Yes definitely a mega find. The detectrists looks like he didn’t excavate the item first so claiming it could be a problem. After that,because it has a full set of Mark’s it’s as easy to place perfectly as a coin. And very rare. In fact I’m going to set a preliminary price of 50,000.lovely…
It’s definitely smart to avoid single cause theories of complex events. Lead poisoning is a good factor to look at because lead was widely used by the Romans and it takes a very small amount to cause problems.
Lead pipes are safe, until they’re not, as the criminal screwup in Flint shows, but we really don’t have a good idea how often they had lead pipe problems or even how much might have been ingested when there were. Romans weren’t sticking cups under faucets like we do, and maybe most critical, we don’t know what kind of risk little Romans faced.
And then you have to ask about the balance of risks of piping in water from a safe source vs. pulling from wells with a much higher risk of contamination. And since Roman territory didn’t passively fall, it was conquered, you have try to tease out what kind of competitive advantage might come from leaded vs unleaded life.
The evidence is scarce, the Romans faced all kinds of pressures internal and external, and trying to sort it all out is filled with uncertainties. It’s definitely worth it for archaelogists to think about as they sift through the detritus of garbage dumps and shipwrecks and drainage systems, though.
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How many items from other countries does the British Museum have? 
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That can never be an argument to support even more looting.
Didn’t say it was. However, it’s deeply hypocritical to say that one is okay, and the other is not.
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Honestly, you will not find many in archaeology who do. What to keep in the British Museum instead of retuning it is a political decision that isn’t informed by scholars as much as people might think.
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In this case, obviously a heavy metal detectorist.
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As a scholar myself (though in history,not archeology) I’m aware. My point is that it’s still hypocritical.
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You found your new band name there.
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The Mayans apparently had problems with mercury and cyanobacteria.
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They should ask the guy on the right:
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