Three Roman ingots found in Belmez place the North of Córdoba as the main lead smelting center in the WestCORDOVA
Three unpublished ingots from Roman times coming from the deposit of The Escorials from the village of Doña Rama (Belmez) show the northern lead producing and exporting importance of Córdoba and show that it was the main foundry pole of lead from the ancient world in the West.
The ingots, according to a statement from the University of Cordobathey measure about 45 centimeters longtheir weight is between 24 and 32 kilos and they have a rectangular shape with three sides.
These three lead ingots, unpublished to date, offer sufficient information to affirm that “the ancient Roman Córdoba, capital of Bética and whose territory currently occupies the north of the province with the Guadiato valley, Los Pedroches and some regions of Jaén, Ciudad Real and Badajoz, was the main lead smelting center of the ancient world in the West“.
It is a metal with which they were manufactured multitude of gadgets for everyday use such as spoons, tiles or pipes.
The ingots, dated 1st centurythey have a identifying mark from which it has been possible to reveal part of its history and point out the mining importance of the Sierra Morenacentral during Roman times.
This brand is actually two letters, “SS”, and refers to the societas Sisaponensisa mining company originally from La Bienvenida, in Almodóvar del Campo (Ciudad Real), “in the land of the most famous cinnabar, whose capital and headquarters should have been, however, in Córdoba”
In addition to the triangular shape of the ingots, which optimizes storage space, the fact that the ingots had those letters means that they were destined for export since it was a brand that identified the producer of the pieces.
The analysis of the chemical composition and stable isotopes of the ingots has allowed the research team to reveal so much that they were deplatadoas the mineral with which they were manufactured was originally from the district of Source Obejuna-Azuaga, a center of great extractive activity of the time and which belongs to the Doña Rama site where the ingots have been found.
That is, the three pieces had a common origin linked to the same site where they were found.
The fact that the ingots will be found in the same area in which they had been manufactured is “an exceptional case and whose reason is unknown“.
Most ingots of this type have been found at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea after the sinking of the ship that was transporting them to their new destination.
“This information inserts these northern regions of Córdoba into the main networks of metallurgical, economic and commercial production of antiquity in the Mediterranean“explained the archaeologist and researcher at the University of Córdoba, Antonio Monterroso.
Monterroso added that “this involves industrialization, skill and knowledge to be able to reach that level of manufacturing”.
In fact, although still there is much left to investigatethe Doña Rama site would actually be a mining town that has a mine, a foundry, a processing area and possibly a fortress, although as the archaeologist has stated, “all of this remains to be investigated“.
