Researchers have gleaned more information from three ancient lead ingots discovered in Cordoba, Spain, that sheds light on the economic activities of the Roman Empire.
The discovery could offer new insights into the Roman Empire’s trade in a metal some have theorized could have played a role in the decline of the Western Roman Empire.
Construction workers unearthed the ingots, which date back to the Roman period in Spain, while building Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline in the 1990s, according to a study published in the Journal of Roman Archaeology.
Archaeologists believe Cordoba was a major hub for economic activity in the days of the Roman Empire, according to the study. The lead ingots the researchers analyzed each weigh or weighed between 23.5 kg and 32.5 kg and bear the stamp “SS.”
The researchers concluded based on the stamps that they were produced by the societas…
