Guess what ... an ammunition

[fernando]

I know this is no place for quizzes but, i couldn't resist asking whether you guys are familiar with this ... projectile. It is made of lead, weighs 42 grams and measures 33X18 mm.
In any case, i will be back soon with the solution .


.

[cornelistromp]

can it be a fishing lead.

best,
Jasper

[Lee]

Roman slingshot projectile?

[Roland_M]

Originally Posted by Lee

Roman slingshot projectile?

I would also say it is a Roman slingshot projectile.
Here is a picture from an german archeologic discovery near the town Haltern. Similar dimensions as Fernandos example.

Roland

[Andi]

Definitively slingingshot projectiles most probably ancient Roman.

On German Wikipedia you will find an detialed article about this objects:

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schleuderblei

Are there any traces of former inscriptions on the projectiles?

[Rick]

What kind of inscriptions Andi?

Ones that were like the graffiti written on later cannon balls and more recently bombs?

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Andi

... Are there any traces of former inscriptions on the projectiles?

No Andi, not so lucky; inscriptions were used by the Greeks, a few centuries earlier. There are also examples with a hole in the middle, to make them wistle while flying; i ignore the purpose ... scaring the enemy ?

[fernando]

Outstanding; i just went to a shop downtown and when i was back the riddle was already cracked; within precisely 22 minutes.
Indeed a sling projectile, called by archeologists 'gland'; full name glans plumbeae.
As apparently there are no mould seams, it must be the later beaten plate version, of so called biconic shape, which could be dated around the last phase of Roman civil wars (2-1 centuries BC).
Found somewhere in the middle of the country; there are not many around.