Bleitafeln aus Charterhouse-on-Mendip (Somerset /GB) mit Inschriften aus der Samtherrschaft der Kaiser Marcus Aurelius und Lucius Verus – Neubewertung und Neudatierung

Abstract

Lead Tablets from Charterhouse-on-Mendip (Somerset/GB) with Inscriptions from the Joint Rule of the Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus – New Analysis and New Dating

The two lead fragments from Charterhouse-on-Mendip (Somerset/GB) displaying an Imperial inscription are not parts of lead ingots but thin tablets with a lenght of some 50 cm and a height of about 10 cm to be reconstructed on the basis of the inscription form. The inscription itself corresponds to the form of hitherto three truncated and elongated pyramidal-shaped lead ingots which came to light in the mining district of the Mendips in southwest England. With the aid of the framed inscriptions, the remains of the inscriptions on the lead tablets can be augmented. Contrary to previous datings, both the lead tablets and the lead ingots belong to the years AD 164-166 during the joint emperorship of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.