This dataset is a continuously growing collection of lead isotope reference data. Lead isotopes are an established method to reconstruct the raw material provenance of archaeological objects. They are typically applied to artefacts made of copper, lead, silver, and their alloys. However, also the raw material provenance of other materials such as glass, pigments and pottery was already investigated using lead isotopes.
To successfully reconstruct the origin of the raw material, lead isotope signatures from as many as possible suitable raw material occurrences must be known. In the past, large-scaled research projects were carried out to characterise ore deposits especially in the Mediterranean area and Western Europe. However, many of these data are dispersed in the literature and were published in scientific articles or monographs. Consequently, each researcher or at least each research group had to build their own up-to-date database of reference data from the literature. To overcome these restrictions, to facilitate work with lead isotope reference data and particularly to make the data FAIR, i.e., findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (Wilkinson et al. 2016), these published data are compiled and transferred into a uniform layout. They are further enhanced with additional metadata to facilitate their use in raw material provenance studies.
Currently, the database is restricted to ores and minerals as these are the most relevant materials for provenance studies of ancient metals. Future updates will include hitherto uncovered regions but also additional data from countries already present. Slag and other metallurgical (by-) products from ancient sites in close vicinity to ore deposits generally are a genuine representation of the ores utilised in historic times. As such, they are highly relevant for provenance studies and an extension to these materials is therefore planned.
GlobaLID is a representation of the collective work of researchers on Pb isotope studies. As such, the database is seen as a community engagement project that invites scientists all over the world to become active contributors of GlobaLID. The initiators of the database dedicate their effort to the continuation and maintenance of the database but only the support of the whole community will allow a rapid and successful growth of GlobaLID.
This dataset is a continuously growing collection of lead isotope reference data. Lead isotopes are an
established method to reconstruct the raw material provenance of archaeological objects. They are
typically applied to artefacts made of copper, lead, silver, and their alloys. However, also the raw ma-
terial provenance of other materials such as glass, pigments and pottery was already investigated us-
ing lead isotopes.
To successfully reconstruct the origin of the raw material, lead isotope signatures from as many as
possible suitable raw material occurrences must be known. In the past, large-scaled research projects
were carried out to characterise ore deposits especially in the Mediterranean area and Western Eu-
rope. However, many of these data are dispersed in the literature and were published in scientific
articles or monographs. Consequently, each researcher or at least each research group had to build
their own up-to-date database of reference data from the literature. To overcome these restrictions,
to facilitate work with lead isotope reference data and particularly to make the data FAIR, i.e., finda-
ble, accessible, interoperable and reusable (Wilkinson et al. 2016), these published data are compiled
and transferred into a uniform layout. They are further enhanced with additional metadata to facili-
tate their use in raw material provenance studies.
Currently, the database is restricted to ores and minerals as these are the most relevant materials for
provenance studies of ancient metals. Future updates will include hitherto uncovered regions but
also additional data from countries already present. Slag and other metallurgical (by-) products from
ancient sites in close vicinity to ore deposits generally are a genuine representation of the ores uti-
lised in historic times. As such, they are highly relevant for provenance studies and an extension to
these materials is therefore planned.
GlobaLID is a representation of the collective work of researchers on Pb isotope studies. As such, the
database is seen as a community engagement project that invites scientists all over the world to be-
come active contributors of GlobaLID. The initiators of the database dedicate their effort to the con-
tinuation and maintenance of the database but only the support of the whole community will allow a
rapid and successful growth of GlobaLID.
The data publication presented is concerned with the collection of geochemical results enhanced with metadata of archaeologic, stylistic, geographic and other crucial information. The publication covers analytical and metadata sets of analysed projectiles, both from own and published works. Starting point for the data collection was the PhD thesis Müller 2018 were projectiles from different find sites, dating into the Roman Republic, were analysed and published.
The objects up to date included in the current database are from various find sites with varying archaeological background, which have been collected and evaluated by the authors for diachronic comparison within a supra-regional frame. Own unpublished data are also included. These data are of objects, which are too isolated in terms of a research question to be published in a journal. However, our intention is to make them accessible in the context compiled here for any further use. We hereby encourage other researchers to contribute to this database either with their published or even their unpublished data so that it can continuously develop for the specific objects presented here.
The samples taken by the project group were analysed in the laboratories of FIERCE, the Frankfurt Isotope and Element Research Center of Goethe-University Frankfurt and the Research Laboratory of the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum, a central unit within its research department using Multicollector ICP mass spectrometry.
We are initiating this database with the goal that it will grow through collective contributions from researchers working on this topic. It should therefore be seen as a project of collaborative engagement. The research team is dedicating its efforts to the continuation and maintenance of the database. Anyone who contributes data will be named as a contributor in subsequent versions of the database.
This dataset is a continuously growing collection of lead isotope reference data. Lead isotopes are an established method to reconstruct the raw material provenance of archaeological objects. They are typically applied to artefacts made of copper, lead, silver, and their alloys. However, also the raw material provenance of other materials such as glass, pigments and pottery was already reconstructed with lead isotopes. To successfully reconstruct the origin of the raw material, lead isotope signatures from as many as possible suitable raw material occurrences must be known. In the past, large-scaled research projects were carried out to characterise ore deposits especially in the Mediterranean area and Western Europe. However, many of these data are dispersed in the literature and were published in scientific articles or monographies. Consequently, each researcher or at least each research group had to build their own up-to-date data base of reference data from the literature.
To overcome these restrictions, to facilitate work with lead isotope reference data and particularly to make the data FAIR, i.e. findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (Wilkinson et al., 2016), these published data are compiled and transferred into a uniform layout. They are further enhanced with additional metadata to facilitate their use in raw material provenance studies. Currently, the database is restricted to ores and minerals as these are the most relevant materials for provenance studies of ancient metals. Future updates will include hitherto uncovered regions but also additional data from countries already present. Slag and other metallurgical (by-) products from ancient sites in close vicinity to ore deposits generally are a genuine representation of the ores utilised in historic times. As such, they are highly relevant for provenance studies and an extension to these materials is therefore planned. GlobaLID is a representation of the collective work of researchers on Pb isotope studies. As such, the database is seen as a community engagement project that invites scientists all over the world to become active contributors of GlobaLID. The initiators of the database dedicate their effort to the continuation and maintenance of the database but only the support of the whole community will allow a rapid and successful growth of GlobaLID.