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Journal article
Gleaming white and deadly: Using lead to track human exposure and geographic origins in the Roman period in Britain
Journal of Roman archaeology; supplementary series, Vol.Suppl. 78, pp.199-226
Suppl. 78
2010
Abstract
When one reads of lead, it is rarely long before the Roman world is mentioned. Their two stories are closely intertwined in a tale of necessity, progress, and the “enticing vices” of civilization1 that has left the world a deadly legacy. It is one we are still mitigating. To engineers, builders and metalworkers, lead possesses irresistible qualities: the metal is relatively inert and resistant to corrosion when in contact with either air or water, has a low melting point (327°C), and is malleable; it is therefore easy to smelt, refine, re-use and work. It is cheap, widely available and can do “a great deal of metallurgical donkeywork”.2 When its compounds are added to paints, pigments, dyes, petrol, batteries and foodstuffs, they confer qualities hard to replicate by other means. But there is a price. Lead is toxic and deleterious to calcium metabolism and the nervous, digestive and reproductive systems.3 The clinical symptoms of lead poisoning, such as ‘dry bellyache’, anaemia, nerve disorders, infertility, memory loss and an inability to concentrate, are well-known. In addition, high lead exposure has been associated with malaria, rickets, gout, Paget’s disease, and periodontal disease.4 Today the toxicity of lead on the neurological development of children, first reported by R. Byers and E. Lord,5 is blamed for a range of anti-social and delinquent behaviours and compromised intelligence even at sub-clinical levels.6 The dysfunctional society created by a people poisoned by smelters, piped water, lead cooking vessels, cosmetics and wine sweetened and preserved with sapa, defrutum and sugar of lead (lead acetate) has been proposed (and just as vehemently refuted) as a contributing factor in the fall of the Roman empire.7
Details
- Title
- Gleaming white and deadly
- Publication Details
- Journal of Roman archaeology; supplementary series, Vol.Suppl. 78, pp.199-226
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publisher
- Editorial Committee of the Journal of Roman Archaeology; United States
- Series
- Suppl. 78
- Format
- pdf
- Identifiers
- 9781887829786; 99380090330306600
- Academic Unit
- Former Faculty
- Language
- English