman/weapons-sling-bolts.html

silver said:

Well when you look at ancient lead slingshot bolts, they were definately purpose made for a job and all made similar, just thought I'd put the link in for lead patina comparison too.
your weight seems to fit in with the pattern of other ancient lead weights, make you wanta go low and slow while detecting hey.
http://www.ancientresource.com/lots/roman/weapons-sling-bolts.html

Click to expand...

Have you found it treasureman :Y:
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=277106#p277106
No wonder you've been quite lately :lol: :lol:

Could it be a weight for measuring water depth (fathoms) from the older 'sailing ship' days?
This would require a large weight, a large hole, get worn and likely be either pure lead or an alloy of sorts.

Interesting item.

I feel your .... weight.... Treasureman

Some strange lead finds are out there

Looks like a lead slingshot bolt Wally.

That maybe a counter weight which was used in a small window.
Just putting it out there.

stoyve said:

That maybe a counter weight which was used in a small window.
Just putting it out there.

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Could be, but I thought a lot of those were cast iron, unless somebody made one.
It looks like it was heavy sheet rolled up and forced/hammered into shape.
Maybe that was done to fashion a counter weight that dropped into the cavity below the window,
who knows.

Greenhornet_au said:

stoyve said:

That maybe a counter weight which was used in a small window.
Just putting it out there.

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Could be, but I thought a lot of those were cast iron, unless somebody made one.
It looks like it was heavy sheet rolled up and forced/hammered into shape.
Maybe that was done to fashion a counter weight that dropped into the cavity below the window,
who knows.

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No, they were often lead, and I had the same thought (re-furbed a lot of sash windows in my time!) but it seems a little small (light) to be a sash weight, it would be a very small window! My thoughts are it is more likely to be a "heaving" weight for a ships 'log line' or depth line ...."swinging the lead" as it was an easy job compared to tacking or jibing the heavy sails frequently when close to shore.
Just my guess!

Nigel

interesting ideas and maybe correct.
i thought it could be used to gauge depth of the ocean floor but how old would that make it?
another possibily is a loom weight which was used to make clothing a long time ago.

silver said:

Well when you look at ancient lead slingshot bolts, they were definately purpose made for a job and all made similar, just thought I'd put the link in for lead patina comparison too.
your weight seems to fit in with the pattern of other ancient lead weights, make you wanta go low and slow while detecting hey.
http://www.ancientresource.com/lots/roman/weapons-sling-bolts.html

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definitely
i know the area and makes me want to go back there and go low and slow.
i did come across an 80s signal with my f75 ltd, i dug and dug, and couldnt locate it, and not having a pinointer was a pain in the butt. but i know the spot and want to go back now and spend more time.

B5MECH said:

silver said:

Well when you look at ancient lead slingshot bolts, they were definately purpose made for a job and all made similar, just thought I'd put the link in for lead patina comparison too.
your weight seems to fit in with the pattern of other ancient lead weights, make you wanta go low and slow while detecting hey.
http://www.ancientresource.com/lots/roman/weapons-sling-bolts.html

Click to expand...

Have you found it treasureman :Y:
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=277106#p277106
No wonder you've been quite lately :lol: :lol:

Click to expand...

yes have been there an observed some interesting features.
only been quiet because i have not been detecting in some time.
poor deus is not getting any love

One of the first and most valuable inventions in navigation was the lead line. In the 13th century the lead line was used for measuring the depth of water and determining the nature of the sea floor. This line was weighted with lead and had graduated markings to determine sea depth. The lead was coated with tallow, grease or wax to bring up samples of the bottom. A method of navigating from one depth to another based upon the condition of the bottom developed, with sailing directions from the 14th century reading:

Ye shall go north until ye sound in 72 fathoms in fair grey sand. Then go north until ye come into soundings of ooze, and then go your course east northeast.

72 fathoms is 432 feet! Thats a long lead line!

These days sailors no longer use soundings alone as an accurate form of navigation. Instead soundings are marked on navigational charts as a reference to be used along with accurate compass bearings, triangulation and a GPS. All mariners charts show the depth of the ocean floor below sea level. When a boat is near the shoreline your depth sounding can verify your position when compared to the charts listed depth at your plotted fix



interesting a maybe, plausible

bingo
http://www.maryrose.org/meet-the-crew/the-pilot/finding-the-depth/

notice the 'wear' grooves on the top of these examples

the above examples are from 1500's!

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mosmd/handline.htm
If it is a lead line weight it could be 1600's old :Y:
http://www.thepirateking.com/historical/lead_line.htm
I think dating the lead age would be able to tell, Was it found in land or beach? 8)