Ten lead containers from Thonis-Heracleion: tackling the problem of dating in BMSAES 24 (2019)

The lack of comparable material complicates the interpretation of the function of this selection of containers and the reasons for their deposition in Thonis-Heracleion. Most containers were found in a context that was already underwater in antiquity. This is likely the result of depositional processes, in which the object disappeared underwater, making them unavailable for normal recycling and reuse. The context in Thonis-Heracleion also suggests a connection with ritual activity for the final deposition of the objects. This does not, however, preclude a more mundane purpose, onboard ship, for example, before they ended up on the bottom of the sea.

https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/publications/online_journals/bmsaes/issue_24.aspx
Lead objects are rare in the Egyptian archaeological record. Easy to reuse and recycle, they are not often preserved in the archaeological record. Over 1,200 lead objects, however, have been discovered during the excavations of the Institut Européen d’Archéologie Sous-Marine (IEASM) in Abukir Bay until 2010. The assemblage from Thonis-Heracleion is thus exceptional due to its size and diversity. This article explores the context of a selection of these vessels and their parallels across the Mediterranean, illustrating the potential and limitations of the larger corpus. The lack of parallels makes it difficult to draw conclusions about the function of the lead containers. It is possible that they were primarily used on ships, and later deposited in the water during a ritual. For dating it is necessary to look to the appearance of larger lead objects around the Eastern Mediterranean for the dating of parallel-sized objects, such as lead braziers in Asia Minor, as well as ceramic evidence from the site. I suggest an early Hellenistic date from approximately 300 to 150 BC.