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WEIGHT
Unique ID: SWYOR-7C3B57
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
A cast lead, shield-shaped, trade weight of the Medieval period, dating from about AD 1300-1500. It is sub-triangular with rounded corners, and has a raised rectangular area on the front which would have borne a design, none of which is now legible. The object has a length of 34.82mm, a width of 28.46mm, and maximum thickness of 10.16mm. It weighs 43.50g. There is a slight depression in the reverse, and the remains of a casting sprue on the top edge. The object has a dark grey patina. Its mass, 43.50g, equates to one and a half ounces (1.5oz) under the mercantile system. Another lead weight of 43.50g, from excavations in London, has been catalogued and discussed by Egan. That weight, although of disc shape, belonged to Ceramic Phase 11, c.1350-1400. (Egan 1998, pp. 302-304, and 314-315). Yet in terms of shape, rather than mass, the example recorded here more closely compares with others recorded on the PAS database found in the same geographical area; see, for example the much larger SWYOR-0F16FA and SWYOR-15114; and also SWYOR-B9B5B7. While shield-shaped weights have been found throughout the country, they are more commonly found in the north (Leahy and Lewis 2018, p. 276).
Similar weights are discussed and illustrated in Biggs and Withers, Lead Weights: The David Rogers Collection, (2000, pp. 34-40).
Class: Trade
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
Period from: MEDIEVAL
Period to: MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1300
Date to: Circa AD 1500
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 34.82 mm
Width: 28.46 mm
Thickness: 10.16 mm
Weight: 43.5 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Tuesday 20th November 2018 - Tuesday 20th November 2018
Personal details
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Materials and construction
Primary material: Lead
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Complete
Spatial metadata
Region: Yorkshire and the Humber (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Leeds (Metropolitan District)
District: Leeds (Metropolitan District)
Parish or ward: Micklefield (Civil Parish)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: SE4333
Four figure Latitude: 53.79154507
Four figure longitude: -1.34876038
1:25K map: SE4333
1:10K map: SE43SW
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
References cited
| Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biggs, N. and Withers, P. | 2000 | Lead Weights: The David Rogers Collection | Powys | White House Publications | |||
| Egan, G. | 1998 | The Medieval Household: Daily Living c.1150-c.1450 (Medieval Finds from Excavations in London) | London | The Stationery Office | |||
| Leahy, K., and Lewis, M. | 2018 | The British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme Finds Identified | Essex | Greenlight Publishing. |
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