Les isotopes du plomb et l’identification des lingots de plomb romains des mines de Sierra Morena

Abstract

This article means to show how the method of the lead isotopes is applied to the ingots from the Roman mines of the second largest lead producing area of the Iberian peninsula : the Sierra Morena. The chosen instance is that of the ingots of the Cabrera 4 wreck. The graphs on which the geochemist relies to effect his diagnosis are presented in full detail, so as to show to the reader that the method has nothing mysterious or dubious, so long as he can benefit by ad hoc analyses of the pieces to be identified and by data banks of reference analyses as relevant and plentiful as possible.

Keywords

• Roman period
• mines
• Sierra Morena (Spain)
• lead ingots
• lead isotopes