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SALAMIS IN THE ISLAND OF CYPRUS.
BY ALEXANDER PALMA DI CESNOLÀ, F.S.A.,
page 43

CHAPTER VI. LEADEN ANTIQUITIES.

GROUPS—PLATES —SLING BULLETS—BOXES—INSCRIBED ROLLS—SEALS OR STAMPS.

EADEN remains, from their liability to corrode and crumble away into dust when exposed to certain conditions of the adjacent earth, are naturally not very numerous in any collection of antiquities. Nevertheless, I was so fortunate as to secure, during the course of my investigations among the tombs of Salamis, a not inconsiderable number of relics composed of this metal, which are, indeed, from the peculiarity of their types, worthy of consideration at the hands of the archaeologist. Among the most notable remains in lead preserved in the British Museum, mention may be made of plates with Greek and Roman inscriptions, finger-rings, the Roman coffins found in England, the series of bullae of Sicilian and Byzantine personages, of the Popes, the Doges of Venice, and the early noblesse of France, dating from the seventh century of the Christian era, if not earlier. Many of these antiquities manifest a high degree of preservation, while others, by no means the oldest, have suffered in some measure from the injurious effects of London air. Among the moulded objects in this material found by me during excavations inCyprus are the fragments of a group, in . very low relief, of gladiator, (fig. 82) clad in breeches and buskins, whose headindicates that he is of African descent. He is in combat with a lion, has a cloth about his left arm, and a falchion in his righthand. The moulding of this plaque appears to belong to the Roman period, and it has been suggested that it was intended to be attached • to anotherobject by some mechanical means of adhesion, exactly as ornaments of no dissimilar character and appearance are still attached to the surfaces of earthenware vessels. With these figures are two vases of elegant form. I found no less than six square plates of lead, moulded for an unknown purpose, embossed with delicate patterns, and perforated with large circular openings, as if they formed parts of the covers of caskets. If they are not so, it is difficult to say for what purpose they were designed. Although these relics have been found in tombs, it is possible that they are not of any very remote antiquity. They closely resemble portions of modern mountings for the frames of miniature portraits. An almond-shaped or glandiform object, bears, moulded in relief, an inscription in Greek characters-, perhaps the name of the maker. It is a missile for a sling. Such objects are found in

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