STEELYARD WEIGHT

A possible Roman lead steelyard weight dating from AD 43 - 410. It is imperfectly spherical with a circular hole through the centre for a missing hook or loop. The surface is rough and no pattern is discernable. Taking the hole as a vertical axis the horizontal diameter varies between 24.3mm and 27.3mm and the vertical diameter (height) is 26mm. The hole varies slightly in diameter from 5.4mm 4.9mm. The object weighs 103g. This is close to one third of a Roman pound (libra) of 109g, with allowance for a missing suspension loop. The surface is pitted and rough, with a thin patina.

Although steelyard weights were in use from the Roman to post-medieval periods, examples with a central iron rod extending from both ends tend to be of Roman date.

It has also been suggested that it might be a spherical spindle whorl but this seems unlikely because the hole is only wide enough for a slender spindle. Additionally, were it a spindle whorl it would identify with type C1 from Penelope Walton Rogers : Cloth and Clothing in Early Anglo-Saxon-England (2007) pages 24 and 25. Type C1 is from Iron Age date but died out in early Roman times and the object is clearly made of lead which was not widely used in the Iron Age.

It is also possible that the object is of later date and could be a weight for adding mass rather than for measuring, such as a net or line weight. It could also be a mechanical counterweight.