Tracking Roman lead sources using lead isotope analysis. A case study from the imperial rural estate at Vagnari (Puglia, Italy)

Abstract Recent studies have utilised isotopic analysis for an understanding of the supply sources of lead to major Roman cities in Italy to good effect. Far less attention has been focused on contemporary rural sites in Italy or on the evidence for lead ore sources and the use and processing of lead in such locations. Rather than the more common focus on the isotopic analysis of lead pipes and ingots, this study concentrates on the lead processing and recycling debris, as well as the finished utilitarian objects, excavated in the central village of an imperial estate at Vagnari in south-east Italy. The archaeological and isotopic evidence indicates that the source of lead used in the production of implements here was not uniform, rather the ores stem from various regions within the Roman empire ranging from Italy, Spain, and Greece, to France or possibly Britain.